How much you need to retire?

• How much you need to save for retirement depends on your current income and the lifestyle you want when you retire.
• Knowing how much you need to save “by age” can help you stay on track and reach your retirement goals.
• There are a few simple formulas that you can use to come up with the numbers.

How Much Do I Need to Retire?

Most experts say your retirement income should be about 80% of your final pre-retirement annual income.That means if you make $100,000 annually at retirement, you need at least $80,000 per year to have a comfortable lifestyle after leaving the workforce.

This amount can be adjusted up or down depending on other sources of income, such as Social Security, pensions, and part-time employment, as well as factors like your health and desired lifestyle. For example, you might need more than that if you plan to travel extensively during retirement.

Retirement Rule of Thumb: 4% Rule

There are different ways to determine how much money you need to save to get the retirement income you want. One easy-to-use formula is to divide your desired annual retirement income by 4%, which is known as the 4% rule.

To generate the $80,000 cited above, for example, you would need a nest egg at retirement of about $2 million ($80,000 / 0.04). This strategy assumes a 5% return on investments (after taxes and inflation), no additional retirement income (such as Social Security), and a lifestyle similar to the one you would be living at the time you retire.

Keep in mind that your life expectancy plays an important role in determining if the 4% rule rate will be sustainable. In general, the 4% rule assumes that you will live for about another 30 years in retirement. Retirees who live longer need their portfolios to last longer, and medical costs and other expenses can increase as you age.

Retirement Savings by Age

Knowing how much you should save toward retirement at each stage of your life helps you answer that all-important question: “How much do I need to retire?” Here are a few useful formulas that can help you set age-based savings goals on the road to retirement.

Percentage of Your Salary

To begin to figure out how much you need to accumulate at various stages of your life, it can be useful to think in terms of saving a percentage of your salary.

Fidelity Investments suggests saving 15% of your gross salary starting in your 20s and lasting throughout the course of your working life. This includes savings across different retirement accounts and any employer contributions if you have access to a 401(k).or another employer-sponsored plan.

How Much to Save for Retirement by Age

Fidelity also recommends the following benchmarks—based on a multiple of your annual earnings—for how much you should have saved for retirement by the time you reach the following ages.

How to Calculate Retirement Savings

In addition to using the above methods to determine what you should have saved and by what age, online calculators can be a useful tool to help you reach your retirement savings goals. For example, they can help you understand how changing savings and withdrawal rates can impact your retirement nest egg.

What Is the 4% Rule?