--- title: Workers Today Predict They'll Need Nearly $2 Million to Retire description: Workers today estimate they’ll need an average of $1.8 million saved in order to retire — an increase from 2022, and a lofty goal for many. authors: - name: Mary Ellen Cagnassola role: Reporter url: https://money.com/author/mary-ellen-cagnassola/ bio: Mary Ellen (M.E.) Cagnassola is a former Money reporter specializing in Social Security and retirement coverage, with a focus on making complex policy accessible to readers. education: Rutgers University, BA Journalism at_money_since: 2021 articles: 205 covers: - Retirement - Banking - Business - Career Advice - Credit - Credit Cards - Economy and Politics - Education - Housing - Identity Theft - Insurance - Investing - Lifestyle - Loans - Mortgages - Personal Finance - Pets - Professional Services - Shopping - Taxes former_staff: true editors: - name: Julia Glum role: Managing Editor url: https://money.com/author/julia-glum/ bio: 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. education: University of Florida at_money_since: 2018 articles: 453 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 - Technology also_seen_in: - Newsweek - International Business Times - CBS News - Good Morning America - WUSA9 - Pix 11 - The New York Times - Mashable - The Washington Post - CNBC - Politico social: - https://x.com/superjulia - https://www.linkedin.com/in/julia-glum published: '2023-08-02T20:28:36.000Z' modified: '2024-01-10T12:58:29.000Z' section: Retirement tags: - News - Retirement word_count: 626 canonical: https://money.com/retirement-cost-predictions-2-million/ 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/). ![Photo collage of a mature woman looking at the sunset with a giant dollar looming](https://img.money.com/2023/08/News-Amount-Americans-Think-Retire-Just-Rose-Million.jpg?crop=0px%2C3px%2C2880px%2C1620px&quality=85) Workers today estimate they’ll need an average of $1.8 million saved in order to retire — an increase from last year, and a goal many are unsure they’ll be able to reach. More Americans are also expecting that they'll get most of that income from their [employer-sponsored retirement plans](https://money.com/employer-401k-contributions-record-high/), according to an annual [survey](https://content.schwab.com/web/retail/public/about-schwab/schwab_2023_401k_participant_survey_findings.pdf) of 1,000 [401(k) plan](https://money.com/401k-and-401k-rollover/) participants from wealth management firm Charles Schwab. The findings echo growing public concerns about whether traditional retirement income sources like [Social Security](https://money.com/americans-believe-social-security-going-away/) will be enough in the future. The findings from Charles Schwab reiterate just how little faith Americans have in the traditional retirement safety net to support them when they’re older. With fewer and fewer people expecting to be able to rely on [Social Security](https://money.com/2024-cola-estimate-3-percent/) and pensions, it’s not surprising that an increasing number of workers are also turning to other methods to save. Sixty-eight percent told Schwab they’re using a savings account to build retirement funds compared to last year’s 61%. Respondents who said they were investing in an Individual Retirement Account, or [IRA,](https://money.com/best-roth-ira/) increased from 33% to 47%, and 38% are now investing through a brokerage account compared to 29% in 2022. It’s important to note that when unfriendly macroeconomic factors like inflation, market uncertainty and interest rates are high, people tend to be more negative about their financial futures. However, additional [research](https://money.com/retirement-savings-shortfall-state-automated-ira/?ref=/how-much-money-retire-comfortably/) from Pew Charitable Trusts suggests that Americans may have reason to feel pessimistic: More than 56 million privately employed workers don’t have access to retirement plans through their jobs. Without an alternative, the burden of the looming retirement crisis could cost taxpayers an astounding $1.3 trillion by 2040. As such, the number Americans think they'll need to save for retirement keeps inching upward, although a [recent study](https://money.com/how-much-money-retire-comfortably/) from insurance company Northwestern Mutual found that on average, U.S. adults report having less than $90,000 squirreled away. The same study found that Americans think they'll need nearly $1.3 million saved — lower than what respondents to Schwab's survey said, but still an increase from the $1.25 million estimate recorded by Northwestern Mutual in 2022. [Missouri Will No Longer Tax Social Security Benefits, but These 11 States Still Do](https://money.com/social-security-tax-states/) [401(k) Gender Gap: Men’s Retirement Account Balances Are 50% Higher Than Women’s](https://money.com/401k-balance-gender-gap-closing/) [AARP Says Social Security’s Customer Service Is Dangerously Inadequate](https://money.com/social-security-customer-service-aarp/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "@id": "https://money.com/retirement-cost-predictions-2-million/#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": "Workers Today Predict They'll Need Nearly $2 Million to Retire" } ] }, { "@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/retirement-cost-predictions-2-million/#webpage", "url": "https://money.com/retirement-cost-predictions-2-million/", "name": "Workers Today Predict They'll Need Nearly $2 Million to Retire", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://money.com/#website" }, "datePublished": "2023-08-02T20:28:36.000Z", "mainEntity": { "@id": "https://money.com/retirement-cost-predictions-2-million/" }, "inLanguage": "en-US", "breadcrumb": { "@id": "https://money.com/retirement-cost-predictions-2-million/#breadcrumb" }, "dateModified": "2024-01-10T12:58:29.000Z" }, { "@type": "NewsArticle", "headline": "Workers Today Predict They'll Need Nearly $2 Million to Retire", "articleSection": "Retirement", "image": [ { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://img.money.com/2023/08/News-Amount-Americans-Think-Retire-Just-Rose-Million.jpg?crop=0px%2C3px%2C2880px%2C1620px&quality=85", "width": 1012, "height": 569, "caption": "News-Amount-Americans-Think-Retire-Just-Rose-Million" } ], "author": [ { "@type": "Person", "name": "Mary Ellen Cagnassola", "url": "https://money.com/author/mary-ellen-cagnassola/", "@id": "https://money.com/author/mary-ellen-cagnassola/#author", "description": "Mary Ellen (M.E.) 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