How Much Should You Have Saved for Retirement by Age?

The benchmarks everyone quotes

Fidelity's widely-cited retirement savings benchmarks suggest you should have saved:

These targets assume you want to replace about 80% of your pre-retirement income and retire at 67.

How most Americans actually stack up

The median retirement savings for Americans by age tells a different story:

The gap widens with age. Most Americans are significantly behind the benchmarks. If that's you, don't panic - but do take action.

The power of starting early

The difference between starting at 25 vs. 35 is staggering. Assuming $500/month contributions at an 8% annual return:

Starting 10 years earlier more than doubles your ending balance - and you only contribute $60,000 more. Compound interest does the heavy lifting.

See how your own contributions grow with our compound interest calculator.

How to catch up if you're behind

Max out tax-advantaged accounts. In 2026, you can contribute $23,500 to a 401(k) ($31,000 if you're 50+) and $7,000 to an IRA ($8,000 if 50+). If your employer matches, that's free money - never leave it on the table.

Increase savings rate, not just amount. Going from 10% to 15% of your income is a bigger deal than it sounds. On a $100,000 salary, that's an extra $5,000/year, which grows to $170,000+ over 20 years at 8%.

Reduce your retirement spending target. The benchmarks assume you need 80% of your pre-retirement income. But many retirees spend less - no commuting costs, no work wardrobe, a paid-off mortgage. If you only need 60% replacement, the target drops by 25%.

Consider alternative income sources. Social Security, rental income, part-time work, and pensions all reduce how much you need from your portfolio.

Why rental income changes the equation

Here's where it gets interesting for landlords. If you own rental properties generating steady cash flow, you need less from your investment portfolio.

Example: You need $6,000/month in retirement. With 3 paid-off rental properties generating $1,500/month each ($4,500 total), you only need $1,500/month from your portfolio. Using the 4% rule, that requires only $450,000 saved - not $1.8 million.

Rental income is particularly powerful for early retirement because:

It doesn't deplete your portfolio (unlike the 4% rule)

Rents increase with inflation

You continue building equity even in retirement

Learn more in our guide: How to Retire Early with Rental Properties

The 4% rule: how much do you need?

The 4% rule says you can withdraw 4% of your portfolio in the first year of retirement, then adjust for inflation each year, with a high probability of your money lasting 30 years.

But the 4% rule assumes a fixed withdrawal rate. In practice, most retirees spend more in early retirement (travel, projects) and less later. Run your specific scenario through our retirement calculator - it uses a 10,000-trial Monte Carlo simulation to show your actual probability of success.

What if I want to retire early?

Early retirement (before 59½) adds complexity because you can't access most retirement accounts without penalties. You need to build taxable investments or alternative income sources to bridge the gap.

The Rule of 25 is a quick way to estimate: multiply your annual spending by 25 to get your target nest egg. If you spend $60,000/year, you need $1.5 million. This is equivalent to the 4% rule.

For early retirees, many financial planners recommend a 3.5% withdrawal rate instead of 4% to account for the longer retirement period. That means multiplying annual spending by ~29 instead of 25.

The bottom line

The benchmarks are guidelines, not gospel. Your actual target depends on your spending, income sources, and when you want to retire. The most important thing is to start - even if you're behind, compound interest still works in your favor.

Run your own retirement projection - including Social Security, rental income, and market uncertainty - with our retirement calculator. It shows your probability of success based on 10,000 simulated market scenarios.