I reached my first 100k in retirement this year (age 43.5) and if all goes well, my plan to retire at age 57 with at or very close to $1 million will work out 😁

You also have to remember that the Roth won’t require taking money out for taxes, so having less in your Roth IRA over a Traditional 401k still might be the equivalent (or possibly even better) between taxes and not having to take an RMD on the Roth account.

i'm 45, and because of divorce, then bankruptcy, i'm waaaay behind, (though i am higher than median for gen x). I switched jobs, got a nice bump in pay, and i was just hoping to be able to retire someday. I think these numbers show i can do it, currently putting about 1900/month away. But playing catch up. So if anyone sees my younger self, slap him please!

Target is ~$3M, not including pensions and SS. We don't need that much in retirement but I always set my goals higher because of the way my brain works. :)

Awesome video. My goal is 2M at retirement, currently 24 and taking advantage of my employer 6% match and I just opened a ROTH IRA that I hope to max out each year. I’m a long ways off but just hit my first milestone of 20k across my entire portfolio.

Great video Erin. The sad thing is that the vast majority of the people who watch your videos have been investing like this for years. The people who need this advice most likely are watching stupid childish videos on TikTok and not videos devoted to financial planning. They should require people in high school and college to watch your videos.

My goal is 1.8m at 65, which might be a challenge. I'm 53 with only 4x my annual income invested, but I'm a pretty aggressive super saver, currently investing 42% of income and I increase it every year...and my portfolio is 100% stock funds, so it's definitely doable. Fortunately I have a stratospheric risk tolerance!

The issue here.... especially for younger investors is inflation will make that $2.2 million benchmark for wealth much much larger because $2.2 million will not have anywhere near the same purchasing power as today.

As noted, the projections are based on an investment return of 8%, which is possibly realistic over a few decades with heavy emphasis on stocks, but possibly unrealistic over a shorter time horizon and/or with a more balanced investment mix. So many unknowns! But there’s a definite / undesirable outcome of not investing, so it probably makes sense to invest up to one’s comfort level (and with risk tolerance in mind).

My $3M dividend portfolio pays all my bills multiple times over, I am 52 , retired because I no longer need to work

Great presentation, the S&P 500 is up this year 17% so far, 10.7% over the last 30 years!

47 with roughly 320k in a Roth 401k, and 32k in a Roth IRA. Hoping to hit the 2 million mark before retirement at 62. Fingers crossed

Great content and man....these median and average starting balances are frightening! Save your money people!

Erin I'm becoming addicted to your channel. Good stuff.

Terrific video! You hit all the key points.

Keep preaching these no-nonsense facts of life Erin! Absolutely Love them, and your straightforward approach without sugar-coating anything! People need to realize that spending everything you make is really, really a continual lapse in judgement throughout your life. My wife and I (now at 53 and 54 respectively) both started saving early, years before our marriage in the late 80's...almost to the point of lunacy over the years, more or less making a game out of it. Not going out with friends, buying generics, shopping at Goodwill or Salvation Army, clipping coupons like crazy, second or third hand cars, garage sale tools and yard equipment, off-season trips, always ordering water if we do go out for dinner and no appetizers...and 10% max on tips...and that's only if they really "earned" them. Neither of us were ever "given" anything in life and knew that hard work and determination was the magic key that everyone can put to use. For many, many years we made it a goal to save/invest at least 50% of our monthly pay. I retired at 45 and she retired at 46 (neither of us ever making more than $70K/yr). Now trying to make it worth our while for all those years of sacrifice. Hang onto your hat though, as this is where the irony in this story comes out, and you'll find this part "nonsensical"....we have a little over $2.6M in savings and investments that we should never have to touch the principal on....YET, we still go to Goodwill/Salvation Army, clip coupons, drink water if we go out, drive secondhand cars, and basically still do all the stuff we did during our earning years, and still make a game out of it...and even still put money into savings every month! I can't imagine ever, ever, ever paying "retail" for goods the rest of our lives....what a waste of money! Get ready, even more irony....we never had kids, and as such, have no grandkids to leave anything to, so trying to identify which nieces or nephews we'll leave anything to. By the way, none of the relatives on either side of our family know we have anything saved or invested and they just think "we're just scraping by monthly"....they just see us as the Aunt and Uncle who live "modestly" in a small home and keep to themselves...but they all know we love them to pieces. And as the experts have always stated over history....."NEVER tell any of your family or friends you have money"....we heard this story continually over the years, so we stuck with that mindset. So to stay in this context, all our relatives think we still have jobs, as we always plan visits around theoretical "vacation time", just so they don't get to wondering "how do they get by without working". Yes, we know, not exactly being straight up with them, but it should "keep fences up where they need to be", as my grandad used to say. Getting on the Savings & Investment train while still young helps immensely while developing those first spending habits. Our grandparents on both sides who had been through the depression as kids themselves, taught us that putting money in a "Passbook Savings Account" (not sure if these even exist anymore) and then only using it for emergency purposes will help keep you happy and safe. We had both started jobs in our early teens (that paid minimum wage at $2.75/hr) and started the savings train early on in life...this was the catalyst in the whole deal, because once you save actual "cash"....this mindset rubs off on just about everything else in life you come across by always thinking about where you can "save money", and you're constantly on the lookout for "deals" and "where you can save"....and those "well-worn jeans, T-Shirts, Jackets...and all other Goodwill & Salvation Army finds" are still the rage around our place! Just a few tidbits of info. on us "unemployed 50+ year olds" here at our homestead...and still saving for that "rainy day".

