Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You are supposed to have 1x salary in retirement savings by age 30 and 2x by age 35 to be on track

So you're saying if you even hit the first milestone, you basically need to be saving almost 20% of your salary between ages 30 and 35? I think it's really hard for most people to do that. I've only got 1/3 of my salary saved at 29, but I also spent 2 years in grad school. I'm saving 10% of a government salary.

Yea, that caught my attention, too. Most 20-somethings live hand to mouth and aren't really in a position to save much until they hit 30 or so.

Anonymous wrote:You are supposed to have 1x salary in retirement savings by age 30 and 2x by age 35 to be on track

So you're saying if you even hit the first milestone, you basically need to be saving almost 20% of your salary between ages 30 and 35? I think it's really hard for most people to do that. I've only got 1/3 of my salary saved at 29, but I also spent 2 years in grad school. I'm saving 10% of a government salary.

You are supposed to have 1x salary in retirement savings by age 30 and 2x by age 35 to be on track

Anonymous wrote:

Saving a higher proportion of your income not only gives you greater savings, it suggests that you would be able to survive on a lower proportion of your current income when you retire.

This is a big thing. I would start by saving what you need for employer match, then move to 10%, then move to 15% then see if you can do 20%-- not quickly but over your 20s to your 40s. But if you never get past 10% chances are you won't save enough to live like that when you are retired.

Do you own a house or condo? Removing, over time, housing as a monthly cost sets you up well in retirement. Yes you'd still have taxes and upkeep....

I would try to max out your tax-efficient savings.

There is no real maximum amount, but I would never save less than 10 percent of your gross salary as the bare minimum.

Saving a higher proportion of your income not only gives you greater savings, it suggests that you would be able to survive on a lower proportion of your current income when you retire.

Invest as much as you can for as long as you can. You don't know what the future holds. And compound interest works in your favor. I had access to an employer retirement plan 5 years before my husband did and 15 years later I have almost double the money in my 401(k).

As life goes on, stuff comes up -- kids, mortgage, college savings for the kids, parents may get sick, you may get laid off or sick, etc. Save what you can, when you can.

I'm not saying you should subsist on Saltines and water and never have any fun. Just set aside at least 10 percent in the 401(k), which will lower your taxable income. If you have extra money, go on a nice vacation or buy that overpriced pair of shoes, but don't piss it away on getting drunk with your pals nightly or eating expensive lunches out every day. Make conscious choices with your money.

Getting off the soap box now ...

I just read "All your Worth" by Elizabeth Warren and am planning on starting to implement it in my life, maybe it would be useful for you?

Everyone else can just give you rules of thumb, but not actual targeted advice on what will work for you. You really need to plug in your own numbers.

This is good advice with a caveat. These calculators make ASSUMPTIONS (or they ask you too) about circumstances far in the future. If any of the assumptions turn out wrong, even marginally, the resulting predictions will be way off the mark. So use the calculators with some perspective, they'll give you a sense of what is required, but I suspect the answer to OP's question for most of us is do the best you can.

It various greatly from family to family based on what you earn, what you spend, and what your expectations are for after retirement.

The best thing to do is to go to http://www.choosetosave.org/ and use the ballpark estimator. Put in your actual numbers for what you earn, what you spend and what you expect to spend post-retirement (a common decrease in spending is that your mortgage is often paid off before retirement), what you currently have, what your current retirement savings rate is and it will help you figure out how much you need to save per year, to get where you want to be.

Everyone else can just give you rules of thumb, but not actual targeted advice on what will work for you. You really need to plug in your own numbers.

Well and sometimes people are forced into early retirement for health or job related reasons. How much to save also depends on what kind of income you have now. For someone making six figures, I say max the 401k/Ira. For someone making less 10% plus saving non-retirement money might make more sense.

Also, there is no way to predict how long a person will live. I had a seemingly perfectly healthy co-worker drop dead at age 57. I want to spend some time enjoying life and not being chained to working for someone else.

Probably won't completely retire, but I do plan to cut back significantly.

10% of your gross income in a tax-deferred account (401K, IRA, whatever) is the standard benchmark.

Max out what you can contribute at work. Save up to fund an IRA every year, as well.

I wouldn't plan to retire at 62, though. You'll probably live to be 100. What are you going to do for all that time?

I currently have 45k in my retirement account at age 29. I have been slack about it and need to do better. How much should I really be saving a month so that I can retire at 62?