Jennifer Taylor

Tue, May 27, 2025, 3:01 AM6 min read

Putting money aside today is essential for reaching short-term and long-term financial goals in your golden years. Even if you are waiting until age 70 to claim Social Security, contributing to a retirement account or emergency fund, investing in the stock market and have a financial advisor, knowing how much to save can be confusing, especially when you add in debt management.

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If you took a poll and asked Americans approaching full retirement age their biggest retirement planning question, most would say it is knowing how much they will need to save for their nest egg. This, of course, can be problematic if you’re not putting enough aside to support the lifestyle you want and the living expenses you have.

When it comes to this type of financial planning, you may need an expert, so GOBankingRates rounded up some of the best answers to this probing question.

According to Chris Urban, certified financial planner (CFP) and founder at Discovery Wealth Planning, not having a specific number to strive for isn’t necessarily an issue with either your income or your expenses.

“Until you know with a fair amount of certainty how much you will be spending in retirement, your goal should simply be to save and invest as much as possible,” he said.

If you’re in your 20s or 30s, with retirement decades away, he said you don’t need to have a dollar amount in mind yet. Even though this might change once you hit age 50, many financial planners would say to start early on focusing on your long-term financial goals.

“You just need to focus your efforts on maximizing all of the retirement and investment accounts available to you, including any matching contribution(s) that your employer may make on your behalf,” Urban added.

If you’re in your 50s or 60s, he suggested figuring out how much you’ll be spending in retirement first, instead of how much you need to have saved in investment and retirement accounts. This can include assessing your finances from top to bottom, including credit card bills, student loans, Social Security benefits, estate planning, tax brackets and more.

“Come up with a realistic spending forecast for at least the next several years and use reasonable assumptions for years after that,” said Urban. “Then, you can think more holistically about how much you may need to have saved, ways to invest and draw down your assets and to strategize for ways to legally reduce your tax lifetime tax bill, etc.”