🏖️ Are you saving enough to retire by age 60?

A 36-year-old on r/investing making $400,000/year asked if she was saving enough to retire at 60. Despite aggressively saving $72,000/year and holding $450,000 in investments, she feels terrified of falling behind. It is a classic case of high-earner anxiety.

Time is the most powerful variable in any retirement calculation. She has 24 years of compound growth ahead of her. We can run the exact math on her situation—or you can adjust the numbers below to match your own timeline.

She has $250,000 in her 401(k) and $200,000 in a managed account, giving her a starting balance of $450,000. She is also incredibly disciplined, funneling $72,000 annually into pre- and post-tax retirement accounts.

We use a conservative 7% real return rate to estimate future purchasing power after inflation. If you do not save as much as her, simply overwrite these defaults with your own balances and contribution rates.

To know if you have enough, you must define what you will spend. The user noted her $2,300/month mortgage will be paid off long before 60, and she spends relatively little on herself.

A target income of $150,000/year in retirement is highly comfortable for someone without a mortgage. Using the classic 4% safe withdrawal rate, we can calculate the total portfolio size needed to safely generate that income.

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