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

People can spend their entire career building a nest egg, carefully contributing to their retirement accounts and investing their money as they prepare for that day when they can finally retire. But 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 — especially if you’re living through an unprecedented pandemic.

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. Annual incomes today are very different than they were 10, 20 or 30 years ago — especially when you consider inflation. 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 grandma and grandpa retired in, say, 1951, when the income for an average American was under $3,000, you would need an additional $450,000 or so at today’s average wages than they did at the dawn of the Eisenhower Era.

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: $2,799.16
Cost to Retire: $27,991.60

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National Average Wage: $2,973.32
Cost to Retire: $29,733.20

National Average Wage: $3,139.44
Cost to Retire: $31,394.40

National Average Wage: $3,155.64
Cost to Retire: $31,556.40

National Average Wage: $3,301.44
Cost to Retire: $33,014.40

National Average Wage: $3,532.36
Cost to Retire: $35,323.60

National Average Wage: $3,641.72
Cost to Retire: $36,417.20

National Average Wage: $3,673.80
Cost to Retire: $36,738.00

National Average Wage: $3,855.80
Cost to Retire: $38,558.00

National Average Wage: $4,007.12
Cost to Retire: $40,071.20

National Average Wage: $4,086.76
Cost to Retire: $40,867.60

National Average Wage: $4,291.40
Cost to Retire: $42,914.00

National Average Wage: $4,396.64
Cost to Retire: $43,966.40

National Average Wage: $4,576.32
Cost to Retire: $45,763.20

National Average Wage: $4,658.72
Cost to Retire: $46,587.20

National Average Wage: $4,938.36
Cost to Retire: $49,383.60

National Average Wage: $5,213.44
Cost to Retire: $52,134.40

National Average Wage: $5,571.76
Cost to Retire: $55,717.60

National Average Wage: $5,893.76
Cost to Retire: $58,937.60

National Average Wage: $6,186.24
Cost to Retire: $61,862.40

National Average Wage: $6,497.08
Cost to Retire: $64,970.80

National Average Wage: $7,133.80
Cost to Retire: $71,338.00

National Average Wage: $7,580.16
Cost to Retire: $75,801.60

National Average Wage: $8,030.76
Cost to Retire: $80,307.60

National Average Wage: $8,630.92
Cost to Retire: $86,309.20

National Average Wage: $9,226.48
Cost to Retire: $92,264.80

National Average Wage: $9,779.44
Cost to Retire: $97,794.40

National Average Wage: $10,556.03
Cost to Retire: $105,560.30

National Average Wage: $11,479.46
Cost to Retire: $114,794.60

National Average Wage: $12,513.46
Cost to Retire: $125,134.60

National Average Wage: $13,773.10
Cost to Retire: $137,731.00

National Average Wage: $14,531.34
Cost to Retire: $145,313.40

National Average Wage: $15,239.24
Cost to Retire: $152,392.40

National Average Wage: $16,135.07
Cost to Retire: $161,350.70

National Average Wage: $16,822.51
Cost to Retire: $168,225.10

National Average Wage: $17,321.82
Cost to Retire: $173,218.20

National Average Wage: $18,426.51
Cost to Retire: $184,265.10

National Average Wage: $19,334.04
Cost to Retire: $193,340.40

National Average Wage: $20,099.55
Cost to Retire: $200,995.50

National Average Wage: $21,027.98
Cost to Retire: $210,279.80

National Average Wage: $21,811.6
Cost to Retire: $218,116.00

National Average Wage: $22,935.42
Cost to Retire: $229,354.20

National Average Wage: $23,132.67
Cost to Retire: $231,326.70

National Average Wage: $23,753.53
Cost to Retire: $237,535.30

National Average Wage: $24,705.66
Cost to Retire: $247,056.60

National Average Wage: $25,913.90
Cost to Retire: $259,139.00

National Average Wage: $27,426.00
Cost to Retire: $274,260.00

National Average Wage: $28,861.44
Cost to Retire: $288,614.40

National Average Wage: $30,469.84
Cost to Retire: $304,698.40

National Average Wage: $32,154.82
Cost to Retire: $321,548.20

National Average Wage: $32,921.92
Cost to Retire: $329,219.20

National Average Wage: $33,252.09
Cost to Retire: $332,520.90

National Average Wage: $34,064.95
Cost to Retire: $340,649.50

National Average Wage: $35,648.55
Cost to Retire: $356,485.50

National Average Wage: $36,952.94
Cost to Retire: $369,529.40

National Average Wage: $38,651.41
Cost to Retire: $386,514.10

National Average Wage: $40,405.48
Cost to Retire: $404,054.80

National Average Wage: $41,334.97
Cost to Retire: $413,349.70

National Average Wage: $40,711.61
Cost to Retire: $407,116.10

National Average Wage: $41,673.83
Cost to Retire: $416,738.30

National Average Wage: $42,979.61
Cost to Retire: $429,796.10

National Average Wage: $44,321.67
Cost to Retire: $443,216.70

National Average Wage: $44,888.16
Cost to Retire: $448,881.60

National Average Wage: $46,481.52
Cost to Retire: $464,815.20

National Average Wage: $48,098.63
Cost to Retire: $480,986.30

National Average Wage: $48,642.15
Cost to Retire: $486,421.50

National Average Wage: $50,321.89
Cost to Retire: $503,218.90

National Average Wage: $52,145.80
Cost to Retire: $521,458.00

National Average Wage: $54,099.99
Cost to Retire: $540,999.90

National Average Wage: $55,628.60
Cost to Retire: $556,286.90

National Average Wage: $58,260
Cost to Retire: $582,600

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Methodology: For this piece GOBankingRates used the Social Security Administration’s national wage index and Bureau of Labor Statistic’s 2021 Wage data to find the (1) national average wage for every year from 1940 through 2021. 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 2021. All data was collected and is up to date as of July 21, 2022.