Retirement
Retirement benchmarks exist on a spectrum from comforting to alarming depending on where you are. The numbers matter less than understanding what drives them — and what levers you actually have.
Retirement Savings Gap
Use the calculator to run the numbers for your specific situation.
Widely cited guidelines suggest having saved: 1× your salary by age 30 3× your salary by age 40 6× your salary by age 50 8× your salary by age 60 10× your salary by age 67 These assume maintaining roughly 45% of pre-retirement income from savings, retiring at 67, and a 4% annual withdrawal rate. They're a useful rough benchmark — not gospel.
The most common retirement target calculation is the 25× rule, derived from the 4% safe withdrawal rate. The 4% rule suggests a retiree can withdraw 4% of their portfolio in year one, adjust for inflation annually, and have a high probability of not running out of money over 30 years. Flipping this: if you expect to spend $50,000/year in retirement, you need $50,000 ÷ 0.04 = $1,250,000. Important caveats: the rule was developed using historical US market returns; retiring earlier requires a more conservative 3–3.5% rate; and your Social Security benefit reduces how much your portfolio needs to cover.
First: capture your full employer match. A 50% match on 6% of salary is a guaranteed 50% return — nothing in personal finance comes close. If you're not doing this, it's the first thing to fix. Increase your savings rate by 1% per year. A single percentage point feels painless, but compounded over a decade it's transformative. Many 401(k) plans offer automatic escalation. Don't cash out when you change jobs. Rolling to an IRA or new employer plan preserves the full amount. Cashing out triggers income taxes plus a 10% penalty — and permanently destroys the compounding potential. Time in market beats timing the market. Starting today is always better than waiting for the "right time."
Three real levers exist: 1. Save more — increasing your savings rate is the most direct path 2. Work longer — each additional year adds contributions and removes withdrawals simultaneously 3. Spend less in retirement — a $40,000/year target vs $60,000/year reduces required portfolio by $500,000 Social Security timing also matters significantly. Delaying benefits from 62 to 70 increases the monthly payment by approximately 76% — effectively a guaranteed 7–8% annual return on the delay.
Catch-up contributions exist for a reason. In 2025, people 50 and older can contribute an additional $7,500 to a 401(k) and an additional $1,000 to an IRA. If you're significantly behind in your 50s, the most effective moves are: maximize retirement contributions including catch-up amounts, eliminate high-interest debt consuming cash flow, reassess spending expectations honestly, and consider working a few more years — which both adds contributions and delays withdrawals. Being behind at 50 is genuinely fixable with 15 years of focused effort. The retirement savings gap calculator can show you exactly what monthly contribution closes the gap.
Run the numbers yourself
See if you're on track for retirement and exactly what you need to save to close the gap.