Kristen and Chester from St. Louis, MO ask: Is there a “magic number” for knowing how much to save for retirement?
Thank you for writing, Kristen and Chester. The short answer to your question, unfortunately, is No. Every investor’s situation is different, so there cannot be a ‘magic number’ that we could apply across the board to all retirees. If you’re looking for a good proxy to help you figure out how much to save, it may not be a magic number you’re after. What could work better for you is a magic percentage.
I like 15%. But I think if you’re saving in the range of 10% to 20% of total household income, and you invest a significant portion of your savings in equities, and you do that for 20 – 30 years, you should be in good shape. These aren’t percentages I’m pulling out of thin air, either. It’s based on an assumed replacement rate of around 70%. Allow me to explain a bit more.
A replacement rate of 70% means that if your household income during your working years averaged, say, $100,000, then in retirement you should expect to need $70,000 per year to maintain the same or similar standard of living. The $100,000 gets reduced in retirement years because you’re no longer saving, your expenditures should decrease, and hopefully you drop into a lower tax bracket. Social Security will assist in getting you to that $70,000, but will probably provide you around half of it. The rest will likely need to come from your retirement and investment accounts.
Getting your retirement accounts to the point of having enough assets to provide passive income for 20-30 years means actively saving in your working years, which again I suggest be in the 10 – 20% range assuming you’re getting around 8% annualized growth on that money. In my opinion, that’s a big key to acquiring the retirement savings you need, and it should involve investing in equities over the long-term (during your working years and on into retirement).
According to a recent 4,854-respondent Merrill Lynch/Age Wave study, only 27% of pre-retirees aged 50 or older felt financially prepared to fund a retirement that lasts 10 years. 81% of respondents didn’t know how much money they’ll need to fund their retirement. If you’re unsure of how much you need to save or whether you’re on track, contact a Zacks Investment Advisor for help. We can run simulations to show you how on track you are with your current savings and investments, and we can help you adjust your savings and investment strategies to help put you on course. Don’t delay these very important decisions.
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