You’re age 35, 50, or 60: How much should you have saved for retirement by now?

Retirement planning and tracking your savings progress often take a backseat to immediate financial priorities—especially when retirement feels so far away. But when it comes to building your nest egg, the earlier you start, the better, as time becomes your greatest financial ally.

The key isn’t perfection; it’s consistency. Whether you’re 35 or 55, taking an honest look at your budget and current savings puts you in control of your financial future. (Use this budget worksheet to take stock of your current position.) Once you understand where you stand and where you want to go, you can build a realistic savings strategy that fits your life right now.

What should I have saved by age 35, 50, and 60?

There is a lot of research showing that people tend to rely on approximations or rules of thumb when it comes to financial decisions.

A savings benchmark isn’t a replacement for comprehensive planning, but it is a quick way to gauge whether you’re on track. It’s much better than the alternative that some people use—blindly guessing! More importantly, it can act as a catalyst to take action and start saving more.

However, for the benchmark to be useful, it needs to be realistic. Setting the target too low can lead to a false sense of confidence; setting it too high can discourage people from doing anything.

As a result, my colleagues and I have reevaluated how to calculate achievable benchmarks. We started with this goal in mind: determining the amount of assets needed by age 65. While that number depends on a lot of factors, income is the biggest one. Since higher earners will get a smaller portion of their income in retirement from Social Security, they generally need more assets in relation to their income. We estimated that most people looking to retire around age 65 should aim for assets totaling between 7½ and 13 times their preretirement gross income.

From there, we identified savings benchmarks at other ages based on a reasonable trajectory of earnings and savings rates. We didn’t presume that everyone starts saving 15% of their income immediately upon receiving their first paycheck. Rather, our hypothetical investor starts saving 6% at age 25 and ramps up savings by one percentage point each year until reaching an appropriate level. We found that 15% of income per year (including any employer contributions) is an appropriate savings level for many people, but higher earners should likely aim beyond 15%.

So to answer the question, we believe having one to one-and-a-half times your income saved for retirement by age 35 is a reasonable target. By age 50, you would be considered on track if you have three-and-a-half to five-and-a-half times your preretirement gross income saved. And by age 60, you should have six to 10.5 times your salary saved in order to be considered on track for retirement.

For example, a 35-year-old earning $60,000 would be on track if she’s saved about $60,000 to $90,000.

The benchmarks for those closer to retirement

The range gets wider as you get older, so we also provide more detailed estimates for people approaching retirement. This helps someone find a realistic target based on income and marital status, which affect Social Security benefits.

Ready to take action?

Whether you’re ahead of schedule, on track, or need to catch up, these benchmarks give you a starting point to then determine the percentage of income you need to save going forward. You can turn this knowledge into action with these practical next steps:

If you’re behind on your savings goals:

Maximize your employer match—Make sure you’re getting the full company match in your workplace retirement plan

Start small, build momentum—If you can’t increase your savings rate dramatically right away, gradually save more over time

Automate your increases—Sign up for automatic contribution increases if your company plan offers this feature

Review your spending—Look for areas in your budget where you can cut expenses and redirect that money to savings

Take advantage of catch-up contributions - If you’re 50 or older, you can contribute extra to both your workplace plan and individual retirement account (IRA)

If you’re on track or ahead:

Stay consistent—Continue your current savings approach

Consider increasing contributions—If your income has grown, consider boosting your savings rate

Review and rebalance—Make sure your investment mix still aligns with your timeline and risk tolerance

For everyone:

Test different scenarios—Visit the T. Rowe Price Retirement Income Calculator to explore various retirement planning options

Think beyond the numbers—Consider what you want your retirement to look like and plan accordingly

Use these savings benchmarks to get more comfortable with planning for retirement. Then go beyond the rules of thumb to fully understand your potential retirement expenses and income sources. Beyond your savings, think about what you are saving for and how you envision spending your time after years of hard work. After all, that’s the reason why you are saving in the first place.