Retirement savings by age: Are you on track?
When was the last time you reviewed your retirement plan? Do you know how much you have saved? And are you on track to reach your retirement goals?
Key Points
- It’s unlikely that Social Security will cover all your monthly needs, especially if you plan to maintain your current standard of living in retirement.
- Check your savings against the national average to see how you rank.
- Your chosen location and planned lifestyle will greatly influence your expenses in retirement.
You’re probably contributing to your workplace plan, if you have one. But when was the last time you reviewed your contributions or checked to see if your retirement portfolio was on track to meet your long-term goals? Now is a good time for a gut check to see if you’re likely to retire when you want.
Average retirement account balances by age
The first step to staying on track with your retirement goals is to know where you are. In 2022, Vanguard released a research report titled “How America Saves” that compares Americans’ average retirement account balances by age (the figures are based on 2021). How do your savings stack up?
| Age | Average retirement balance |
|---|---|
| Vanguard defined contribution plans, 2021: Account balances by participant demographics. (Numbers are rounded to the nearest $100.) | |
| Under 25 | $6,300 |
| 25–34 | $37,200 |
| 35–44 | $97,000 |
| 45–54 | $179,200 |
| 44–64 | $256,200 |
| 65 and older | $280,000 |
Although these numbers might give you a baseline from which to compare your savings, they don’t even come close to telling you how prepared you might be. For example, it seems there’s always a new study showing how ill-prepared Americans are for retirement.
In other words, what if “average” isn’t good enough, especially if you plan to maintain your current level of comfort? The next step is to dig into some details.
How much should you invest for retirement?
Deciding what to set aside for retirement depends on a number of factors, including:
Where you plan to live in retirement. What’s your home base? Cost of living, taxes, and other factors can impact how long your nest egg will last. For example, according to retirement education site Silvur, a couple retiring at age 62 with assets of $1.1 million could expect their money to last until age 85 if they live in Oregon. That same couple, though, could see their nest egg stretch to age 105 by moving to Ohio.
Your desired retirement lifestyle. A retirement that involves spending time with family, staying home most of the time, and remaining frugal probably doesn’t need an aggressive savings plan. If you want to travel, take up interesting hobbies, and generally maintain a high quality of life, though, you need to plan on saving more.
Think ahead to what you want your retirement to look like. Then estimate a target monthly spend to make that happen. This will help you figure out how much you need to save to live how you want.
When you want to retire. The earlier you plan to retire, the more you need to save now. Someone planning to retire at age 55 needs to save much more by age 45 than someone who expects to work until age 70.
Keeping a part-time job after you reach a certain age can help you extend your nest egg, even if you consider yourself retired.
What about Social Security? Planning when to start taking Social Security benefits also makes a difference. If you put off drawing on Social Security, you’ll have a higher monthly benefit.
On the other hand, if you start taking Social Security early to supplement an early retirement, you’ll have a lower monthly benefit—and need to make up for it with more savings.
Setting retirement goals: Is your portfolio on track?
Fidelity offers guidance for setting portfolio targets for retirement, based on how many times your salary you should have saved.
| Age | Salary multiplier |
|---|---|
| Fidelity.com offers these savings guidelines to “provide a starting point to help you build your savings plan, and assess your progress.” | |
| 30 | 1x |
| 35 | 2x |
| 40 | 3x |
| 45 | 4x |
| 50 | 6x |
| 55 | 7x |
| 60 | 8x |
| 67 | 10x |
By this measure, if you make $65,000 a year at age 45, you should have at least $260,000 in your retirement account if you want to stay on track to live comfortably after you stop working.
Tips for staying on track with your retirement goals
There are several things you can do to stay on track over time:
- Start ASAP. The earlier you begin investing, the less you’ll need to set aside to stay on track. Even $10 a week before you’re 25 can add up over time, thanks to compounding returns.
- Take advantage of your employer match. If your employer matches your contributions, try to invest enough to get the max. That’s free money that compounds over time and adds to your portfolio.
- Increase your contributions over time. As your income increases, boost your retirement plan contributions. You should invest in your future with each raise and bonus.
- Make it automatic. Many employers allow you to automatically invest with each paycheck. Plus, check to see if you can automatically increase your contribution by 1% each year. That will help you set it and forget it as you move through your career.
- Don’t panic during market downturns. Although it can be nerve-racking to look at your portfolio during a market sell-off, the reality is that staying on track normally means better returns later, aided by a concept called dollar cost averaging. If you stick to your plan and contribute regularly through a downturn, you can grow your portfolio and position it to benefit from the subsequent recovery.
To help you with your retirement and investment plans, check out the calculator in this article. Plug in the appropriate numbers, and see if your retirement savings are on track.
The bottom line
There’s no one way to reach your retirement goals, but it helps to have a basic strategy and check in regularly to make sure you’re on track. Keep exploring Britannica Money’s Retirement section to learn more about creating your retirement plan.