⏳ Can you catch up on retirement starting in your 40s?

A recent post on r/personalfinance featured a couple in their early 40s asking a hard question: is it too late to catch up on retirement? With just $150k saved, they felt behind, noting that "half of my meager savings is a Roth IRA."

But they also kicked their savings rate into overdrive, putting away over $36,000 a year. This calculator models their exact scenario to show the incredible power of a high savings rate in your peak earning years, proving that aggressive action can make up for lost time.

To know if you are on track, you need a firm target. The math relies on the safe withdrawal rate—often cited as the 4% rule—which estimates how much you can pull from your portfolio annually without running dry.

Enter the annual income you want your investments to generate in retirement. Since we assume a 7% real return on your investments (factoring in inflation), you should enter your target income in today's dollars.

For further related reading, check out:

• Reddit