--- title: 'Retirement Goals: 4 Out of 10 Are Making It Up as They Go' description: According to a new survey, 4 out of 10 retirement savers are calculating their goals off the top of their head (aka without much thought). authors: - name: Adam Hardy role: Lead Data Reporter url: https://money.com/author/adam-hardy/ bio: 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 more than a dozen local and regional newspapers. education: University of South Florida, BA, Magazine Journalism at_money_since: 2021 articles: 498 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 - Pets - Professional Services - Shopping - Taxes - Technology also_seen_in: - The Penny Hoarder - Forbes Advisor - Creative Loafing - The New York Times - The Washington Post - Bloomberg - Harvard Law School - The Federal Register - National Consumer Law Center - CBS News - Becker's Hospital Review - Business Insider - Mother Jones - The Week - Fortune - The Philadelphia Inquirer - National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (NAFSAA) - Education Advisory Board (EAB) - The Institute for College Access & Success (TICAS) - This Morning with Gordon Deal - Empower - Reddit social: - https://www.x.com/hardyjournalism - https://www.linkedin.com/in/hardyjournalism/ 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: '2025-10-24T13:15:37.000Z' section: Retirement tags: - News - Retirement word_count: 450 canonical: https://money.com/retirement-goals-made-up/ 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 senior thinking about budgeting for his retirement](https://img.money.com/2023/09/News-How-Much-Retirement-Cost-40-Are-Guessing.jpg?crop=0px%2C273px%2C2880px%2C1620px&quality=85) When calculating how much money they’ll need to save for retirement, many people appear to be guessing. A [report](https://escalent.co/news/four-in-ten-participants-admit-to-calculating-retirement-savings-goals-off-the-top-of-their-head/) 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. According to Escalent, 4 out of 10 respondents admitted to calculating their [retirement savings goals](https://money.com/save-for-retirement/) off the top of their head, or without much thought. Other popular methods of determining how much money they’ll need to retire include using online calculators (30% of those polled), consulting a financial advisor (25%) and creating customized spreadsheets (22%). (Respondents could select more than one answer.) ## Begin benefiting from an IRA account from JP Morgan ### It's never too late to open an account for your retirement. Select your state to begin contributing today. [Start Investing](https://money.com/pr/u13c0ba77418?ap_referrer=%2Fretirement-goals-made-up%2F) ## How much does retirement cost? The firm also asked savers to estimate the amount of money they’ll need in retirement. The answers, predictably, ranged widely by age. [Gen Zers](https://money.com/gen-z-saving-for-retirement-increase/) — or people born after 1996 — reported thinking they’d need the least amount: about $500,000. Younger, "second wave" baby boomers — generally considered to be born between 1956 and 1964 — said they’ll need the most, $1.2 million on average. The overall average was roughly $950,000, a lower reading than many other recent reports. Lately, Americans have been saying they think they’ll need at least $1 million to retire comfortably. A June report from Northwestern Mutual put that price tag [at $1.3 million](https://money.com/how-much-money-retire-comfortably/). And in an August reading from Charles Schwab, workers expected they’ll need [almost $2 million](https://money.com/retirement-cost-predictions-2-million/). Some external factors are at play here, like inflation and stock market volatility, causing retirement savers to increase their expectations for how much money they think they’ll need to sock away for their golden years. Also, as Escalent’s report suggests, people could just be winging it when asked. Fortunately, at least a quarter of respondents had the right idea by consulting a [financial advisor](https://money.com/how-to-choose-a-financial-advisor/) to help them come up with a tailored figure. Everyone's situation is different, but a good rule of thumb is to have saved up between 8 and 12 times your annual salary — depending on the standard of living you want to maintain — by the time you reach 67. *Editor's note: Money originally published this article on September 25, 2023.