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People can spend their entire career building a nest egg, carefully contributing to their retirement accounts and investing their money as they prepare for that day when they can finally retire. But for those nearing retirement, especially for middle-aged workers, the question of how much you will actually need to retire can continue to eat at you as you approach that magical day where you stop punching the clock and start living the good life -- especially if you're living through an unprecedented pandemic.
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One popular way to calculate how much you need to retire is by using Fidelity Investment's "10x income rule." According to Fidelity, in order to maintain a quality of life similar to what you had while working, you should save 10 times your annual income before retiring at age 67.
Of course, that figure has changed significantly over the years. Annual incomes today are very different than they were 10, 20 or 30 years ago -- especially when you consider inflation. If you're planning on hitting the number your grandparents did and calling it quits, odds are good that you're going to be well short of what you'll ultimately need. That's because, if grandma and grandpa retired in, say, 1951, when the income for an average American was under $3,000, you would need an additional $450,000 or so at today's average wages than they did at the dawn of the Eisenhower Era.
That's why GOBankingRates has calculated what 10 times income would look like in each of the past 65 years using data on average annual wages provided by the U.S. Social Security Administration. Find out how much you'd need to survive retirement throughout the years.
1951
National Average Wage: $2,799.16
Cost to Retire: $27,991.60
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1952
National Average Wage: $2,973.32
Cost to Retire: $29,733.20
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1953
National Average Wage: $3,139.44
Cost to Retire: $31,394.40
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1954
National Average Wage: $3,155.64
Cost to Retire: $31,556.40
1955
National Average Wage: $3,301.44
Cost to Retire: $33,014.40
1956
National Average Wage: $3,532.36
Cost to Retire: $35,323.60
1957
National Average Wage: $3,641.72
Cost to Retire: $36,417.20
1958
National Average Wage: $3,673.80
Cost to Retire: $36,738.00
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1959
National Average Wage: $3,855.80
Cost to Retire: $38,558.00
1960
National Average Wage: $4,007.12
Cost to Retire: $40,071.20
1961
National Average Wage: $4,086.76
Cost to Retire: $40,867.60
1962
National Average Wage: $4,291.40
Cost to Retire: $42,914.00
1963
National Average Wage: $4,396.64
Cost to Retire: $43,966.40
1964
National Average Wage: $4,576.32
Cost to Retire: $45,763.20
1965
National Average Wage: $4,658.72
Cost to Retire: $46,587.20
1966
National Average Wage: $4,938.36
Cost to Retire: $49,383.60
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1967
National Average Wage: $5,213.44
Cost to Retire: $52,134.40
1968
National Average Wage: $5,571.76
Cost to Retire: $55,717.60
1969
National Average Wage: $5,893.76
Cost to Retire: $58,937.60
1970
National Average Wage: $6,186.24
Cost to Retire: $61,862.40
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1971
National Average Wage: $6,497.08
Cost to Retire: $64,970.80
1972
National Average Wage: $7,133.80
Cost to Retire: $71,338.00
1973
National Average Wage: $7,580.16
Cost to Retire: $75,801.60
1974
National Average Wage: $8,030.76
Cost to Retire: $80,307.60
1975
National Average Wage: $8,630.92
Cost to Retire: $86,309.20
1976
National Average Wage: $9,226.48
Cost to Retire: $92,264.80
1977
National Average Wage: $9,779.44
Cost to Retire: $97,794.40
1978
National Average Wage: $10,556.03
Cost to Retire: $105,560.30
1979
National Average Wage: $11,479.46
Cost to Retire: $114,794.60
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1980
National Average Wage: $12,513.46
Cost to Retire: $125,134.60
1981
National Average Wage: $13,773.10
Cost to Retire: $137,731.00
1982
National Average Wage: $14,531.34
Cost to Retire: $145,313.40
1983
National Average Wage: $15,239.24
Cost to Retire: $152,392.40
1984
National Average Wage: $16,135.07
Cost to Retire: $161,350.70
1985
National Average Wage: $16,822.51
Cost to Retire: $168,225.10
1986
National Average Wage: $17,321.82
Cost to Retire: $173,218.20
1987
National Average Wage: $18,426.51
Cost to Retire: $184,265.10
1988
National Average Wage: $19,334.04
Cost to Retire: $193,340.40
1989
National Average Wage: $20,099.55
Cost to Retire: $200,995.50
1990
National Average Wage: $21,027.98
Cost to Retire: $210,279.80
1991
National Average Wage: $21,811.6
Cost to Retire: $218,116.00
1992
National Average Wage: $22,935.42
Cost to Retire: $229,354.20
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1993
National Average Wage: $23,132.67
Cost to Retire: $231,326.70
1994
National Average Wage: $23,753.53
Cost to Retire: $237,535.30
1995
National Average Wage: $24,705.66
Cost to Retire: $247,056.60
1996
National Average Wage: $25,913.90
Cost to Retire: $259,139.00
1997
National Average Wage: $27,426.00
Cost to Retire: $274,260.00
1998
National Average Wage: $28,861.44
Cost to Retire: $288,614.40
1999
National Average Wage: $30,469.84
Cost to Retire: $304,698.40
2000
National Average Wage: $32,154.82
Cost to Retire: $321,548.20
2001
National Average Wage: $32,921.92
Cost to Retire: $329,219.20
2002
National Average Wage: $33,252.09
Cost to Retire: $332,520.90
2003
National Average Wage: $34,064.95
Cost to Retire: $340,649.50
2004
National Average Wage: $35,648.55
Cost to Retire: $356,485.50
2005
National Average Wage: $36,952.94
Cost to Retire: $369,529.40
2006
National Average Wage: $38,651.41
Cost to Retire: $386,514.10
2007
National Average Wage: $40,405.48
Cost to Retire: $404,054.80
2008
National Average Wage: $41,334.97
Cost to Retire: $413,349.70
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2009
National Average Wage: $40,711.61
Cost to Retire: $407,116.10
2010
National Average Wage: $41,673.83
Cost to Retire: $416,738.30
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2011
National Average Wage: $42,979.61
Cost to Retire: $429,796.10
2012
National Average Wage: $44,321.67
Cost to Retire: $443,216.70
2013
National Average Wage: $44,888.16
Cost to Retire: $448,881.60
2014
National Average Wage: $46,481.52
Cost to Retire: $464,815.20
2015
National Average Wage: $48,098.63
Cost to Retire: $480,986.30
2016
National Average Wage: $48,642.15
Cost to Retire: $486,421.50
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2017
National Average Wage: $50,321.89
Cost to Retire: $503,218.90
2018
National Average Wage: $52,145.80
Cost to Retire: $521,458.00
2019
National Average Wage: $54,099.99
Cost to Retire: $540,999.90
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This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: How Much It Cost To Retire in the Year You Were Born