3 for me and 1.5 for my wife before pulling the retirement parachute rip cords. As a lifetime aggressive saver I'm looking forward to giving myself a raise in disposable income after retirement.

One thing to note is that a person doesn’t necessarily have to to have a large sum of money to retire. They just need to make sure they have an income source. Rental income, social security, dividend income, etc…. If a person has $150k saved but has $75k in passive income, they’re likely going to be fine. I’m not suggesting in the slightest to not invest. I just want to pose the idea of having income vs just investment savings.

Great financial insight 💯💯💯💯

It freaks me out being a boomer that my peers are at this stage in life without the necessary funds to live life well. We have a friend that is supporting his parents as they did not plan well. Get saving and keep saving. Never touch this money. Invest in side hustles like real estate and the market. Don’t leave it to chance.

Thanks for the video!

My goal has been $3 million for a long time- cautiously optimistic I’ll reach it, but that’s still 20 years away and a lot can happen by then. For now, I’m on track, I currently have 6x my wages saved and I’m a young gen-Xer. One thing that helped was being auto enrolled into a 401k in my 20s. I didn’t even know I had that money until I quit. Also I have a good friend who’s been into investing since we were kids, so we always talked about saving and investing when most of our peers were partying instead, lol. Now I just need to get my wife on board!

$4 million will be the new $2 million by the time I retire. It’s like trying to hit a moving target.

Great video yo!

Hi Erin. I really enjoy the way you explain finance. If possible, can you do a video of investing in taxable brokerage vs after-tax contribution in a 401K account? thanks in advance!

Started early, I’m 52 and hoping to retire around 60 to 62. Medical seams like it can kill a retirement plan quickly.

I'm way behind in my retirement accounts, mainly because I've kept my money liquid so that I can buy rental properties. I'm almost at 50k in cash. My goal is 100k by next June.

Wonderful video Erin and Congratulations on 40,000 subscribers! This is a testament to your dedication and commitment to bringing us worthy content, amazing editing and fantastic execution.

I hit 130k in my 401K finally. 15 years to go. Between my wife’s and my 401s and our brokerage acct all goes well should be over 2M

I started out very slowly but since turning 55 my income has begun to shoot up and weirdly at 60 I'm a millionaire and by 70 I expect to have doubled that again (at least). Multiple income streams, including royalties, made it possible.

Another good vid Erin. Every time I see these retirement values for the US, I get a little more worried for the future US retirees. I know this is just one retirement possibility (the example 401k), but it likely represents, or is a good sub-sample, of Americans as a whole. Also, these "newer" retirement values (2023 Q1 for example) have decreased from a 1-2 years ago likely due to the 2022 market performance, so far 2023 is looking better...but hopefully everyone is in the the long-run.

At 27, it took me until I was 24 before I got a job with an employer match. While they only match up to 3%.... I'll take what I can get. They do offer good pay and good insurance for medical, dental and vision. They also have a pension. My debt payoff begins today!

