✓ Accepted Answer
There's no single correct number, but a commonly cited starting benchmark — invest at least 15% of pre-tax income for retirement — is a reasonable default if you have nothing else to anchor on.
A widely referenced benchmark suggests 15% of pre-tax income toward retirement specifically (including any employer match) as a reasonable target for someone starting in their 20s-30s aiming for a normal retirement age — earlier starters can often get away with somewhat less due to more time for compound growth, while later starters typically need more.
If you're targeting early retirement or aggressive wealth-building, the math shifts significantly — many pursuing early retirement save 30-50%+ of income, since a higher savings rate is what actually compresses the timeline, more than investment returns alone.
Before optimizing the percentage, sequence matters: build an emergency fund first (3-6 months of expenses), pay down high-interest debt (credit cards especially), then capture any full employer retirement match before increasing contributions further — a match is a guaranteed return no percentage of extra investing elsewhere can reliably beat.
Whatever percentage you land on, treat it as a floor you increase over time (with raises, for example) rather than a ceiling — even modest annual increases compound meaningfully over a working career.
Next step: confirm your emergency fund and high-interest debt are handled before pushing your investing percentage higher.
by coumbafall77451
There's no single correct number, but a commonly cited starting benchmark — invest at least 15% of pre-tax income for retirement — is a reasonable default if you have nothing else to anchor on.
A widely referenced benchmark suggests 15% of pre-tax income toward retirement specifically (including any employer match) as a reasonable target for someone starting in their 20s-30s aiming for a normal retirement age — earlier starters can often get away with somewhat less due to more time for compound growth, while later starters typically need more.
If you're targeting early retirement or aggressive wealth-building, the math shifts significantly — many pursuing early retirement save 30-50%+ of income, since a higher savings rate is what actually compresses the timeline, more than investment returns alone.
Before optimizing the percentage, sequence matters: build an emergency fund first (3-6 months of expenses), pay down high-interest debt (credit cards especially), then capture any full employer retirement match before increasing contributions further — a match is a guaranteed return no percentage of extra investing elsewhere can reliably beat.
Whatever percentage you land on, treat it as a floor you increase over time (with raises, for example) rather than a ceiling — even modest annual increases compound meaningfully over a working career.
Next step: confirm your emergency fund and high-interest debt are handled before pushing your investing percentage higher.
by avagauthier79774
· 7 upvotes