Short answer: a widely used Fidelity benchmark says to aim for 1x your annual salary saved by age 30, 3x by 40, 6x by 50, 8x by 60, and 10x by 67. On a $75,000 salary, that means $75,000 by 30, $225,000 by 40, $450,000 by 50, and $750,000 by 67. These are checkpoints, not grades — most Americans are below them, and what matters most is your savings rate and how much time you have left.
Where the benchmarks come from
The salary-multiple benchmarks come from Fidelity’s retirement savings guidelines, which model a worker who starts saving in their 20s, saves about 15% of pay each year (including any employer match), and retires around 67 while also collecting Social Security. The target at each age is a multiple of your current salary, so it rises automatically as your income grows.
That 15% figure is the engine behind the whole table: save much less and you fall short of the multiples; save more and you beat them. The multiples check your position — the savings rate is the lever you control.
| Age | Target saved | On a $75,000 salary |
|---|---|---|
| 30 | 1x salary | $75,000 |
| 40 | 3x salary | $225,000 |
| 50 | 6x salary | $450,000 |
| 60 | 8x salary | $600,000 |
| 67 | 10x salary | $750,000 |
Note that these targets count all retirement savings — 401(k), IRA, and pension value — not just one account, and they assume Social Security covers part of your retirement income. Retiring much earlier than 67 means your personal target should be higher.
What Americans actually have
Reality is less tidy than the benchmarks. The Federal Reserve’s Survey of Consumer Finances found that among families that hold retirement accounts, the median balance was about $106,000, and only about 55% of families hold a retirement account at all. Averages look much higher — around $451,100 — because a small number of very large accounts pulls the mean up. For most people, the median is the honest comparison point.
The worked example: starting at 35 with $60,000
Consider a 35-year-old earning $75,000 with $60,000 saved — well below the 3x-by-40 target of $225,000. She saves 15% of pay, $11,250 a year ($937.50 a month including her employer match), and earns an average 7% annual return. Keeping contributions flat for illustration:
- Starting balance at 35: $60,000
- Annual contribution: $11,250
- Average annual return: 7%
- Years to 67: 32
- Balance at 67: about $1,762,870
That is far above the 10x target of $750,000 on her current salary. The lesson is compounding: over 32 years, investment growth does far more work than the contributions themselves. You can run your own version of this math with our compound interest calculator to see how a different starting balance, rate, or time horizon changes the outcome.
If you are behind: the levers that actually work
Being behind a benchmark is common, and it is fixable. Work through these in order:
Capture the full employer match. This is an instant, guaranteed return no investment can match. If your plan matches 50% of the first 6% of pay, contributing less than 6% is leaving money on the table.
Raise your rate gradually. Going from 5% to 15% in one jump is painful; going up 1% a year, or directing each raise into the plan, is barely noticeable.
Use catch-up contributions after 50. For 2026, the IRS set the 401(k) employee limit at $24,500, with an $8,000 catch-up at 50 and older, for a total of $32,500. Workers ages 60 to 63 get a larger “super catch-up” of $11,250, for a total of $35,750. The IRA limit for 2026 is $7,500, plus a $1,100 catch-up at 50 and older. For the broader account-choice question, read our guide on 401(k) vs IRA: which retirement account first.
Do not raid the account. Loans and early withdrawals do double damage: you pay taxes and penalties, and you lose decades of compounding on the money you took out.
Check your Social Security picture. Social Security replaces a meaningful share of pre-retirement income, which is part of why the benchmarks are set where they are. The Social Security Administration provides benefit estimates, and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau publishes plain-language retirement planning resources.
Adjusting the benchmarks to your life
The standard multiples assume a fairly standard life: steady career, retirement at 67, moderate spending. Adjust up if you plan to retire early, expect high health-care costs, or want to leave money to heirs. Adjust down — carefully — if you have a pension, expect a much lower cost of living in retirement, or plan to work part-time into your 70s.
Also remember that the multiple is measured against your salary at that age, not your starting salary. A $75,000 earner who grows to $120,000 by 60 faces an 8x target of $960,000, not $600,000 — which is why the savings rate matters more than any single birthday snapshot.
Frequently asked questions
How much should I have saved for retirement by age 30?
The benchmark is 1x your annual salary by 30 — so $60,000 on a $60,000 salary. Very few 30-year-olds are there, and that is fine: what matters at 30 is being in the habit, capturing any employer match, and saving a meaningful percentage of pay.
How much should I have saved for retirement by age 50?
The benchmark is 6x your salary — $450,000 on a $75,000 salary. At 50, catch-up contributions let you put an extra $8,000 a year into a 401(k) in 2026 (or $11,250 extra at ages 60 to 63).
Is 10x my salary really enough to retire at 67?
For the modeled worker — saving 15% from their 20s, retiring at 67, and collecting Social Security — yes, roughly. Ten times salary, withdrawn at around 4% a year, plus Social Security, replaces a large share of pre-retirement income. But it is a model, not a guarantee: earlier retirement, higher spending, or lower investment returns all push the true number higher.
What if I have nothing saved at 40?
Start now, and start with the match. A 40-year-old saving 15% of a $75,000 salary ($11,250 a year) at a 7% average return for 27 years would reach roughly $838,000 by 67 — above the 10x target on current salary. The math is forgiving for anyone who starts and stays consistent; what it does not forgive is waiting another decade.