How Much Do I Need to Retire?

There are lots of ways to figure this. The easiest is expenses per year times number of years you expect to live. When you’re done add a bit on the top for inflation and you’ll get a good rough number. If you find out you need a little more to get by you might want to Start a Business, or find a good part-time job, at least for a few years.

Savings Needed to Retire

You can work assumptions any number of ways. These numbers don’t include new or ongoing income, any offset of expenses by learning ways others can help pay your overhead, extraordinary medical or other expenses needed, etc.

Example

$50,000 per year total expenses | currently 52, expect to live to 88 = 36 years of retirement
$1,800,000 minimum approximate savings needed to retire today

The Best Retirement Calculator

Take a look at this calculator on Kiplinger to add in a few extra pieces of data and firm up projections. There are no perfect retirement calculators but theirs at least allows for additional fields of input.

The one piece missing from all retirement calculators (and this is your job to add in yourself) is new creative ways you plan to earn income. They can be passive investments, or a small side income business you can operate from your home.