Retirement savings above $50,000--at least for now
My retirement plan balance went just above 50,000 for the first time*. Tomorrow could have it back under that amount, but it was nice to see it when I looked at my account this morning.
Still, it doesn't feel like enough. I've never made a salary above 38,000/year, yet I enjoy a higher standard of living than I would if I were single. Regardless, I feel a bit of pressure to save enough in my retirement account alone, to provide for my current standard of living during retirement. Something won't allow me to tell myself that I can count on J's retirement savings, too. I suppose in a way that's a good thing--it doesn't allow me to become too dependent or put off saving on my own, but I could deal without the stress and the worry that my standard of living is going to plummet in my later years.
It also doesn't help that there seem to be no general guidelines as to what a reasonable amount is for a person to have saved by a particular age. I suppose there's no good way to measure that--everyone's salary, needs and standard of living are different--but I wish there was some quick and easy way of determining just how well I'm doing at a particular moment.
*I began saving for retirement at age 29, long after I'd--egad--cashed out a retirement plan from my early 20s.
posted by SMB @ 3:34 PM
2 Comments:
If you are looking for guidance about how much retirement savings you "should" have at a given age, see the three methods cited here.
To see how your retirement savings stack up against others with your age and income, see the references cited here.
In general, most people have about one tenth the amount of retirement savings that they "should" have.
I had a planner tell me to save $30k by age 30 when I was in my late twenties, so that helped me stay focused. I've since read that it's important to save 2x your annual salary (I'm still working on that) because that's when the compounding will really show.
I've also seen these aggressive goals:
By age 30, save 1x your annual income.
By age 40, save 5x your annual income.
By age 50, save 10x your annual income.
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