How much money does it take to bankroll a comfortable retirement?
If you ask Americans, the average answer is an astounding $1.46 million.
That’s per a recent Northwestern Mutual survey of 4,500 U.S. adults, which found retirement cost expectations have spiked since 2020. This year’s average estimate is 53% higher than it was four years ago, when people said they’d need $951,000 to retire.
When it comes to their actual savings, though, Americans are far from achieving their expected retirement needs: Survey respondents reported their average retirement savings is just $88,400 in 2024.
That’s a $10,000 decrease from the average retirement savings recorded by Northwestern Mutual in 2021, when the metric hit its five-year peak of $98,800.
IMO, having $100,000 in your savings when you retire is pretty sad. I know many people the made good money throughout their careers but always seemed to spend more than they made. I think $1.5M is a little low too to retire on especially if you are fully invested. That $1.5M could become $800,000 if another 2008 happens and you might not have to years for your money to come back, all the while taking distributions out of it.
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