Key Takeaways
- The “magic number” for a comfortable retirement in the U.S. has jumped to roughly $1.46 million, up by $200,000 from last year.
- The number is based on a survey of 4,375 U.S. adults, and reflects worries about inflation and longer life expectancies.
- Meanwhile, the median retirement savings for people near retirement, ages 55 to 64, is just $185,000.
What does a dream retirement look like for most Americans?
A new report from financial services firm Northwestern Mutual shows Americans now think they will need $1.46 million to retire comfortably — up by $200,000 from last year.
The survey, which polled 4,375 adults, found that certain factors, such as rising prices, are driving that ideal retirement number higher.
“The new ‘magic number’ reflects a convergence of factors — from persistent inflation and longer life expectancies to uncertainty about the future of Social Security,” John Roberts, chief field officer at Northwestern Mutual, said in a statement. “Retirement is increasingly complex, and Americans are responding by setting higher expectations for what they’ll need.”
The issue isn’t just that the retirement goal keeps getting higher — it’s that most people aren’t even close to reaching it. According to Federal Reserve data, the median retirement savings for Americans ages 55 to 64 is just $185,000. Americans ages 65 to 72 have a median retirement savings of only $200,000, or just 13% of what they think they will need to retire comfortably, per Northwestern Mutual.
The survey also found that almost half (48%) of Americans think it is somewhat or very likely that they will outlive their retirement savings.
For most Americans, hitting that $1.46 million retirement goal comes down to when they start saving. Northwestern Mutual crunched the numbers: assuming a 7% annual return on investments, a worker who is 20 years old would need to put away about $385 a month to reach $1.46 million in savings by 65 years of age. But if the worker waits until they are 50 years old to start saving, they would have to contribute $4,607 a month to their retirement account to have the same effect.
Everyone’s needs, however, are different and “the amount you actually need to save is unique to you,” the survey suggested. “Your need will be based on what your retirement might cost.”
Another survey found a higher magic number
BlackRock, the biggest asset management company in the world with $14 trillion in assets under management, conducted a survey of 1,000 registered voters last year. The firm asked them how much they would need to retire comfortably, and the average response was $2.1 million — even higher than the Northwestern Mutual study.
“That’s a lot,” BlackRock CEO Larry Fink wrote in a 2025 shareholder letter of the $2.1 million number. “More than I was expecting.”
He pointed out that “almost no one is close” to saving that much for retirement. The majority of those BlackRock surveyed (62%) had less than $150,000 in retirement savings, or about 7% of what they believe they will need.
According to a blog post from financial services company Fidelity, a worker’s retirement goal should be to save ten times their income by age 67. To stay on track, Fidelity recommends saving as much as your annual salary by age 30, three times your annual salary by age 40 and six times your annual salary by age 50. So, for example, if you earn $100,000, you should have $600,000 in retirement savings by age 50.
That goal “may seem ambitious,” the blog post reads. “But you have many years to get there.”
Key Takeaways
- The “magic number” for a comfortable retirement in the U.S. has jumped to roughly $1.46 million, up by $200,000 from last year.
- The number is based on a survey of 4,375 U.S. adults, and reflects worries about inflation and longer life expectancies.
- Meanwhile, the median retirement savings for people near retirement, ages 55 to 64, is just $185,000.
What does a dream retirement look like for most Americans?
A new report from financial services firm Northwestern Mutual shows Americans now think they will need $1.46 million to retire comfortably — up by $200,000 from last year.
The survey, which polled 4,375 adults, found that certain factors, such as rising prices, are driving that ideal retirement number higher.
