I Asked ChatGPT, Grok and Gemini How Much Money I’ll Need To Retire in 2030: Here’s What They Said
Written by
Nicholas Morine
Edited by
Jenna Klaverweiden
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Retirement planning has traditionally been the province of financial advisors specializing in the area, finance gurus and brick-and-mortar investment specialists.
Now, however, the average person has access to a variety of information not only via search engine results (screened for authenticity and veracity) but also through engagement with sophisticated artificial intelligence (AI) models, such as ChatGPT, Grok and Gemini.
GOBankingRates asked each model “How much money will I need to retire in 2030, assuming I am an average American?” Each model provided different ranges of desired retirement savings alongside other conditional factors.
ChatGPT: A Concise Retirement Planning Response
ChatGPT provided the most concise retirement planning response by far, looking at a retirement age of 65 as the standard benchmark and a life expectancy of 85.
It cited the current average spending in retirement for households headed by a U.S. senior citizen at $55,000 as of 2024, reliant upon Bureau of Labor Statistics data. However, when queried about that data, it was able to provide only a figure of $54,975 for 2022 and $57,866 for 2023 — a reminder to always take large language model data with a pinch of salt and crosscheck answers. In 2025, that figure is likely to be closer to over $60,000 based on that growth rate.
In any case, ChatGPT settled on a range of between $900,000 and $1.1 million saved by 2030 in order to enjoy a middle-class lifestyle while also relying at least partially on Social Security benefits, assuming a 4% withdrawal rate from your personal savings.
Grok: A Comprehensive, If Lengthy, Retirement Plan
By contrast, Grok provided a long and nuanced response when the question was posed, pointing to a median household income of about $74,580 (as of 2022) and expected spend of between $58,800 and $67,200 throughout retirement.
In the end, Grok indicated that a savings range of $820,000 to $1.03 million was appropriate, or $1.2 million to $1.65 million for those residing in a high-cost region.
The model also suggested that a significant savings gap currently existed ($87,000 versus the above target), meaning that retirement was imperiled for most Americans looking to spend their golden years comfortably. It also gestured toward a potential 17% decrease in Social Security benefits tied to the program’s insolvency issues.
Gemini: The Highest ‘Magic Number’ for Retirement Savings
Of the three models, Gemini produced the highest “magic number” for retirement savings, coming in at $1.8 million.
It, too, pointed toward the immense savings gap in how much people actually have saved for retirement, providing a wide difference in figures (both a median of $87,000 and an average of $331,400, as of 2022).
Gemini also emphasized the importance of considering factors such as debt, other income sources like pensions or rental income, Social Security benefits, and inflation when doing your personal calculations as to how much you may need to retire.
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