How Much Should You Save for Retirement? | What the Experts Say

Make sure to watch this video if you want to know if you're on track for your retirement goals. Preparing for retirement can be really hard.

Experts always seem to be saying different things.

In today's video, I'll break down how the experts think about retirement and how you can get the most life out of your money. Today's 5-step framework will teach you exactly what you need to know to be on track.

Introduction
00:00 - Experts Introduction
2:15 - Example of Future Retirees!
4:31 - 5-step framework
6:35 - Back out other income sources
8:50 - Applying Withdrawal Rates
11:26 - Retirement Calculator
13:10 - Working With Us

Learn the tips & strategies to get the most out of life with your money.

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[richmalloy]

This is exactly how I set our goal. I set up a budget based on on how we live currently. Plus included a tax factor of 20% (federal, state, local & property). My advice, listen to James. Root financial is hands down the best advice you can find online.

[joedessenberger]

Great video for a young couple. Sending to my daughter and son-in-law who are just starting out. Both have professional degrees and are doing well less than 2 years into their careers. The more I can educate them when young, the more I can hope they live a responsible life while preparing for their future self. My kids grew up hearing "You can work as much as you want while the body allows you, but one day you will not be able to work anymore and will be living off of what you saved." Sure hope they hear that in the back of their minds each pay day.

[potatoesandgravy]

Definitely a fan of dividend investing. The more you can get paid out to you without having to sell a single share is the saftey net im looking for. Worst case, you can still sell shares if you are in a pinch. Ideally this is in a tax-free account but after tax accounts with qualified divies works for me too 😊

[krjohnson]

I'm saving ~14% of my after tax income. I calculated that (depending on what market returns are) it should give me between 10x and 20x my salary in my retirement accounts at retirement. I've got a while to go, but hopefully that should be plenty to retire on. 🙂

[mildsriracha]

Love it. Thank you for the step by step explanation 😍

[markgregotski]

While I enjoy these videos, as James mentions these are numbers before taxes! This is a HUGE difference to the math! He mentions Social Security payments to contribute to the estimated budget, but SS will be taxed. It's really not as rosy a picture.

[athenachloewoodrow]

I appreciate this perspective. Up to now I have been going with the idea of estimating how much? I think I need to live on every year and then multiplying it by 25. And yes, I did figure out what we would get from social security and a small pension and added that to the equation. But what has always stumped me is trying to figure out inflation. This was very helpful, thank you.

[tushar]

Where can I find the calculator that you used to show the figures in your video? Thanks 😊

[TheFirstRealChewy]

15% is good if you start investing in your 20s and plan to retire at 65/67.

Suze's plan is good. Figure out how much you need each year and how many years you need it. Assuming your investment only matches inflation, you should have enough money. If it exceeds inflation you will have more. Depending on how much it exceeds inflation, there is a breaking point where you will have enough money to spend indefinitely. So if the market returns an inflation-adjusted 3% long term, you can spend 3% forever.

[ralphkassing]

What is retirement? That’s the ultimate question isn’t it. Stop working and sit on a boat somewhere or finally do something that brings you pure happiness or fulfillment for the first time in your life?

[silverfox]

We all need cash flow. Look at it that way. We need the cash flow monthly to pay for the way of life we want to live.

[kzalaska]

My wife and I hit it hard the five years we were married before we had kids. We put away 25% of our income and paid off our house. We backed off to 5% savings and she stopped working when the kids were born. We have made a few sacrifices along the way. We have stayed in the same home, we drive older but reliable cars and average two vacations every three years. I am going to retire this time next year at age 54 and have more disposable income than I do now. (As a firefighter I can draw from my 401K without penalty)

[michaelswami]

Thank you for this. Nice, simple process for figuring out where you stand and where you need to go.

[kaninma]

You can track automatically how much your checking account balance changes each month by using your bank's app. You can see if it grows or goes down. If you are also saving in a high yield account, this helps and will round out the picture.

[ryanward]

Dave Ramsey actually says to invest a minimum of 15% once you are debt free (other than your mortgage). Then he says to put everything over the 15% towards the mortgage until it’s paid off, (which ideally would be a 15 year mortgage). Then (if you want) go all out on investing, meaning more than 15%. What are your thoughts on this advice?

[cdd]

This was fantastic, and you made it super simple to understand. Thank you!

[marialgallardo]

Ok, I think I’m going to have to work until I die, and never retire!

[ds]

Very clear and what I had done myself. I appreciate the overall approach of your channel. Thanks.

[planner]

Hi James another great video can you share a link to the calculator you used want to send this to my daughter I just sent this vide to her

[brucecampbell]

Generally in my opinion you actually need to do a lot less savings then the experts say, unless you want to live like they live which is not realistic for most people.