Saving for retirement: Start sooner, or save longer

• A typical person in the U.S. nearing retirement has less than $100,000 saved.
• If you start at 25, you will cut your savings rate by about two-thirds (versus someone who starts later).
• If you start at 45, you can cut your savings rate by about the same rate, if you work until you’re 70.

Via

Talk about a reality check!

I’m rather shocked at the average person nearing retirement only having about $100,000 saved, but it also doesn’t surprise me that much.

How much do you need to have saved for retirement so far?

The average metrics are:

By age 35, your goal is to save an amount equal to your annual pay.

By 45, you will want to have saved about three times your salary, rising to five times your salary by 55.

Typical wage earners should aim to save at least eight times their final annual pay to be sure they can afford basic living expenses in retirement.

Read more about what those retirement numbers mean in real salary dollars here.

If you haven’t reached those numbers, you need to start ASAP and/or you need to save for much longer (depending on where you are on the age scale).

Never too late.

Some more retirement posts:

• How much should I have saved for retirement so far?
• How much should you have saved for retirement by age?
• The average person only has $100K saved at age 60 just before retirement
• What does retiring really mean?
• How much do you need to have saved to retire in 20 years?
• How should you calculate how much you need at retirement?
• The retirement savings rule: How much do you need to save?
• How much should you save each year for retirement? The rule of 30