Hey guys! What's up!!! :D This is really similar to a Google Sheet (that's right, I'm a millennial) that I built to keep myself "on track" to hit a number by an age. Awesome video, as always. Thank you!

Love this video. I am in Gen X. Love the fact that I have more than the average. Unfortunately I am still behind. My plan: Keep working until 75.

Don’t forget to always take the employer match if they offer one.

Bummed that from 2014-2020 I had my default 3% invested 401k in target date fund. Found financial channels at 2021 and learned all I could and took immediate action selling what I could and cut off unnecessary spending cold turkey. Now 36, I sit with $67k between my 401k (14.5%) and Roth IRA (max). Mind you I live in the Midwest and make $24/hr so nothing crazy. Just a lot of financial discipline to not waste more time.

Hey! We got the “Hey guys, what’s up?!”!!! 😂👍

My target is 3M by age 55. BUT my trajectory imo through my investments will be 9-10M by 55. I am currently only 40.

09:09 is "annual income" pre tax or post tax?.....after all we live on our after tax income..... Thank you!!

Target is 5mil I have been super blessed that the company I work for contributes 10% and I match that 10%. Hoping to retire in my 50s

Morning: I’m retiring in March and was wondering if it was necessary or a good idea to roll your 401k over even if you are happy with your investments??

Hi Erin, Would you share the formula calculation to get those numbers for the age groups and starting amount. I'd like to calculate mine to see what I should be saving to reach 1 or 2mil goal. Thanks Tom

Great video Erin! Target age 52. Using e-commerce. What do you use for video editing?

9:00 Fidelity's recommended savings by age always give me pause and makes me grimace. If you retire at 67 with only 10x saved, I feel like it's going to be hard to use the 4% rule. A 4% withdrawal assumes you're living on around 40% of your age 67 salary (before taxes and SS). Isn't that a bit low? I don't ask many late-60's retirees about their spending, so I don't know. Might be interesting to investigate.

I think $3 million is a good number but something less than that would be fine. Being mortgage free by retirement would free up a lot of money and add some major flexibility with a sum substantially lower.

Enjoy the ride after 5 decades I’m there

Thanks for this. Can you share what calculators you use to get these numbers.

The wife and I started late but I'm not worried I plan on working till I'm 70yrs old because I love my job so as long as health permits I will keep going. I'm 52yrs old and my wife is 41 currently we are putting $1400 to $1600 monthly into her target date fund its at $22k right now and I just started a Roth 401k thru my work putting in $400 a month we both get a match which I plan on increasing mine each year. Our income is $150k yr and growing.

Dont for get to adjust for inflation! Gen x might be just fine with 1.5mil but but in order to maintain that same standard gen z will need 3.3mil by the time they retire😬(40 years @2% inflation)

Any data on top 1%, 5%, 10% savers/investors’ balances? These studies often just show an average or median. To effectively benchmark, I’d love to compare to the top band and not the broad average or media. Thanks.

I felt wealthy when I bought a new motorcycle. I was younger and now I feel wealthy because I do not have work for someone else’s dream.

How are you calculating these numbers? I would like to able to plug in my current balance, monthly contribution, current age, and goal to see if I am on track.

Video idea Erin. Maybe individual videos on 401k, TSPs, 403B, 457, etc. Even though my wife and I love your channel, we usually only get entertainment value from most of it but education on specifics would be cool ? I am doing an education system with my 25 year old nephew. The latest one is on a CD... 1. What does CD stand for ? 2. Is a CD a locked in for a certain amount of time ? -- If it is not, then how can you remove the money ? -- Is there a penalty for removing early and if so, what ? 3. Is the interest rate locked or adjustable on one ? 4. Where can you buy/purchase a CD ? 5. Is a CD a safe deposit or a volatile deposit ? 6. Which pays better, a CD, a Saving Account, or a Money Market ? 7. How could you lose money with a CD ? 8. What is a CD laddering and is it a good or bad idea ? After this I will move him onto a Money Market discussion/education. I am NOT a professional like you but just trying to get him some basic level education.

What help me and what I recommend to others is to record one's assets and debts on a spread sheet on a quarterly basis: home equity, stock, bonds, 401k, checking/savings, taxable brokerage accounts, annuities, vehicle depreciated value, mortgages, car loans, student loans, and credit card debt. Then you can graph out your net worth and your various asset classes. You can track and visualize your relative asset allocation and make purchasing or investment decisions, such as the best time to buy a new house, when to cut back spending, when to increase investment, etc. The first million takes a looong time and the growth looks linear, but after about $1M to $1.5M invested it starts to grow exponentially.

