T. Rowe Price Personal Investor - How to Determine the Amount of Income You Will Need at Retirement (2024)

FAQs

How to calculate the amount needed for retirement? ›

A common rule is to budget for at least 70% of your pre-retirement income during retirement. This assumes some of your expenses will disappear in retirement and 70% will be enough to cover essentials. Remember, that's a general guideline, and your needs may vary.

Our guideline: Aim to save at least 15% of your pre-tax income¹ each year, which includes any employer match. That's assuming you save for retirement from age 25 to age 67. Together with other steps, that should help ensure you have enough income to maintain your current lifestyle in retirement.

The process of creating a retirement plan includes identifying your income sources, adding up your expenses, putting a savings plan into effect, and managing your assets. By estimating your future cash flows, you can judge whether your retirement income goal is realistic.

T. Rowe Price suggests the 4% guideline as a starting point for a withdrawal strategy. This means that in the first year of retirement, you could consider a withdrawal amount that is 4% of your retirement account balance.

The $1,000-a-month retirement rule says that you should save $240,000 for every $1,000 of monthly income you'll need in retirement. So, if you anticipate a $4,000 monthly budget when you retire, you should save $960,000 ($240,000 * 4).

Standard retirement planning rules of thumb

So, for example, if your current salary is $120,000 per year, you should have at least $1.2 million saved up by the time you retire. This rule of thumb focuses on savings. However, many people find it easier to think about retirement in terms of income rather than savings.

Many retirees fall far short of that amount, but their savings may be supplemented with other forms of income. According to data from the BLS, average 2022 incomes after taxes were as follows for older households: 65-74 years: $63,187 per year or $5,266 per month. 75 and older: $47,928 per year or $3,994 per month.

If a single person buys an annuity (a retirement income) when they stop work, they would need to have saved £40,000 to £70,000 to reach the minimum standard, according to the PLSA, or £300,000 to £500,000 for a moderate standard, or £490,000 to £790,000 for a comfortable standard.

If you pay off your mortgage and debts before retiring, you could live on smaller portion of your preretirement income. Based on this rule, if your annual preretirement income was $100,000, you need $80,000 a year in retirement to cover your expenses.

Get a Part-Time Job or Side Hustle. If you're contemplating retirement with no savings, then you may need to find ways to make more money. Getting a part-time job or starting a side hustle are two ways to earn money in your spare time without being locked into a full-time position.

Can you collect a pension and social security at the same time? ›

Can you collect Social Security and a pension at the same time? You can retire with Social Security and a pension at the same time, but the Social Security Administration (SSA) might reduce your Social Security benefit if your pension is from a job at which you did not pay Social Security taxes on your wages.

If you earn $75,000 per year, you can expect to receive $2,358 per month -- or about $28,300 annually -- from Social Security.

If you have $400,000 in the bank you can retire early at age 62, but it will be tight. The good news is that if you can keep working for just five more years, you are on track for a potentially quite comfortable retirement by full retirement age.

T. Rowe Price analysis suggests that 45-year-olds should have three times their current income set aside for retirement. This savings benchmark rises to five times current income at age 50 and seven times current income at age 55.

One rule of thumb is that you'll need 70% of your annual pre-retirement income to live comfortably. That might be enough if you've paid off your mortgage and you're in excellent health when you retire.

The 4% rule limits annual withdrawals from your retirement accounts to 4% of the total balance in your first year of retirement. That means if you retire with $1 million saved, you'd take out $40,000. According to the rule, this amount is safe enough that you won't risk running out of money during a 30-year retirement.

So, if you're aiming for $100,000 a year in retirement and also receiving Social Security checks, you'd need to have this amount in your portfolio: age 62: $2.1 million. age 67: $1.9 million. age 70: $1.8 million.

The rule of thumb is that you can expect your expenses to be 70% to 80% of what they were before you retired. So if you spent $1,000 each month before you retired, you could expect to spend about $700 to $800 each month in retirement.

There is no one-size-fits-all savings guideline for retirees. If you want to replace 75% of your current $50,000 salary, you'll need $420,000 saved. If you want to replace your entire current salary, aim for $750,000.