The magic number: How much is enough to retire?

The magic number: How much is enough to retire?

4/2/24 8:00PM

The magic number

‍Giving up your full-time job for good obviously comes at a cost, but for many Americans, the price of retirement has never been higher: the average US adult now expects to need $1.46 million to afford a comfortable one-way ticket out of the working world.

That’s according to a new survey of 4,588 American adults commissioned by financial planning company Northwestern Mutual. The updated figures also revealed that the average respondent has $88.4k saved towards retirement in 2024 — some way off the updated “magic number”, which has risen 53% since 2020, far outstripping inflation.

As is to be expected, the amount of money we feel we need to live comfortably in our post-work years massively depends on our proximity to the ~65-year mark. However, external concerns like ever-rising healthcare costs and the actions of previous generations (at least according to BlackRock CEO Larry Fink last week) have perhaps compounded worries for younger workers.

Such factors, when taken with a pinch of the realism that only aging and first-hand experience with the realities of retirement can harness, see generations diverge widely on their necessary savings expectations. Gen Z and millennials, for example, now expect to need some $1.63m and $1.65m, respectively, up from $890k and $970k just 4 years ago, while boomers and older Americans in 2024 say they need just $990k in the bank to live out a comfortable retirement.

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