That's why market-indexed funds are such a powerful tool for people saving up for their retirement. In retirement, this can be just as valuable. With a $400,000 retirement account, a 10% annual rate of return would give you $40,000 per year without ever drawing down on the principal.
If you leave work at 61, the average retirement age as of the latest Gallup data, you'll have more than enough to see you through to a life expectancy of 90 or even 100. Across 29 years, $4 million could equate to a generous $11,494 a month.
Yes, it is possible to retire comfortably on $500k. This amount allows for an annual withdrawal of $30,000 and below from the age of 60 to 85, covering 25 years. If $20,000 a year, or $1,667 a month, meets your lifestyle needs, then $500k is enough for your retirement.
Fidelity publishes a rule-of-thumb for retirement savings (which the 401k is) - that you should target to have 1x your salary saved for retirement by the time you're 30. 21k/6 = 3.5k per year to have saved 21k by 30. 3.5k / 21k = 17% contribution rate.
$300,000 is likely too little to retire on at age 60. Using the 4% rule, which estimates how much you can safely withdraw per year from your savings in retirement, a $300,000 nest egg would give you $12,000 per year to live on.
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. In fact, among those currently saving for retirement, 57% say the amount they're hoping to save is less than $1 million.
Using our portfolio of $400,000 and the 4% withdrawal rate, you could withdraw $16,000 annually from your retirement accounts and expect your money to last for at least 30 years. If, say, your Social Security checks are $2,000 monthly, you'd have a combined annual income in retirement of $40,000.
Believe it or not, data from the 2022 Survey of Consumer Finances indicates that only 9% of American households have managed to save $500,000 or more for their retirement. This means less than one in ten families have achieved this financial goal.
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.
Half a million dollars might sound like a lot of money, but if you're approaching retirement, is it enough? If you have $500,000 in a pre-tax IRA and expect $2,000 per month from Social Security, you may have enough money to retire at age 67.
The Rarity of $5 Million Retirements
According to data from the Employee Benefit Research Institute, based on the Federal Reserve's Survey of Consumer Finances, a mere 0.1% of retirees have managed to accumulate over $5 million in their retirement accounts.
Can You Retire at 62 With $400,000 in a 401(k)? 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.
“By the time you hit 33 years old, you should have $100,000 saved somewhere,” he said, urging viewers that they can accomplish this goal. “Save 20 percent of your paycheck and let the market grow at 5% to 7% per year,” O'Leary said in the video.
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.
By age 40, you should have three times your annual salary already saved. By age 50, you should have six times your salary in an account. By age 60, you should have eight times your salary working for you. By age 67, your total savings total goal is 10 times the amount of your current annual salary.
Savings of $500,000 may sound like a lot of money. And it is. But if you retire at age 45 to live off of that amount alone, it may not last very long unless you live very frugally. Even then, those savings may get consumed while you're still living.
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.
Not factoring in additional income from other sources or taking taxes into account, if you retire at 65 and plan to spread $400,000 across 15 years up to a life expectancy of 85, you'll receive, at minimum, $34,000 annually. This is if you factor in 2% inflation and an annual yield of 6%.
$400,000 is a big annual household income. You can certainly survive just fine off $400,000 a year. However, based on the above expenses, a $400,000 household income only provides for an upper-middle-class lifestyle for a family of four in a big city.
In most cases, you will have to wait until age 66 and four months to collect enough Social Security for a stable retirement. If you want to retire early, you will have to find a way to replace your income during that six-year period. In most cases $300,000 is simply not enough money on which to retire early.
Rich retirees: In the 90th percentile, with net worth starting at $1.9 million, this group has much more financial freedom and is able to afford luxuries and legacy planning.
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).
You've probably heard stories about 401(k) millionaires – people who've managed to save $1 million or more in their retirement accounts.