Saving for retirement: Start sooner, or save longer

Posted on April 25, 2017

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.

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:

Sherry of Save. Spend. Splurge.

I got out of $60,000 of debt in 18 months using TheBudgetingTool.com. Since then, I have worked 50% of my career (taking 1-2 year breaks), and quadrupled my income within 2 years of graduating, going from $65K to $260K (savings rate = 85%). I could retire today if I wanted, but love my work-life balance as a freelancing consultant in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math). I also post daily on Instagram @saverspender.