--- title: Americans' 'Magic Number' for a Comfortable Retirement Has Dropped $200K description: Americans now say $1.26M is the new retirement 'magic number' — down from $1.46M last year, as inflation fears begin to ease. authors: - name: Pete Grieve role: Lead News Reporter url: https://money.com/author/pete-grieve/ bio: Pete Grieve is a personal finance reporter. In his time at Money, Pete has covered everything from car buying to credit cards to the housing market. education: University of Chicago, BA Political Science at_money_since: 2022 articles: 597 covers: - Retirement - Banking - Business - Career Advice - Credit - Credit Cards - Debt - Economy and Politics - Education - Health and Wellness - Housing - Identity Theft - Insurance - Investing - Lifestyle - Loans - Mortgages - Personal Finance - Professional Services - Shopping - Taxes social: - https://twitter.com/pete_grieve - https://linkedin.com/in/pete-grieve-b5aa02138 - https://www.facebook.com/petegrieve4 editors: - name: Katherine Peach role: Associate Editor url: https://money.com/author/katherine-peach/ bio: Katherine Peach is an associate editor with a focus on news and email at Money. She didn’t always intend to write about money. She’s a classically trained pianist who dreamed of becoming an archaeologist. However, in 2007 Katherine began working in financial publishing as an editor for Agora Inc. (Apparently, unearthing ideas about improving your personal finances isn’t such a bad career alternative!) Katherine’s writing and editing work has been featured in Investing Daily, Clever, Investor Junkie, The Palm Beach Letter, Truth & Plenty, Independence Monthly, NICHE, AmericanStyle, AntiqueWeek, Millennial Money, Money Done Right, TheStreet, Sure Dividend and many others. Katherine holds a Bachelor of Arts in Ancient Studies with concentrations in Archaeology and Ancient Languages and a minor in Literature from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. She is a member of Phi Beta Kappa. education: University of Maryland, Baltimore County at_money_since: 2025 articles: 14 covers: - Retirement - Banking - Career Advice - Credit - Credit Cards - Debt - Economy and Politics - Education - Federal Reserve Rate Cuts - Health and Wellness - Housing - Identity Theft - Insurance - Investing - Lifestyle - Loans - Mortgages - Personal Finance - Professional Services - Shopping - Taxes published: '2025-04-15T14:30:36.000Z' modified: '2025-09-05T16:19:21.000Z' section: Retirement tags: - News word_count: 332 canonical: https://money.com/magic-number-retirement-dropped-survey/ type: NewsArticle source: structured-blocks --- > **Disclosure:** We research all brands listed and may earn a fee from our partners. Research and financial considerations may influence how brands are displayed. Not all brands are included. [Learn more](https://money.com/page/disclaimer/). ![Illustration of a senior lady building her retirement fort out of dollar bills](https://img.money.com/2025/04/How-Much-To-Retire-Estimate-Decreased.jpg?crop=0px%2C169px%2C2880px%2C1620px&quality=85) The amount of money Americans think is [necessary to retire](https://money.com/how-much-money-do-you-need-to-retire/) decreased over the past year as inflation cooled, easing fears about retirement costs spiraling out of control. The shift was observed in an annual [Northwestern Mutual survey](https://news.northwesternmutual.com/2025-04-14-Americans-Believe-They-Will-Need-1-26-Million-to-Retire-Comfortably-According-to-Northwestern-Mutual-2025-Planning-Progress-Study) that asks about respondents' "magic number" for retirement. On average, people believe they'll need $1.26 million, a significant decrease from last year, when the estimate was $1.46 million. "Americans' 'magic number' to retire comfortably has come down — but it remains high, far beyond what many people have actually saved," John Roberts, chief field officer at Northwestern Mutual, said in a release. ## Increase your income today with a Reverse Mortgage ### If you're 62 or older, work with a licensed Finance of America (NMLS# 2285) representative in your state today. [Learn More](https://money.com/pr/f9aaa98cdbb4?ap_referrer=%2Fmagic-number-retirement-dropped-survey%2F) Last year's magic number of $1.46 million was the highest ever observed. The [theory](https://money.com/retirement-cost-estimate-record/) was that the explosion in costs for housing, groceries and other items from 2021 to 2023 caused Americans to rethink how much they would need for their retirement. This year, the magic number for retirement is more in line with 2022 and 2023 levels. Still, most Americans fear they'll run out of money in retirement, according to the survey, which polled more than 4,600 people in January. Even with the magic number estimate dropping, folks' actual retirement savings are generally short of the amounts they think they'll need in retirement. Gen X (people born between 1965 and 1980) notably still has a long way to go. "For Gen X'ers, many of whom are approaching their retirement years, 52% have 3x their current annual income or less saved. And the majority (54%) believe they will not be financially prepared for retirement when the time comes," the Northwestern Mutual release said. This Northwestern Mutual report isn't the only annual survey asking a version of the magic number question. In July, a [study](https://money.com/retirement-cost-predictions-2024/) from Charles Schwab found that the average amount of money people think they'll need in retirement is $1.8 million. ## With a Reverse Mortgage, you can invest in your future starting today ### Work with a licensed Finance of America (NMLS# 2285) representative today. [Learn More](https://money.com/pr/t879fd448b2c?ap_referrer=%2Fmagic-number-retirement-dropped-survey%2F) ![](https://s3.consumersadvocate.org/prd/image/image/39553/medium_d01d803f-1110-4310-8997-bada342c27e4.webp) Get the most out of your Reverse Mortgage with Finance of America (NMLS# 2285) [Learn More](https://money.com/pr/ed1a928f8683?ap_referrer=%2Fmagic-number-retirement-dropped-survey%2F) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "@id": "https://money.com/magic-number-retirement-dropped-survey/#breadcrumb", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://money.com" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Retirement", "item": "https://money.com/retirement/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Retirement Planning", "item": "https://money.com/retirement-planning/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Americans' 'Magic Number' for a Comfortable Retirement Has Dropped $200K" } ] }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://money.com/#website", "url": "https://money.com", "name": "Money", "publisher": { "@id": "https://money.com/#organization" } }, { "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://money.com/magic-number-retirement-dropped-survey/#webpage", "url": "https://money.com/magic-number-retirement-dropped-survey/", "name": "Americans' 'Magic Number' for a Comfortable Retirement Has Dropped $200K", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://money.com/#website" }, "datePublished": "2025-04-15T14:30:36.000Z", "mainEntity": { "@id": "https://money.com/magic-number-retirement-dropped-survey/" }, "inLanguage": "en-US", "breadcrumb": { "@id": "https://money.com/magic-number-retirement-dropped-survey/#breadcrumb" }, "dateModified": "2025-09-05T16:19:21.000Z" }, { "@type": "NewsArticle", "headline": "Americans' 'Magic Number' for a Comfortable Retirement Has Dropped $200K", "articleSection": "Retirement", "image": [ { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://img.money.com/2025/04/How-Much-To-Retire-Estimate-Decreased.jpg?crop=0px%2C169px%2C2880px%2C1620px&quality=85", "width": 1012, "height": 569, "caption": "How-Much-To-Retire-Estimate-Decreased" } ], "author": [ { "@type": "Person", "name": "Pete Grieve", "url": "https://money.com/author/pete-grieve/", "@id": "https://money.com/author/pete-grieve/#author", "description": "Pete Grieve is a personal finance reporter. 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