A structured self-assessment — not a generic rule of thumb.
Rules of thumb say to have 1× your salary saved by 30, 3× by 40, and 6× by 50. But your salary is not your retirement target. Your spending is. The benchmark that matters is your own number.
The Situation
Salary-based retirement benchmarks (1× by 30, 6× by 50) are designed for broad applicability, not accuracy. A high earner with modest spending and an early retirement date, and a low earner with high spending and a late retirement date, will both receive the same benchmark signal — despite having completely different situations.
Your retirement progress cannot be measured against someone else's salary multiple. It can only be measured against your own target and timeline.
— Worthune Decision Framework
The Three-Variable Assessment · Steps 1 & 2
Total all retirement accounts: 401(k), IRA, Roth IRA, brokerage accounts used for retirement. This is your starting point. For most people under 40, this number is smaller than it will eventually need to be — that is normal and expected.
Know your starting pointUsing your retirement number, current portfolio, and target retirement date: calculate the average annual return required to bridge the gap with your current savings rate. If the required return exceeds 9–10%, your current trajectory needs adjustment.
Calculate the required returnAdjusting the Trajectory · Steps 3 & 4
Increasing contributions by $200/month, delaying retirement by one year, or reducing planned retirement spending by $500/month each changes the required return. Model each independently. The lever with the smallest lifestyle impact for the largest required-return reduction is your priority.
Find your highest-leverage leverIncreasing contributions has the most linear impact. Delaying retirement has a compounding triple effect (more contributions, fewer withdrawal years, higher Social Security). Reducing target spending reduces the portfolio requirement itself. Evaluate in this order.
Order your interventionsThe On-Track Evaluation · Steps 5 & 6
Your trajectory should be viable at 5–6% real returns, not just at 7–8%. If it only works at optimistic return assumptions, the plan is fragile. Build in return conservatism — the cost of pessimistic assumptions is a slightly higher savings rate; the cost of optimistic assumptions can be running short of money in retirement.
Build in conservatismYour on-track status changes with every income change, market movement, and life event. An annual review ensures adjustments happen when they're small and manageable rather than when they've compounded into large corrections.
Review annuallyAfter the Work
After running your personalized assessment:
Your current trajectory reaches your retirement number. Protect contributions and review annually.
One or two lever adjustments bring the required return into reasonable range. Model and implement the highest-leverage change.
Multiple levers need to work together. A comprehensive retirement planning conversation — with your numbers in hand — is the right next step.
The most valuable thing you can do for retirement is run an honest assessment — then act on what it shows.
Next Step
Use Worthune's retirement trajectory analyzer to calculate your required return, model each adjustment lever, and determine whether your current plan reaches your target.
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