How much should you have saved for retirement at each stage of life? You may come across retirement savings benchmarks based on age, income, or a multiple of your salary. While these guidelines can provide a general reference point, there is no universal amount everyone should have saved by a particular age.
Your retirement timeline, anticipated spending, Social Security benefits, pensions, other financial resources, and personal goals can all influence how much you may need.
Instead of focusing on a single number, it can be more useful to consider how your retirement planning priorities may change as you move through different stages of life.
In Your 30s: Build a Foundation
Your 30s may bring several competing financial priorities, from paying down debt and buying a home to raising a family or advancing your career.
When it comes to retirement, one of the advantages you may have during this stage is time. Money invested earlier has more opportunity for potential compound growth, although investment returns fluctuate and aren’t guaranteed.
Consider reviewing:
- How much you’re contributing to retirement accounts
- Whether you’re taking advantage of an available employer match
- How retirement savings fit alongside debt repayment and other financial goals
- Whether your investments align with your time horizon and risk tolerance
- Whether you can adjust your contributions as your income and expenses change
You don’t need to reach a particular account balance by the end of your 30s. The goal is to begin building a savings strategy that fits within your broader financial picture and can evolve as your circumstances change.
In Your 40s: Evaluate Your Progress
By your 40s, you may have a clearer picture of your career, income, and long-term financial goals. At the same time, expenses related to children, education, housing, or caring for aging parents may compete with retirement savings.
This can be a useful time to look beyond your retirement account balance and ask whether your current trajectory aligns with the retirement you’re working toward.
Consider reviewing:
- Your anticipated retirement age
- How much you’re currently saving
- How your retirement savings have progressed
- Whether your investment allocation still reflects your time horizon and risk tolerance
- How other financial priorities may affect your retirement plan
If your savings aren’t where you’d like them to be, identifying a potential gap can give you more time to evaluate possible adjustments.
Your retirement goals may also have changed since you first started saving. Periodically revisiting them can help make sure your strategy continues to reflect what you actually want from retirement.
In Your 50s: Turn Your Goals Into a More Detailed Plan
As retirement gets closer, your planning can become more specific.
Instead of asking only, “How much have I saved?” consider asking, “What will my retirement cost, and what resources may be available to support it?”
Your 50s can be a good time to develop estimates for:
- Your anticipated retirement age
- Expected retirement spending
- Social Security benefits
- Pension or other income, if applicable
- Healthcare and potential long-term care costs
- Housing expenses and debt
- Taxes in retirement
- The role your investments may play in generating income
People age 50 and older may also be eligible to make catch-up contributions to certain retirement accounts. Current law provides an additional catch-up opportunity for eligible participants ages 60 through 63 in certain workplace retirement plans. Contribution limits, eligibility requirements, and plan provisions can change, so review current IRS guidance and your plan’s rules.
This stage can also be an opportunity to review your investment allocation. As your time horizon changes, consider whether the amount and types of investment risk you’re taking remain appropriate for your circumstances and goals.
In Your 60s: Shift From Saving to Retirement Income Planning
As retirement approaches, the focus often begins to shift from accumulating assets to determining how your financial resources may support your lifestyle.
Having a large retirement account balance doesn’t necessarily tell you whether you’re prepared to retire. The amount you’ll need depends in part on your expenses and the income available from other sources.
Your retirement income plan may need to consider:
- Social Security and when to claim benefits
- Pensions and other income sources
- Withdrawals from retirement and taxable accounts
- Taxes on retirement income
- Required distributions from applicable retirement accounts
- Medicare and other healthcare expenses
- Your investment allocation
- How market declines could affect a portfolio while you’re taking withdrawals
- The possibility of a retirement lasting several decades
Social Security can be an important part of this planning. Retirement benefits can generally begin as early as age 62. Claiming before your full retirement age generally results in a lower monthly benefit, while delaying beyond full retirement age generally increases your monthly benefit until age 70.
The appropriate claiming strategy depends on individual circumstances, including other income sources, health, longevity considerations, marital status, and retirement goals.
What If You Feel Behind on Retirement Savings?
It can be easy to compare your retirement balance with someone else’s or with an age-based benchmark. But neither comparison tells you whether your retirement plan is actually on track.
Two people of the same age with the same income and retirement account balance could have very different retirement needs. One may expect a pension and have relatively low housing expenses. The other may plan to retire earlier, travel frequently, or rely primarily on personal savings.
If you’re concerned about your progress, consider focusing on the factors you can evaluate and potentially adjust, such as your savings rate, expected spending, retirement timeline, and investment strategy.
Other financial resources may also play a role, including Social Security, pensions, business interests, or other assets. However, different assets have different levels of liquidity, risk, tax treatment, and availability for retirement spending.
The more useful question isn’t necessarily “How much should someone my age have saved?”
It’s “Are my available resources reasonably positioned to support the retirement I’m planning for?”
The Bottom Line
Your age can provide context for retirement planning, but it doesn’t determine how much you should have saved.
In your 30s, the focus may be establishing a foundation and giving your savings time to grow. In your 40s, it may shift toward evaluating your progress. Your 50s can be an opportunity to develop more detailed estimates for retirement expenses and income. By your 60s, the focus often turns toward coordinating income, withdrawals, taxes, healthcare, and investment risk.
Retirement planning isn’t about reaching the same milestone as everyone else. It’s about understanding what your retirement may require and whether your financial resources align with those goals.
At Navalign Wealth Partners, we help clients evaluate retirement savings, income sources, and long-term goals as part of a broader financial plan. If you’d like to better understand how your current strategy aligns with the retirement you’re working toward, contact our team to start the conversation.