What Is a Good Savings Rate by Age? Targets From 20s to 50s

Short answer: a commonly used target is a savings rate of 15% of gross pay, including any employer match, from your 20s onward. The right savings rate by age depends on when you start: saving for retirement from age 25 can take under 4% of pay to reach a goal of 10 times your salary by 67, while starting at 45 takes about 19%. The earlier you begin, the lower the percentage you need.

Key takeaways

• Your savings rate is the share of gross pay you save, counting your retirement contributions and your employer match.
• A 15% rate is a widely used target, and 10% is a common floor to start from.
• Starting age drives the rate: the same 10-times-salary goal takes about 3.9% from age 25 and about 19.2% from age 45.
• If you started late, raise the rate in steps and use the catch-up limits available from age 50.

How do you work out your savings rate?

Add everything you put toward long-term goals in a year: your own retirement contributions, your employer match, and regular savings and investing. Divide by your gross pay. Someone earning $60,000 who saves $400 a month and receives a $150 monthly match is saving $6,600 a year, which is 11%.

Counting the employer match is common, because it is money you earn by saving. Leave out emergency-fund top-ups and sinking funds for planned spending such as a vacation. They are saving, but not for the long term.

What savings rate does each age group need?

The table shows the monthly amount, and the share of a $5,000 monthly gross income, needed to reach $600,000 (10 times a $60,000 salary) by age 67, assuming a steady 7% annual return and a salary that does not change. Real salaries tend to rise, which would make the early percentages easier and the late ones less steep, but returns vary and could be lower.

Every five years of delay raises the needed rate by roughly half again. That is the reason the usual message is to start now, even small. See compound interest and the Rule of 72 for why early dollars do the most work, and try the Start Early Race.

What is a good savings rate in your 20s, 30s, 40s and 50s?

• 20s: 10% to 15%. Take the full employer match first, then build a $1,000 starter fund. Even 5% to start is useful, then raise it by a point each raise.
• 30s: 15%. Costs rise with housing and children, but the 15% habit set now compounds for 30 years or more.
• 40s: 15% to 20%. If you started late, aim higher. See how to start saving for retirement at 40 or later.
• 50s: 20% or more. Use the catch-up limits: in 2026 an extra $8,000 in a 401(k) and $1,100 in an IRA from age 50.

How much is typical to have saved by each age?

A widely quoted guideline expresses savings as multiples of salary: about 1 times your salary by 30, 3 times by 40, 6 times by 50, 8 times by 60 and 10 times by 67. These are rough markers, not rules. They assume you save around 15% from age 25 and retire at 67, and they leave out pensions, Social Security and home equity. For a closer look at your own position, read how much is typical in a 401(k) by age.

What if your savings rate is lower than the target?

1. Start where you are. A rate of 5% beats 0%, and consistency matters more than size.
2. Raise it by one point every time you get a raise or every six months. You rarely feel 1%.
3. Capture the match. It is the best return available. See what a 401(k) is.
4. Trim one big cost. Housing, transport and food hold most of a budget. See how much to save each month.
5. Redirect raises. Save half of every raise before the new pay feels normal.

Sources and further reading: SEC Investor.gov has free tools for retirement planning, and the IRS lists current contribution limits.

General education, not financial or investment advice. Reviewed October 2026. Figures assume a constant 7% annual return with monthly contributions, a flat $60,000 salary and retirement at 67. They are illustrations, and actual returns vary and are not guaranteed.

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