A study has revealed how many Americans think they'll be able to achieve the figure they have in mind for their retirement pot and how much they need to have saved at certain ages to achieve it.
It's hard to think about saving for so much as a pair of shoes or a holiday, let alone saving for your retirement, with the cost of living crisis hitting so hard that one person has even resorted to living in a glamorized dumpster.
However, if you have recently been experiencing your quarter-life crisis and resolved to read up about finances and try to take control, or just see how f**ked we all are and decide to YOLO and buy that avocado anyway and feel a bit of solidarity with everyone else struggling, then this is for you.
How much do you actually need to save to retire 'comfortably'?
An annual research study from Northwestern Mutual - titled The 2025 Planning & Progress Study - aims to 'explore US adults' attitudes and behaviors toward money, financial decision-making, and the broader issues impacting people’s long-term financial security' revealing how much you should have saved for retirement at certain ages.
The study reports that the 'magic number' most Americans hope to have saved in the belief it will allow them to 'retire comfortably' as of 2025 is '$1.26 million'.
However, this very much depends on when you plan on retire and I guess whether or not you're planning to retire in style - with some choosing to set sail on cruises for the rest of their days, although apparently that's now actually cheaper than living on land.
Fidelity's savings factors are based on the idea you start saving some of your income each year from the age of 25 and do some investing along the way, alongside planning on 'maintaining [your] preretirement lifestyle in retirement'.
"Based on those assumptions, we estimate that saving 10x (times) your preretirement income by age 67, together with other steps, should help ensure that you have enough income to maintain your current lifestyle in retirement," it explains.
But how much does this mean you should save by certain ages?
How much you should try to have saved by the ages of 30, 40, 50 and 60?
In order to 'stay on track,' with your retirement plan if it aligns similarly to the one above, Fidelity advises certain 'age-based milestones'.
It states: "Aim to save at least 1x your income by age 30, 3x by 40, 6x by 50, and 8x by 60."
"Your personal savings goal may be different based on various factors [i.e. when you plan to retire and your plans during retirement]," it further notes. "But these guidelines can provide a starting point to help your build your savings plan, and assess your progress."
And for those of us who are nowhere near any of those stages and don't think we ever will be?
Well, thankfully, there's strength in numbers at least.
Most of us feel behind with retirement savings - woohoo!
A Bankrate survey revealed that 57 percent of Americans working full-time, part-time or who are temporarily unemployed feel behind on their retirement savings.
When asked how much they currently have saved for retirement compared to their current annual income, 23 percent of Gen Z said they had 'less than 1x [their] income' in retirement savings compared to 22 percent of Millennials, 14 percent of Gen X and 10 percent of Boomers, the Northwestern Mutual study reports.
And when it comes to reaching the goal they have set in their mind? A solid 48 percent don't think they'll actually be able to achieve it.
So just buy yourself that coffee eh?