{
  "slug": "how-much-to-save-for-retirement",
  "title": "How Much Should I Save for Retirement?",
  "heading": "How Much Should I Save for Retirement?",
  "category": "financial",
  "url": "https://www.revenuelab.fyi/toolbox/how-much-to-save-for-retirement",
  "summary": "Saving 15% of a $70,000 salary from age 30 to 65 at 7% growth builds roughly $1.5 million by retirement.",
  "description": "Retirement savings grow through a combination of your contributions and compound investment returns over your working years. This calculator projects your nest egg forward using your current savings, monthly contribution, expected annual return, and years until retirement, using the standard future-value-of-an-annuity formula plus growth on your existing balance.",
  "formula": "FV = Current Savings × (1+r)^n + Monthly Contribution × [((1+r)^n − 1) ÷ r] × (1+r), where r is the monthly rate and n is months.",
  "dateModified": "2026-09-06",
  "run_url": "https://www.revenuelab.fyi/api/public/calc?tool=how-much-to-save-for-retirement",
  "inputs": [
    {
      "id": "currentSavings",
      "label": "Current retirement savings",
      "kind": "number",
      "hint": null,
      "default": 25000,
      "unit": "$",
      "min": 0,
      "max": null
    },
    {
      "id": "monthlyContribution",
      "label": "Monthly contribution",
      "kind": "number",
      "hint": null,
      "default": 875,
      "unit": "$",
      "min": 0,
      "max": null
    },
    {
      "id": "years",
      "label": "Years until retirement",
      "kind": "number",
      "hint": null,
      "default": 35,
      "unit": null,
      "min": 1,
      "max": 50
    },
    {
      "id": "returnRate",
      "label": "Expected annual return",
      "kind": "number",
      "hint": null,
      "default": 7,
      "unit": "%",
      "min": 0,
      "max": 15
    }
  ],
  "outputs": [
    {
      "id": "total",
      "label": "Projected retirement balance",
      "format": "currency",
      "hint": null,
      "primary": true
    },
    {
      "id": "totalContributed",
      "label": "Total you contributed",
      "format": "currency",
      "hint": null,
      "primary": false
    },
    {
      "id": "totalGrowth",
      "label": "Investment growth earned",
      "format": "currency",
      "hint": null,
      "primary": false
    }
  ],
  "worked_example": {
    "inputs": [
      "Current retirement savings: 25000 $",
      "Monthly contribution: 875 $",
      "Years until retirement: 35",
      "Expected annual return: 7 %"
    ],
    "outputs": [
      "Projected retirement balance: $1,872,769",
      "Total you contributed: $392,500",
      "Investment growth earned: $1,480,269"
    ]
  },
  "how_to": {
    "title": "How to use this",
    "steps": [
      "Enter current retirement savings ($).",
      "Enter monthly contribution ($).",
      "Enter years until retirement.",
      "Enter expected annual return (%).",
      "Read your projected retirement balance on the right — it updates as you type.",
      "Hit Share to keep the scenario or send it to someone."
    ]
  },
  "scenarios": [
    {
      "name": "Conservative",
      "description": "Lower-end numbers — what if things land soft?",
      "values": {
        "currentSavings": 15000,
        "monthlyContribution": 525,
        "years": 21,
        "returnRate": 4.2
      }
    },
    {
      "name": "Typical",
      "description": "Defaults — the most common real-world setup.",
      "values": {
        "currentSavings": 25000,
        "monthlyContribution": 875,
        "years": 35,
        "returnRate": 7
      }
    },
    {
      "name": "Ambitious",
      "description": "Higher-end numbers — what if things really pop?",
      "values": {
        "currentSavings": 40000,
        "monthlyContribution": 1400,
        "years": 50,
        "returnRate": 11.200000000000001
      }
    }
  ],
  "limitations": [
    "Results are estimates before tax, fees, and inflation unless an input explicitly covers them.",
    "Rates are treated as fixed for the whole period — variable-rate products will drift from this projection.",
    "This is educational maths, not financial advice. Check anything contractual with the lender or your accountant."
  ],
  "faq": [
    {
      "q": "How much should I save for retirement?",
      "a": "Saving $875/month (about 15% of a $70,000 salary) starting with $25,000 saved, over 35 years at 7% average annual return, grows to roughly $1.5 million, of which about $1.1 million is investment growth."
    },
    {
      "q": "Why 15% of income as a savings target?",
      "a": "It's the commonly cited benchmark from retirement researchers assuming you start in your late 20s to 30s and want to replace about 70-80% of pre-retirement income alongside Social Security."
    },
    {
      "q": "What return rate should I assume?",
      "a": "7% real-world nominal return is a reasonable long-term average for a diversified stock/bond portfolio; conservative planners sometimes use 5-6% to build in a safety margin."
    },
    {
      "q": "What if I start saving later?",
      "a": "Starting 10 years later roughly cuts your final balance in half at the same contribution rate, because you lose a decade of compounding — the earliest years of saving matter disproportionately."
    }
  ],
  "related": [
    "https://www.revenuelab.fyi/toolbox/how-long-until-i-hit-a-million",
    "https://www.revenuelab.fyi/toolbox/how-much-can-i-withdraw-in-retirement"
  ],
  "license": "CC-BY-4.0",
  "citation": "RevenueLab — How Much Should I Save for Retirement? (https://www.revenuelab.fyi/toolbox/how-much-to-save-for-retirement)"
}