Lol can't wait for the 3m video next week. Damn inflation

Interesting video. I’d like to request a transfer to Gen Z. It would mean I’m killing it.

Hi Erin, I recently stumbled on to your video and subscribe to the channel as I found it interesting. You play two roles in each of your videos. I had a question can someone contribute $22500 in 401k along with 6500 in Roth same year or it has to be total of both 401 and Roth =22500. Please reply. Thanks

Love listening to you and I get compounding 8% to reach the 2 million goal but I would like to hear exactly what to invest in! I get the formula but need details. Thanks

A typical person in US probably needs about $2million to retire if you exclude social security and pension. At 3.5% thats about $70k a year and adjusting for inflation.

I'm hoping to reach the point where I can easily live off of $1000 a month in expenses(paid off well maintained house and car, healthy body, large garden and hunting to supplement food costs). Thankfully I have another 40 years until (today's average age) retirement, because I don't even have money for a house down payment. Thankfully I have a fully paid off and well maintained car I intend on keeping for the next 20 years if I can.

One correction: the Schwab question wasn't what amount people needed to feel wealthy, but what net worth could be considered wealthy for a person in your area. Those are two entirely different questions. The amount people felt wealthy was far lower than their actual net worth. Again, it was net worth not $2.2m in investments. To distill this down: what people feel other people need to be be considered wealthy is $2.2m, but what people feel they themselves need is far less at an average of $560k net worth. Schwab also doesn't differentiate between individual and household income and net worth. If you are using $2m/person, then if you are a couple that is $4m. That makes a huge difference. I wouldn't say the Gen X numbers are very unrealistic. We are late 40s and are still dumping $15k/month new money into investments, and that is with me being retired and my sugga momma still working. When I decided to stop messing around and got out of debt, I just continued to live like I was in debt. we lived off the same amount, but instead of giving the creditors the extra money it went into savings. That essentially meant we never lived off of more than 1/2 of one of our incomes. That ensured we could still pay the bills and save if one of us lost a job. I think $1m or $2.2m just sounds a lot, but if you use the 4% withdrawal guide, $1m only yields $40k/yr and $2.2m yields only $88k/yr. I don't think when Schwab or others ask the question, they really try and distill it into usable data. Schwab's dumbest question was framing it as what do you feel others feel is an amount they would consider wealthy. The issue is that focusing on a generic amount like $1m or $2.2m, which has really no application for what your needs will be or what you want them to be in retirement.

Im in here trying to have at least 1.8 mil in my 401k and at least another 1 mil in side etf investments at 52 or 51 years old and about 4.5-5 mil at 59 1/2 when i can take it out

I'm sad I'm not 20, but I'm glad at 37 I still have time to make it

high yield get you there faster

Well done, Erin. Start early sand keep going. We did and are reaping the rewards of "forced scarcity and delayed gratification". If you do the work early, you can ease off the gas later and allow your nest egg to do the heavy work for you. It is surreal that the growth exceeds our contributions and even our income. That is the magical land of critical mass.

Hi, Erin, I just really, really need the S&P 500 Index to re-attain its record high intraday level of 4,819 from Jan. 4, 2022. Thank you!

As soon as I have $1million liquid and debt free , I’m done and going to enjoy my life while healthy and fairly young at 61

So if I have close to 300k at 45 to start I can hit at least the 1.1 million assuming I’m investing 1,500 a month?

I’m 50 with only $220,00.00 invested . Hoping to get to 2 million by age 65.

I have 3.3% of my retirement money in a 401(k). The rest is in IRAs and a taxable brokerage account. That means 96.7% of my boomer money doesn't factor into Fidelity's 401(k) median. These 401(k) median reports are useless. They need to include IRA and taxable brokerage account balances to get anywhere close to an informative state of retirement readiness.

I understand depending on the age the less they need to save monthly (20 years old, $2500 saved and $400 a month to hit $2 Million). The question is $2 Million in 45 years.... How much would $2 Million be worth in today's money. Surely, 2 Million in 45 years will not be worth nearly as much as $2 Million in today's dollars.

