So, if you get Social Security, and have been earning the max, you will likely get about $30,000 per year in benefits. This reduces the amount needed in savings to $3 million. Assuming your spouse has also been working and will receive a similar amount, you only need $2.25 million. If you sell your house and downsize to a $500k house, you will have $1 million in investments. At six percent a year, it will take about 10 years to grow that to $2.25 million. Maybe that's not so daunting?

Of course, as folks point out, if you can live on less, you'll need less.

PP, you're right! Forget sometime that individuals in this area are unique (no snark intended here).

Do you need $150K a year -- before Social Security and assuming you plan never to touch principal?

Most of us don't. So we don't need $3M.

OP here. Thanks so much for not flaming me ! These are helpful to get me started. The idea of needing to save in upwards of 3+ millions give me heart palpitations!

There are so many assumptions necessary that all you end up with is a guess. Now on the other hand, you can try to enter retirement with housing paid for and the habits that sustain good health. Those are the major costs over which you have some meaningful control. Those are the costs that potentially blow up the assumptions in all the models. Sorry there's not a simple number calculation that solves everything. Oh, and Fidelity says your financial wisdom peaks at age 52. So whatever you have in retirement, keeping it ain't so easy once the insurance and securities industry types find you.

Using the safe withdrawal rule of 4 percent of assets, you would need $3.75 million in assets to create a $150,000 annual income. This does not include your house. If you are getting social security or some pension, subtract those annual amounts from your $150,000 goal, and re-do the math (annual income divided by .04)

OP, for a more basic rule of thumb, a multiple of your salary at a certain age is a good barometer:

http://www.sfgate.com/business/networth/article/Retirement-rule-of-thumb-from-Fidelity-3860834.php

So much of it depends on the amount you and your husband will need each year. Try to come up with an estimate of that. I assumed that we would pay off the mortgage, wouldn't be saving for retirement anymore, and would no longer have college and other kid-related expenses. The savings from this would be partially offset with higher health care bills. You could just plug in some guesses into the online calculators, and then run it again with some different guesses to see how much it changes the results.

Too many variables to guess at. The online calculators are handy to make some basic estimates that you may want to figure on:
- remaining mortgage on house
- cost to maintain home when you may not be able to do it yourself
- travel
- long term medical care (insurance)
- paying for kids' college
- gifting money to kids for their homes, grad school, grandkids' education

There is almost no upper limit and $7.3 million would not be nearly enough for some.

For others? Well, most of the elderly in the US rely on Social Security for more than 50% of their income.
http://www.ssa.gov/pressoffice/basicfact.htm

No flames! Just saying that $7.5 million in assets yields $200,000 per year for 30 years (an estimate, of course). So what variable do you want to change from that scenario?

OP here, I find those websites intimidating. I don't know some of the assumptions they are asking. Don't flame me !

Several posters on that thread calculated that 7.5million would give you 30 years of about $200,000 per year. I think a retirement calculator was also recommended. Lots of websites will let you input your own numbers and will calculate retirement amounts based on different scenarios.

OP from the thread inquired whether it is feasible for her/him to retire with 7.5millions in asset at 55. I'd love to know how much one should aim to have in total asset to retire. The variables are: ~150000/year to live for two people, downsizing from a 1.5M home to something more modest, kids out of school, no outrageous debts--normal living and nothing fancy. Thanks in advance.