Have I Saved Enough to Retire?
Key Points – Have I Saved Enough to Retire?
- How Will You Know If You’ve Saved Enough to Retire?
- The “Magic Number” for Retirement from Northwestern Mutual’s 2026 Planning & Progress Study
- Other Key Questions That Impact How Much You’ll Need for Retirement
- Assessing Your Confidence to Retire
- 5-Minute Read | 35-Minute Watch
According to Northwestern Mutual’s 2026 Planning & Progress Study, the amount of money needed to retire comfortably in 2026 is $1.46 million.1 Would $1.46 million be enough for you in retirement? We’ll break down how to determine if you have saved enough to retire.
The Question Everyone Wants to Know the Answer to
Does it seem like you’ve worked your whole life and retirement can’t come soon enough? If that’s the case, how many times have you asked yourself, “Have I saved enough to retire?”
Well, according to Northwestern Mutual’s 2026 Planning & Progress Study, the answer to that question in 2026 is $1.46 million. Now that you have that answer, that means you need to save $1.46 million for retirement and you’re set, right? Not exactly.
For their annual planning and progress study, Northwestern Mutual surveyed 4,375 U.S. adults. Northwestern Mutual noted that the survey’s data was weighted where necessary by the following factors:
- Age
- Gender
- Race/ethnicity
- Region
- Education
- Marital status
- Household size
- Household income
- Propensity to being online to bring them in line with their actual proportions in the population
Differences in just one or two of those areas could have a big impact in how much you need to save for retirement compared to your best friend, family member, colleague, neighbor, etc. One person might feel that $1.46 million is enough for retirement, while another might feel like they need $10.46 million to retire comfortably.
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Creating a Spending Plan for Retirement
Assess how much you’re spending now and then consider how your needs, wants, and wishes may be different in retirement. Some people may not be thrilled about the idea of still having a budget in retirement, but it’s important to have one to help with staying on track with your long-term goals. If you’re turned off by that idea as well, think of it as having a spending plan for retirement.
As you create your spending plan for retirement, it’s important to realize that your income sources will likely be drastically different in retirement than while you’re working. Once you’re retired and don’t have a salary, have you thought about what income sources you’ll have in retirement? How you’re saving for retirement today will dictate your retirement withdrawal strategy.
If you’re married, have you talked with your spouse about when you each plan to start claiming Social Security benefits? It’s important to understand that two couples may have similar Social Security claiming strategies and retirement savings, but still have different investment strategies because of where they’ve saved their money.
Retiring with Confidence
Trying to determine if you have saved enough to retire can be stressful, but you don’t have to figure it out on your own. Working with a team of wealth management professionals can help. It’s our goal at Modern Wealth to help people enjoy today with confidence for tomorrow, and to connect people with the causes they care about most. Let’s review some other key questions to address about retirement to help you retire with confidence.
When Do You Plan to Retire?
This isn’t the first year that Northwestern Mutual has conducted this study. They even shared results from the past five years of the study, highlighting how the answer to “Have I saved enough to retire?” has changed over the years.
FIGURE 1 – Northwestern Mutual Planning and Progress Survey by Year
One thing to keep in mind with this study is that $1.46 million is how much that the surveyed individuals think they will need to retire, not how much their plans may require. Whether you’re planning for retirement or are already retired, are you factoring in inflation as you determine how much you will need to live comfortably throughout retirement? Northwestern Mutual’s annual study suggested that U.S. adults felt that they needed $1.46 million on average to retire comfortably in 2024 and 2026. That was roughly $200,000 more than in 2022, 2023, and 2025.
But when are these people planning to retire? And what do they want to do in retirement? We don’t know the answers to those questions for the survey respondents, but they are questions you need to ask yourself. The timing of your retirement matters for multiple reasons. If you’re considering an early retirement, how might that impact the longevity of your plan? Additionally, it’s important to have a plan that’s been stress tested against the possibility of sequence of returns risk. That occurs when you’re starting to take withdrawals from your retirement accounts at the same time that a prolonged market downturn begins.
