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  1. Retirement
  2. Retirement Planning

Many Savers Are Calculating Retirement Goals 'Off the Top of Their Head'

By: Adam Hardy
Adam Hardy, expert in Personal finance, student loans, credit, job market, low-income finances, and Lead data journalist at Money
Adam Hardy
Lead data journalist | Joined May 2024
Adam Hardy is a lead data journalist at Money, where he frequently reports on financial barriers that affect low-income Americans. Adam’s work has also appeared in Business Insider, Forbes, Nasdaq, The Penny Hoarder, Yahoo! Finance and many other outlets.
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Editor: Julia Glum
Julia Glum, expert in the IRS, taxes, credit scores, saving, colleges, mobile payment apps, and News Editor at Money
Julia Glum
News Editor | Joined February 2018
Julia Glum joined Money in 2018 and specializes in covering financial trends that affect everyday Americans' wallets. She also writes Dollar Scholar, a weekly newsletter that teaches young adults how to navigate the messy world of money.
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Published: Sep 25, 2023 3 min read
Photo collage of a senior thinking about budgeting for his retirement
Money, Getty Images

When calculating how much money they’ll need to save for retirement, many people appear to be guessing.

A new report from data firm Escalent suggests the most common way folks set retirement savings goals is simply by doing the math “off the top of their head,” according to survey responses from about 4,000 savers participating in a retirement plan.

“Despite the industry’s efforts to date, participants aren’t able to grasp how much money is required to live comfortably in retirement until they get really close to making that important transition,” Sonia Davis, the lead author of the report, said in a news release.