Its difficult to know if youre saving enough for retirement.
And how do you know the market will be so reliable?
Experts often suggest you have anest eggof $1 million to $1.5 million saved when you retire.
Can that possibly be right?
Is everyone else sitting on six figures?
It goes without saying that the amount of savings youll need to retire depends on your individual situation.
But lets face it: We all want to know what the neighbors are saving.
And we all want to know if were saving enough ourselves.
Recommended retirement savings by age are provided byFidelity.
No Interest Til Almost 2027?
The reality:The median retirement savings in households headed by someone younger than 35 is $12,300.
More than three-quarters of adults arefalling shorton recommended retirement savings, and younger people are no exception.
Just 27.5% of people ages 21 to 34 have a retirement account.
If youre in your 20s, you have plenty of time to catch up on your savings.
But every year you dont start saving can cost you significantly.
Compound growth needs time to work.
Your 20s should be all about letting it get started.
The reality:The median retirement savings in households headed by someone ages 35 to 44 is $37,000.
Some big expenses often find their way into life in your 30s.
Maybe you bought your first home.
You might have gotten married.
Kids may even been in the picture now.
On the bright side, youre probably making more money now that youre in your 30s.
Youve hopefully put in some years in your field and even gotten a few promotions.
Just as it was in your 20s, getting started is key if you havent already.
Fidelity recommendsthat those who begin saving at age 25 save 15% of their income.
If you begin at age 30, the recommendation is 18% instead.
But by 35, that number goes to 23%.
If you did get started in your 20s, confirm youre adjusting your contributions as your income goes up.
The reality:The median retirement savings in households headed by someone ages 45 to 54 is $82,600.
By now if you have kids, youre probably spinning two plates of financial stress: retirement and college.
But keep in mind that theyll have a whole lifetime to pay back student loans.
Your retirement is less than three decades away.
But it might also be time to consider an additional investment vehicle.
An individual retirement account, or IRA, may be a good option.
There are two main types of IRAs: traditional IRAs and Roth IRAs.
ARoth IRAis especially appealing because you invest after-tax money.
You only pay a penalty if you withdraw from the accounts earnings before youre 59 1/2.
Once you reach age 59 12, its all yours tax-free.
The reality:The median retirement savings in households headed by someone 55 to 64 is $120,000.
If you own a home, hopefully the principal on your mortgage is starting to look more reasonable.
Youre also coming off one of the highest-earning decades your career will see.
So if you find yourself behind, it may be easier than you think to catch up.
Youll also want to double down on any debt you have yet to clear out.
How quickly can you pay off the rest of your mortgage?
Do you have any car loans or credit card debt to tackle?
Retired life is much easier to finance when youre debt-free.
The reality:The median retirement savings in households headed by someone ages 65 to 74 is $126,000.
Yes, even at this stage, most people are still behind on their retirement savings.
That means some people can expect to spend more years in retirement than they spent saving for retirement.
But itsstillnot too late to improve your situation.
But Wait!
But you never know when a major expense or job change will come your way.
You should also have at least three to six months worth of living expenses saved in an emergency fund.
The money should be easily accessible in a financial emergency.
One good option can be ahigh-yield savings account.
Just focus your efforts on saving as much as possible.
Jake Bateman is a writer and editor in Florida.
He wishes he could trade his retirement account balance with his student loan balance.
It sounds appealing right?
Check it out here!