What Do You Want to Do in Retirement?
“Have I saved enough to retire?” and “What should I invest my money in?” are two questions that our advisors frequently hear when meeting people for the first time. Before we can discuss investment options that could work well for you, we need to know what your goals are and how you think and feel about money.
- Do you want to spend more time with family?
- Do you want to travel all over the world in retirement?
- Or are you passionate about volunteer work, charitable giving, or passing your wealth on to the next generation?
Those tend to be some of the most important things to people as they’re entering retirement. What do you want your retirement lifestyle to look like? You need to figure that out and determine your retirement goals before you can know if you’ve saved enough to retire.
How Long Do You Expect Your Retirement to Last?
Knowing whether you’ve saved enough to retire would be much easier if you knew how long you were going to live. Did you know that about 19.2% of the U.S. population is 65 or older in 2026 according to Statista?2 That’s up from 8% in 1950.
FIGURE 2 – Percentage of the U.S. Population Over 65 – Statista
Just because your parents and grandparents retired and lived until certain ages doesn’t mean that you’ll follow suit. According to a study by JAMA Network, there’s a growing gap for Americans between their lifespan and health span.3 On average, Americans are living until 77, but began having life-altering health issues by 65. Here are a couple of key takeaways from this research.
- While Americans are living until 77 on average, what if you live into your 80s, 90s, or even 100s? Have you saved enough for that long of a retirement?
- We hope that you’re in good health today and remain in good health throughout retirement. But do you really want your retirement plan to be built upon hope? Health care costs can be one of the biggest wealth-eroding factors in retirement. And think about this. If you require long-term care, do you have long-term care insurance or will you self-insure that cost? And if your health continues to decline and/or you pass away and you’re married, will your spouse still be able to retire with confidence?
Are You More Afraid of Outliving Your Retirement Savings than Death?
While death can be an uncomfortable topic to discussed with loved ones, it’s important to have a plan in place for after you’re gone. Having peace of mind that their family will be OK financially after they die is important to so many people. That’s why we have estate planning specialists on our team that work alongside our advisors and other planning specialists.
But believe it or not, there’s something else that people are worried about even more than death. It’s running out of money! According to the 2026 Allianz Life Annual Retirement Study, 67% percent of Americans are more afraid of outliving their money than they are of dying.4
FIGURE 3 – 2026 Retirement Confidence Survey – Employee Benefits Research Institute
Our goal is to help people approach retirement with greater clarity and confidence. That begins with a coordinated financial plan developed by a collaborative team. At Modern Wealth, our advisors are responsible for coordinating a client’s financial plan, but they don’t do it alone. They have the support of investment, tax, insurance, and estate specialists.
The Modern Confidence Score
So, what’s your confidence level when it comes to tax planning, investment management, estate planning, and insurance planning? Those are what we like to call our Advantage Offerings. Having low confidence in any of those areas may have a substantial impact on your ability to retire with confidence. Get your Modern Confidence Score below to help our team learn how we can begin to help you enjoy today with confidence for tomorrow.
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Resources Mentioned in This Article
[2] https://www.statista.com/statistics/457822/share-of-old-age-population-in-the-total-us-population/
[3] https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2827753
[5] https://www.ebri.org/docs/default-source/rcs/2026-rcs/2026-rcs-release-report.pdf?sfvrsn=1229022f_1
Financial planning and investment outcomes are not guaranteed and depend on individual circumstances.
Investment advisory services offered through Modern Wealth Management, LLC, a Registered Investment Adviser.
The views expressed represent the opinion of Modern Wealth Management, a Registered Investment Adviser. Information provided is for illustrative purposes only and does not constitute investment, tax, or legal advice. Modern Wealth Management does not accept any liability for the use of the information discussed. Consult with a qualified financial, legal, or tax professional prior to taking any action.