How Much It Cost To Retire in the Year You Were Born

For those nearing retirement, especially for middle-aged workers, the question of how much you will actually need to retire can continue to eat at you as you approach that magical day where you stop punching the clock and start living the good life.

One popular way to calculate how much you need to retire is by using Fidelity Investment’s “10x income rule.” According to Fidelity, in order to maintain a quality of life similar to what you had while working, you should save 10 times your annual income before retiring at age 67.

Of course, that figure has changed significantly over the years. Nothing quite puts decades of inflation into perspective like seeing how much (or how little, as the case may be) it took for your grandparents and great grandparents to retire. Annual incomes today are very different than they were 20, 30 or more years ago. If you’re planning on hitting the number your grandparents did and calling it quits, odds are good that you’re going to be well short of what you’ll ultimately need. That’s because, if your grandma and grandpa retired in, say, 1940, when the income for an average American was under $1,000, you would need an additional $645,000 or so at today’s average wages than they did 84 years ago.

That’s why GOBankingRates has calculated what 10 times income would look like in each of the past 65 years using data on average annual wages provided by the U.S. Social Security Administration. Find out how much you’d need to survive retirement throughout the years.

• National Average Wage: $932
• Cost to Retire: $9,320

• National Average Wage: $1,021
• Cost to Retire: $10,210

• National Average Wage: $1,142
• Cost to Retire: $11,420

• National Average Wage: $1,310
• Cost to Retire: $13,100

• National Average Wage: $1,392
• Cost to Retire: $13,920

• National Average Wage: $1,357
• Cost to Retire: $13,570

• National Average Wage: $1,414
• Cost to Retire: $14,140

• National Average Wage: $1,602
• Cost to Retire: $16,020

• National Average Wage: $1,716
• Cost to Retire: $17,160

• National Average Wage: $1,748
• Cost to Retire: $17,480

• National Average Wage: $1,819
• Cost to Retire: $18,190

• National Average Wage: $2,799
• Cost to Retire: $27,992

• National Average Wage: $2,973
• Cost to Retire: $29,733

• National Average Wage: $3,139
• Cost to Retire: $31,394

• National Average Wage: $3,156
• Cost to Retire: $31,556

• National Average Wage: $3,301
• Cost to Retire: $33,014

• National Average Wage: $3,532
• Cost to Retire: $35,324

• National Average Wage: $3,642
• Cost to Retire: $36,417

• National Average Wage: $3,674
• Cost to Retire: $36,738

• National Average Wage: $3,856
• Cost to Retire: $38,558

• National Average Wage: $4,007
• Cost to Retire: $40,071

• National Average Wage: $4,087
• Cost to Retire: $40,867

• National Average Wage: $4,291
• Cost to Retire: $42,914

• National Average Wage: $4,397
• Cost to Retire: $43,966

• National Average Wage: $4,576
• Cost to Retire: $45,763

• National Average Wage: $4,659
• Cost to Retire: $46,587

• National Average Wage: $4,938
• Cost to Retire: $49,384

• National Average Wage: $5,213
• Cost to Retire: $52,134

• National Average Wage: $5,572
• Cost to Retire: $55,718

• National Average Wage: $5,894
• Cost to Retire: $58,938

• National Average Wage: $6,186
• Cost to Retire: $61,862

• National Average Wage: $6,497
• Cost to Retire: $64,971

• National Average Wage: $7,134
• Cost to Retire: $71,338

• National Average Wage: $7,580
• Cost to Retire: $75,802

• National Average Wage: $8,031
• Cost to Retire: $80,308

• National Average Wage: $8,631
• Cost to Retire: $86,309

• National Average Wage: $9,226
• Cost to Retire: $92,265

• National Average Wage: $9,779
• Cost to Retire: $97,794

• National Average Wage: $10,556
• Cost to Retire: $105,560

• National Average Wage: $11,479
• Cost to Retire: $114,795

• National Average Wage: $12,513
• Cost to Retire: $125,135

• National Average Wage: $13,773
• Cost to Retire: $137,731

• National Average Wage: $14,531
• Cost to Retire: $145,313

• National Average Wage: $15,239
• Cost to Retire: $152,392

• National Average Wage: $16,135
• Cost to Retire: $161,351

• National Average Wage: $16,823
• Cost to Retire: $168,225

• National Average Wage: $17,322
• Cost to Retire: $173,218

• National Average Wage: $18,427
• Cost to Retire: $184,265

• National Average Wage: $19,334
• Cost to Retire: $193,340

• National Average Wage: $20,100
• Cost to Retire: $200,996

• National Average Wage: $21,028
• Cost to Retire: $210,280

• National Average Wage: $21,812
• Cost to Retire: $218,116

• National Average Wage: $22,935
• Cost to Retire: $229,354

• National Average Wage: $23,133
• Cost to Retire: $231,327

• National Average Wage: $23,754
• Cost to Retire: $237,535

• National Average Wage: $24,706
• Cost to Retire: $247,057

• National Average Wage: $25,914
• Cost to Retire: $259,139

• National Average Wage: $27,426
• Cost to Retire: $274,260

• National Average Wage: $28,861
• Cost to Retire: $288,614

• National Average Wage: $30,470
• Cost to Retire: $304,698

• National Average Wage: $32,155
• Cost to Retire: $321,548

• National Average Wage: $32,922
• Cost to Retire: $329,219

• National Average Wage: $33,252
• Cost to Retire: $332,521

• National Average Wage: $34,065
• Cost to Retire: $340,650

• National Average Wage: $35,649
• Cost to Retire: $356,486

• National Average Wage: $36,9523
• Cost to Retire: $369,529

• National Average Wage: $38,651
• Cost to Retire: $386,514

• National Average Wage: $40,405
• Cost to Retire: $404,055

• National Average Wage: $41,335
• Cost to Retire: $413,350

• National Average Wage: $40,712
• Cost to Retire: $407,116

• National Average Wage: $41,674
• Cost to Retire: $416,738

• National Average Wage: $42,980
• Cost to Retire: $429,796

• National Average Wage: $44,322
• Cost to Retire: $443,217

• National Average Wage: $44,888
• Cost to Retire: $448,882

• National Average Wage: $46,482
• Cost to Retire: $464,815

• National Average Wage: $48,099
• Cost to Retire: $480,986

• National Average Wage: $48,642
• Cost to Retire: $486,422

• National Average Wage: $50,322
• Cost to Retire: $503,219

• National Average Wage: $52,146
• Cost to Retire: $521,458

• National Average Wage: $54,100
• Cost to Retire: $541,000

• National Average Wage: $55,6289
• Cost to Retire: $556,287

• National Average Wage: $60,575
• Cost to Retire: $605,751

• National Average Wage: $63,795
• Cost to Retire: $637,951

• National Average Wage: $65,470
• Cost to Retire: $654,700

Jordan Rosenfeld contributed to the reporting for this article.

Methodology: For this piece GOBankingRates used the Social Security Administration’s national wage index and Bureau of Labor Statistic’s 2022 Wage data to find the (1) national average wage for every year from 1940 through 2022. Then using Fidelity’s advice that you should have 10x of your income saved for retirement by 67, GOBankingRates found (2) the amount you should have saved for retirement for each year from 1940 to 2022. All data was collected and is up to date as of July 17, 2024.