* ![](https://s3.consumersadvocate.org/prd/image/image/22145/medium_add8dc72-0c71-4e11-a480-2e2335612296.png) Begin setting up an IRA with SoFi® today! [Start Investing](https://money.com/pr/ze4c74e74bbd?ap_referrer=%2Fretirement-goals-made-up%2F) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "@id": "https://money.com/retirement-goals-made-up/#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": "Retirement Goals: 4 Out of 10 Are Making It Up as They Go" } ] }, { "@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-goals-made-up/#webpage", "url": "https://money.com/retirement-goals-made-up/", "name": "Retirement Goals: 4 Out of 10 Are Making It Up as They Go", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://money.com/#website" }, "datePublished": "2025-10-24T13:15:37.000Z", "mainEntity": { "@id": "https://money.com/retirement-goals-made-up/" }, "inLanguage": "en-US", "breadcrumb": { "@id": "https://money.com/retirement-goals-made-up/#breadcrumb" } }, { "@type": "NewsArticle", "headline": "Retirement Goals: 4 Out of 10 Are Making It Up as They Go", "articleSection": "Retirement", "image": [ { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://img.money.com/2023/09/News-How-Much-Retirement-Cost-40-Are-Guessing.jpg?crop=0px%2C273px%2C2880px%2C1620px&quality=85", "width": 1012, "height": 569, "caption": "News-How-Much-Retirement-Cost-40%-Are-Guessing" } ], "author": [ { "@type": "Person", "name": "Adam Hardy", "url": "https://money.com/author/adam-hardy/", "@id": "https://money.com/author/adam-hardy/#author", "description": "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 more than a dozen local and regional newspapers.", "image": "https://img.money.com/2022/01/a_adam-hardy.jpg?quality=85&w=400&h=440&crop=1", "email": "adam.hardy@money.com", "jobTitle": "Lead Data Reporter", "alumniOf": "University of South Florida, BA, Magazine Journalism", "subjectOf": [ { "@type": "WebPage", "url": "https://www.thepennyhoarder.com/", "name": "The Penny Hoarder" }, { "@type": "WebPage", "url": "https://www.forbes.com/advisor/", "name": "Forbes Advisor" }, { "@type": "WebPage", "url": "https://creativeloafing.com/", "name": "Creative Loafing" }, { "@type": "WebPage", "url": "https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/01/opinion/biden-trump-harris-2024.html", "name": "The New York Times" }, { "@type": "WebPage", "url": "https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/12/26/flexible-spending-account-is-flawed-benefit/", "name": "The Washington Post" }, { "@type": "WebPage", "url": "https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2025-09-20/-100-000-h-1b-visa-fee-is-a-gamble-that-could-protect-us-jobs", "name": "Bloomberg" }, { "@type": "WebPage", "url": "https://petrieflom.law.harvard.edu/2024/02/08/whoop-and-the-irs-how-tax-avoidance-helps-health/", "name": "Harvard Law School" }, { "@type": "WebPage", "url": "https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2025/12/29/2025-23853/weighted-selection-process-for-registrants-and-petitioners-seeking-to-file-cap-subject-h-1b#footnote-33-p60883", "name": "The Federal Register" }, { "@type": "WebPage", "url": "https://www.nclc.org/resources/what-states-can-do-to-stop-credit-reporting-abuses/", "name": "National Consumer Law Center" }, { "@type": "WebPage", "url": "https://www.cbsnews.com/news/open-enrollment-irs-changes-fsa-hsa-flexible-spending-account-health-savings-account-2023/", "name": "CBS News" }, { "@type": "WebPage", "url": "https://www.beckershospitalreview.com/rankings-and-ratings/20-top-us-hospitals-for-2025-per-money/", "name": "Becker's Hospital Review" }, { "@type": "WebPage", "url": "https://www.businessinsider.com/using-chatgpt-ai-write-cover-letters-job-applications-2023-2", "name": "Business Insider" }, { "@type": "WebPage", "url": "https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2026/04/a-major-strike-of-beef-workers-pauses-in-colorado-but-workers-say-the-fight-isnt-over/", "name": "Mother Jones" }, { "@type": "WebPage", "url": "https://theweek.com/business/economy/job-market-frozen-thawing", "name": "The Week" }, { "@type": "WebPage", "url": "https://fortune.com/2023/12/20/workers-lose-money-on-unused-fsa-accounts-deadlines-what-companies-should-do/", "name": "Fortune" }, { "@type": "WebPage", "url": "https://www.inquirer.com/opinion/editorials/liberation-day-tariffs-economy-stock-market-trump-20250401.html", "name": "The