When i see stats about average 401k balances, it confuses me. Are these average "per account" or are they aggregating balances for people that have changed jobs and may have several 401k accounts?

Great video! What calcultion did you use to determine that a 35 year old with $15,500 saved in retirement can hit 2 million by retirement age if they contribute $1,310/month?

you need 11% return assuming 3% inflation, otherwise, you won't get 2m adjusted for inflation.

I don't expect to live much past 60 because of family history, so just to be on the safe side, I'm going to assume I'll make it to 70. I could live comfortably on $50k a year, so I could retire at the age of 60 with $500k. That's assuming I don't invest anymore money after 60, and there's no inflation. But if we assume I invest, and I beat inflation by a little bit, I still only need $500k to retire at 60. As long as I don't have any major medical issues before 60, I think it's doable.

Fidelity is confusing at 9:11. They use starting salary. So if 30 years ago I had an annual income of $30 k, I should now have only $240k saved? Shouldn't they have said your CURRENT salary?

I think the later you start saving, the more you rely on a bull market. I'm hoping for better results in 2024.

I went to a Bogleheads meeting yesterday in Northern Virginia. Try and attend a Bogleheads meeting and do a report.

What about the people who have pensions? How do u factor in pension to what you need?

If I just cut my salary in half, then I will meet my 6x number saved and everything is on track 😂

Your math appears to be wrong. for a young person starting out at age 20 today, their goal isn't the nominal 2.2 million at retirement ..but the purchasing power for 2.2 million. You need to include in 40 years of inflation at conservatively 3%. So they should be aiming for 7.2 million

Where else can you put ur money if u can only put in 6500a year in a roth ira acct?

Hi Erin, if I have 52,000 at 29 and I’m investing 2200 a month what would be my balance at 55 years old?

I am 62 with 1 million net worth. By 65, I hope to have 2 million 😀

Hey Erin, I wonder if you can comment on when our money is “enough”. I have saved aggressively for 10 years but now feel I’ve given up too much opportunities for fun with friends and family.

Five years ago my wife and I were close and thought $1 million each would be a lot...maybe even "enough" to retire. Now in 2023 we have each surpassed that milestone but now mentally it does not feel enough....maybe $2 million each? Hahaha.... Talk about moving the goalpost...

2M in 45 years will be worth nothing for gen Z. They'll need to invest much more than 400/month

I enjoy your videos, but I don’t understand why you show the math about how much a 20-25 year old would need to save to have $2,000,000 in 45 years. In 45 years, at 3.2% inflation per year, someone would need over $8 million to have the same purchasing power as $2 million in today’s dollars. Isn’t THAT the number you should be using to give people the most useful, accurate information? What’s the point of aiming to have today’s retirement number 45 years from now when it won’t be nearly enough?

If our investments could get 8% or higher after adjusting for inflation, that would be amazing. However, I estimate much lower at 3%.

Have to start when you're 2 months old

It is scary, but you must invest in more risky assets than the S&P 500 if you are 50 or under. Buy real estate, Tesla, Shopify, Sofi, Vertex, etc. These stocks have the potential to double vs. an S&P 500 ETF in 10 years. I invested 10k into Tesla in 2019, and now it's 90k in 4 years. Not everything will do it, but you have to risk it, if you want to get out of the rat race.

2.2 million in today's dollars?????? Wow, I guess I need to go back to work! ;) Not happening. Guess I just need to feel not rich.

$2.2M for someone near retirement is not the same as for a 20-year-old. Using the government's "CPI Inflation Calculator", $2.2M in June 1978 is $10,295,088.96 today. $1M in 2068 won't seem like much. I recommend factoring Inflation into your calculations. 1:14 Kevin O'Leary was paid $15M to trick people into investing in cryptocurrency on FTX.

Great ❤ video. The numbers tell it all. Please everyone invest as soon as you have a job. Anything you can, then increase it with every pay raise.

Very flawed goal of $2.2M. People need $2.2M in 2022 dollars, not 2057 dollars. In 2055, say, the they would need $9M to retire. How did you miss this big point?

...or hopefully your parents were wise and invested $3,007 one-time at birth to reach $2M at 65 (10% return). Easiest!

Hey Erin, will you give me 2 million dollars?