And by age 60, you should have six to 11 times your salary saved in order to be considered on track for retirement. For example, a 35-year-old earning $60,000 would be on track if she's saved about $60,000 to $90,000.
It's certainly possible to retire early on $400,000, but it won't be easy. If you have the option of working and saving for a few more years, it will likely give you a significantly more comfortable retirement.
With $1 million in a 401(k) and no mortgage on a $500,000 home, retirement at 60 may, in fact, be possible. However, retiring before eligibility for Social Security and Medicare mean relying more on savings. So deciding to retire at 60 calls for careful planning around healthcare, taxes and more.
Just 16% of retirees say they have more than $1 million saved, including all personal savings and assets, according to the recent CNBC Your Money retirement survey conducted with SurveyMonkey.
Retiring with $500,000 could sustain you for about 30 years if you follow the 4% withdrawal rule, which allows you to use approximately $20,000 per year. However, retiring at a younger age will likely reduce the amount you receive from Social Security benefits.
The ideal monthly retirement income for a couple differs for everyone. It depends on your personal preferences, past accomplishments, and retirement plans. Some valuable perspective can be found in the 2022 US Census Bureau's median income for couples 65 and over: $76,490 annually or about $6,374 monthly.
However, when you have $50,000 in your 401(k), 8% growth doesn't seem like a whole lot in any single year. Here's where the power of compound growth comes into play. You truly don't start to see the magic of compound growth until 10 or 20 years of saving and investing. Then you'll finally see things start to blossom.
The magic number that most Gen Xers feel they need to retire is $1.56 million. This is much higher than the average amount they have saved — $108,600 — and higher than most Americans feel they will need. In short, Gen X retirement is in trouble.
That depends on your situation. The main drivers include how much you spend and how much retirement income you get. If you have a generous income from pensions or Social Security, $300k might be plenty. But without significant resources, your spending needs to be relatively low.
Probably 1 in every 20 families have a net worth exceeding $3 Million, but most people's net worth is their homes, cars, boats, and only 10% is in savings, so you would typically have to have a net worth of $30 million, which is 1 in every 1000 families.
The $1,000 per month rule is designed to help you estimate the amount of savings required to generate a steady monthly income during retirement. According to this rule, for every $240,000 you save, you can withdraw $1,000 per month if you stick to a 5% annual withdrawal rate.
The average American spends $4,345 per month in retirement, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That's $52,141 per year. Retirement planning means making sure you can afford your lifestyle after you stop working.
Still, financial experts often recommend having at least eight times your annual salary saved by this age to maintain your current lifestyle. If earning a current salary of $100,000 a year, you should aim for at least $800,000 to $1 million in retirement savings by 60.
What the average couple gets from Social Security right now. The average monthly retirement benefit as of May 2024 is $1,917 per month. If both spouses qualified for this amount, their household monthly benefits would be $3,834 per month, or about $46,000 per year.
What are the average and median retirement savings? The average retirement savings for all families is $333,940, according to the 2022 Survey of Consumer Finances. The median retirement savings for all families is $87,000.
Your net worth is what you own minus what you owe. It's the total value of all your assets—including your house, cars, investments and cash—minus your liabilities (things like credit card debt, student loans, and what you still owe on your mortgage).
This decade includes older Gen Xers, who may be at the peak of their earning power, and younger Boomers (1946-1964), who are beginning to think seriously about retirement. Some 58.1% of Boomers have retirement savings. By age 60 you should have eight times your salary saved for retirement, Fidelity suggests.
The final multiple — 10 to 12 times your annual income at retirement age. If you plan to retire at 67, for instance, and your income is $150,000 per year, then you should have between $1.5 and $1.8 million set aside for retirement.
As we have established, retiring on $500k is entirely feasible. With the addition of Social Security benefits, this becomes even more of a possibility. In retirement, Social Security benefits can provide an additional $1,900 per month, on average. You can start receiving Social Security benefits as early as 62.