---
title: Build a Savings Plan That Fits Your Real Life
description: 'Some years you can''t save as much as you''d like. Don''t get discouraged: You can make it up.'
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  - name: patrickregnier
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    at_money_since: 2014
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published: '2014-10-24T18:49:18.000Z'
modified: '2024-04-16T04:36:54.000Z'
section: Personal Finance
canonical: https://money.com/collection-post/savings-plan-for-real-life/
type: Article
source: structured-blocks
---

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![seamstress measuring a piggy bank](https://img.money.com/2014/10/141024_rtw_buildsavingsplan.jpg)

Conventional wisdom suggests you should save a steady 10% or so a year for retirement throughout your career. Instead, says Maspeth, N.Y., financial planner Michael Terry, you're better off adjusting that rate to fit your financial situation—pulling back to, maybe, 5%, when your kids are in college and the budget is tight, then ramping up to 10% to 15% after they graduate. Once your mortgage is paid off, Terry says, boost your rate again, say, to 25%.

Odds are good that you'll come out ahead with less pain. Take a typical 50-year-old who earns $70,000 a year, saves at a steady 10% clip, and has $350,000 socked away in his 401(k)—the target for that age. Assuming standard 2% raises and average annual returns of 5%, he'll amass $916,500 by 65. If instead he lowers his savings rate to 5% until his kids are out of college, bumps up to 15% at 55, and to 25% at 60, he'll have $980,000 by the time he retires.

**Answer this question to get more financial advice tailored to your place on the Road to Wealth:**

**Which best describes your financial life?**  
[a.) A disaster  
b.)](https://money.com/10-most-common-financial-leaks-plug-them-now/) [I have a little savings  
c.)](https://money.com/ready-to-start-saving-do-it-right/) [I've got a nest egg but big goals too  
d.)](https://money.com/quick-guide-to-how-much-you-will-need-to-retire/) [Doing great](https://money.com/collection-post/the-easiest-way-to-juice-your-portfolio-minimize-taxes/)

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