How Much Money Should You Save For Retirement?
There are many complex formulas that calculate how much money you need to have in your retirement account in order to retire comfortably. Here is a simply one you can use: Annual Family Income x 12. This is a rule-of-thumb that assumes you will get a modest social security check and that after retirement your monthly expenses will go down a little. As you near retirement age you should work with a financial planner to discuss your exact situation.
If you want to see how much you will have at retirement based on your current savings rate click on this link -
www.bankrate.com/brm/calculators/retirement/401k_retirement_calculator.asp
This is a great tool that lets you try different variables such as: the percent of income you contribute, the rate of return, and whether your employer matches your contribution or not.
If you are not participating in a 401k or IRA plan you need work this into your budget and get started as soon as possible. If your employer matches your contribution and you are not participating in the plan you are losing out on several hundred dollars or even thousands of dollars a year. Consider signing up and contributing just 1% of your income to get started. Then, you can increase the percent you contribute by 1 or 2 percent a year, until you are on track to meet your retirement goal.