Is Saving 15% for Retirement Like Dave Ramsey Suggests Enough?

Is Saving 15% for Retirement Like Dave Ramsey Suggests Enough?

[brianmcg]

15% is about 20% more than what most people save.

[jdbucha]

For the past 20 years I invested a little over 30% of my pay. It’s amazing how fast it grows. I’m retiring at the end of the year. We now have a ridiculous amount invested for retirement. It’s a good feeling.

[Samsterdude]

I lived with my parents until I was 24. Going through college debt free and saving 90% of my income. I feel like I got an amazing head start!

[McCarterly]

Retire without a mortgage and you will be surprised with how comfortable retirement can be. Dont stress yourself. Just plan.

[gojl]

My father always told me to increase my retirement contribution 1% every time I got a raise until I hit the legal limit. I started out at 10% at age 22 which means hitting the 15% and then 25% in my 30s. Life may mean that’s not perfect but it puts me in a good position at 44.

[SeijuroRen]

Whenever I add money to my investment accounts I say "goodbye money, see you in 30 years".

[mjones]

FYI, Dave teaches once you house is paid off, then invest more. It’s not 15% and nothing else.

[princesskaitlinhazelwood]

15% has been enough for me. My husband and I saved a good amount of our retirement. Plus we get social security and a two pensions. We also saved 3% for our kids college. We are on track to have enough for two kids to go to college. I think that give you enough to pay off your home, live debt free, be tenant giving and enjoy some vacations and small luxuries. You want to Dave for your future but do not forget to live today.

[zoraster]

15% keeps you from being a Walmart greeter when you’re 70.

30% gives you a comfortable living with discretion to help others (family, philanthropy, etc.).

The key is to start saving and to avoid lifestyle creep; when you get a raise put 80% of it into savings/retirement. The added benefit to this is the more you save the less you spend and the less you need.

If you make $100k but save 30k your lifestyle is supported by 70k so you only need to replace $70k (instead of $100k) to sustain your lifestyle. If you saved 40k you’d only need to replace $60k, etc. This is one of the main pillars of FIRE.

[flyingfiddlerq]

I'm 30, and saving about 45% of my gross income. I don't feel like I'm depriving myself, but I'm single and only spend money on the things that are actually important to me...

[slaltemus]

It depends on how much you earn how fast. I started at 13% each paycheck right out of college. Now after taxes I save 62% (22 years later) sadly I started my Roth IRA late. I started in good old traditional 401k. I work hard to keep 0 debt. I did the saving strategy that at every raise take half for retirement and half for me to enjoy. If you get into a rhythm it is easy just learn to live without it as you get raises. Not going to lie, I sometimes only have ~25.00 in my checking left before my next check but I have put together a great emergency fund (9 month living expenses) which I rarely use and if I do it’s usually like 1k at most and I put it back immediately. The other key is auto allocation of each paycheck. Good luck and may you have much success.

[bartoszdobroslaw]

Great stocks and I just bought in on them, but I'm interested in making short term profit, let say turn a $150K to $500k in 6months, I'd appreciate tips on how what stocks to buy to make this much profit.

[AverageJoeInvestor]

15% is a great starting point for investing for your retirement, but you’re right: it is situational based on your age, and where you want to be when you retire. I would say that there are situations where you absolutely bump up your retirement contributions INSTEAD OF funding college education for your children. GREAT VIDEO GUYS! 👍🏻😎

[ieatpussy]

Dave also thinks 15% is a good start. When the house is paid off, Dave says to max out retirement.

[DirtBikeFamily]

the numbers are wrong. You didn't drop the % return down when the next age group hit. 20 year get 10% till age 30, then at age 30 he lower risk return of 9%. When reaching age 40, risk reduced to 8%. at age 65 that 6K worth $292, 241 to keep your scenario fair. NOT $530, 125. I like your videos but not a fair representation with this example.. you show a 20 y.o. with higher risk @ 10% till 65. then why cant the 40 y.o. be at 10% in your scenario. they are both 40 at some point during their investing years. same goes for the 30 year old example

[TheHaiku]

To be fair, Dave only suggests investing %15 until your mortgage is paid down. Which he suggests to do as quickly as affordable. Then the recommends investing as much as you can afford.

[justinphillabaum]

Just increased my 401k saving to 20% in a retirement index fund, started a Roth IRA, and my employer is matching 8% of my contributions now...all because of watching you guys. Thanks!

[sethbender]

I love Dave’s plan because it’s retirement isn’t just about what you have saved. If you are 100% debt free, you obviously need less because your putting out less. But yes he teaches that once the home is paid off to max out if you can.

[rogergaudet]

What I did not hear was that Dave's advice is 15% as his baby step 4 (retirement), then 5 (kids college if applicable), then 6 (pay off the house). Once baby step 6 is complete, then you can save/invest as much as you can towards retirement as baby step 7 is to build wealth and give. The 15% is just the start until you get your house paid off.

[slyfoxx]

15% on Dave's plan is at the start of BS 4. Once you knock out steps 5 and 6 he would recommend additional retirement investments. Remember, Dave's baby steps are designed to get you free and clear of all debt as fast as possible so you can then focus on investing. You guys play around with ideas like "the market doing better than the house so why pay off early?"...yada yada. For VERY disciplined math nerds, I get it. More power to you. But until you actually owe nothing to anybody you honestly don't know what it like to relax in a way you never have. That relaxation to me if worth more than a few more bucks on my already pretty large pile.



Anyhoo...keep up the good work.