Philadelphia Inquirer" }, { "@type": "WebPage", "url": "https://www.nasfaa.org/news-item/37955/Student_Loan_Changes_2026_New_Repayment_Options_Taxable_Forgiveness_and_More_on_the_Way", "name": "National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (NAFSAA)" }, { "@type": "WebPage", "url": "https://eab.com/resources/blog/adult-education-blog/graduate-funding-shift-pricing-aid-strategies-aligned/", "name": "Education Advisory Board (EAB)" }, { "@type": "WebPage", "url": "https://ticas.org/california/state-private-loans-protections-blog/", "name": "The Institute for College Access & Success (TICAS)" }, { "@type": "WebPage", "url": "https://thismorningwithgordondeal.com/b/This-Morning-with-Gordon-Deal-August-04,-2026/421564107823081285.html", "name": "This Morning with Gordon Deal" }, { "@type": "WebPage", "url": "https://www.empower.com/the-currency/life/pumpkin-spice-season-spending", "name": "Empower" }, { "@type": "WebPage", "url": "https://www.reddit.com/r/Economics/comments/1va10oa/comment/p0i9bju/", "name": "Reddit" } ], "sameAs": [ "https://www.x.com/hardyjournalism", "https://www.linkedin.com/in/hardyjournalism/" ], "worksFor": { "@id": "https://money.com/#organization" } } ], "publisher": "https://money.com/#organization", "datePublished": "2025-10-24T13:15:37.000Z", "description": "According to a new survey, 4 out of 10 retirement savers are calculating their goals off the top of their head (aka without much thought).", "abstract": "According to a new survey, 4 out of 10 retirement savers are calculating their goals off the top of their head (aka without much thought).", "@id": "https://money.com/retirement-goals-made-up/", "inLanguage": "en-US", "editor": [ { "@type": "Person", "name": "Julia Glum", "url": "https://money.com/author/julia-glum/", "@id": "https://money.com/author/julia-glum/#author", "description": "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. ", "image": "https://img.money.com/2021/10/a_julia-glum.jpg?quality=85&w=400&h=440&crop=1", "email": "julia.glum@money.com", "jobTitle": "Managing Editor", "alumniOf": "University of Florida", "subjectOf": [ { "@type": "WebPage", "url": "https://www.newsweek.com", "name": "Newsweek" }, { "@type": "WebPage", "url": "https://www.ibtimes.com/", "name": "International Business Times" }, { "@type": "WebPage", "url": "https://www.cbsnews.com/news/home-office-tax-deduction-who-qualifies/", "name": "CBS News" }, { "@type": "WebPage", "url": "https://www.goodmorningamerica.com/living/story/coupon-queen-woman-tik-tok-share-tips-couponing-66302189", "name": "Good Morning America" }, { "@type": "WebPage", "url": "https://www.wusa9.com/video/entertainment/television/programs/great-day-washington/tips-to-being-better-with-money-in-2021/65-a5b83e05-73ba-4d60-b9a8-1d47f9ac6018", "name": "WUSA9" }, { "@type": "WebPage", "url": "https://pix11.com/news/coronavirus/rebound/making-ends-meet/millenials-taking-biggest-financial-hit-from-pandemic/", "name": "Pix 11" }, { "@type": "WebPage", "url": "https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/10/opinion/active-shooter-drill-schools.html", "name": "The New York Times" }, { "@type": "WebPage", "url": "https://mashable.com/article/forrest-fenn-treasure-found", "name": "Mashable" }, { "@type": "WebPage", "url": "https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2014/08/13/theres-an-app-for-that-authorities-say-man-asked-siri-for-help-dumping-body/", "name": "The Washington Post" }, { "@type": "WebPage", "url": "https://www.cnbc.com/2020/06/08/treasure-buried-by-forrest-fenn-finally-found-after-10-years.html", "name": "CNBC" }, { "@type": "WebPage", "url": "https://www.politico.com/tipsheets/florida-playbook/2017/03/gillum-for-governors-rollout-stumble-florida-woman-gets-trump-shout-out-rubios-tampa-office-problems-218973", "name": "Politico" } ], "sameAs": [ "https://x.com/superjulia", "https://www.linkedin.com/in/julia-glum" ], "worksFor": { "@id": "https://money.com/#organization" } } ], "wordCount": 450, "keywords": [ "News", "Retirement" ], "about": [ { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Retirement", "sameAs": [ "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Retirement" ] }, { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Retirement planning", "sameAs": [ "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Retirement_planning" ] } ] } ] } ```