You’re on track for retirement if, at your current contribution rate and a reasonable return, your savings will reach the amount you need by the age you want to stop working. There are three ways to check, from rough to precise: compare your savings with age-based benchmarks, measure your progress toward your own FIRE number, or run a projection that ends in a date and ideally a probability.
The benchmarks take a minute. The last method takes a little setup but is the only one built on your own spending and timeline.
Method 1: savings-by-age benchmarks #
The best-known benchmarks come from Fidelity, which suggests having saved:
| By age | Savings as a multiple of your salary |
|---|---|
| 30 | 1x |
| 40 | 3x |
| 50 | 6x |
| 60 | 8x |
| 67 | 10x |
The assumptions matter. Fidelity’s targets assume you save at least 15% of income a year including any employer contribution, retire at 67, keep more than half your savings in stocks on average, and want savings to replace about 45% of your pre-tax income, with Social Security covering much of the rest.
Good for: a quick gut check if you plan to retire around a traditional age.
Wrong for: early retirement, or anyone whose spending is far from their salary. A household earning $150,000 and spending $60,000 needs much less than 10x salary; one spending every dollar needs more.
Method 2: progress toward your FIRE number #
Your FIRE number is roughly 25 times the annual spending your portfolio will cover (a 4% withdrawal rate). Divide what you’ve invested by that number and you have a progress percentage.
A percentage alone doesn’t tell you your pace, though. You also need to know whether your contributions will close the gap in time.
A worked example #
You’re 35 with $150,000 invested. You spend $60,000 a year, so your FIRE number is $1.5 million and you’re 10% of the way there. You want to retire at 55, which gives you 20 years. Assume a 5% return after inflation.
- Growth on what you have: $150,000 grows to about $398,000 in 20 years.
- The gap: $1,500,000 − $398,000 = about $1,102,000.
- Required saving: closing that gap in 20 years takes about $33,300 a year, or roughly $2,780 a month.
If you’re contributing $2,000 a month, you’re behind. At that pace you’d reach $1.5 million in about 23½ years, around age 58½. To make 55, you’d need to add about $780 a month, cut your target spending, or accept a later date.
Our guide to calculating your FIRE number covers choosing the withdrawal rate and spending figure.
Method 3: a projected date with the odds attached #
The most useful answer to “am I on track?” is a date: at what you’re saving now, when do you get there? Better still is a date with a probability, because markets don’t return a steady 5% or 7% every year.
That’s what Retire Goals is built around. You set a goal, log each contribution, and the goal shows a projected finish date, a growth curve and milestones at 25%, 50%, 75% and 100%. Its outlook runs the plan through hundreds of randomized return sequences and reports how many reach your target, with a plain-language verdict: very likely, on track, could go either way, or needs a bigger push. When you log a contribution, the date and the odds update together, so you can see your pace move instead of guessing at it. The app needs no account and keeps your data on your phone.
How often should you check your retirement pace? #
- Contributions: as you make them, or at least monthly. It keeps the habit visible.
- The full picture: once or twice a year, or after a raise, a job change, a move or a new child.
- Not after every market swing. A 10% drop changes a 20-year projection far less than it feels like it does, and reacting to it is how people sell low.
What to do if you’re behind #
You have four levers, and small moves on several of them add up.
- Save more. Start with any unclaimed employer 401(k) match. If you’re 50 or older in 2026, catch-up contributions let you put an extra $8,000 into a 401(k) ($11,250 at ages 60 to 63, if your plan allows) and an extra $1,100 into an IRA, according to the IRS.
- Spend less in retirement. Every $1,000 of planned annual spending you cut lowers your target by about $25,000.
- Work a little longer. One or two more years adds contributions, adds growth and shortens the period your money has to last.
- Work part-time at first. Covering even part of your spending with part-time income for a few years lets your portfolio keep growing.
The early years are the slowest, because most growth comes from contributions rather than returns. If you’re still building your first six figures, why the first $100k is the hardest explains why the pace speeds up later.
Frequently asked questions #
How much should I have saved for retirement by 40? #
Fidelity’s guideline is three times your salary by 40, assuming you retire at 67. If you want to retire earlier, compare your savings with your own FIRE number and timeline instead.
Is $1 million enough to retire? #
It depends on your spending. At a 4% withdrawal rate, $1 million supports about $40,000 a year, adjusted for inflation, before any Social Security or pension. If you spend more than that, or plan a very long retirement, you’ll need more or a lower withdrawal rate.
I’m 50 and behind. Is it too late? #
No. Catch-up contributions, 15 or more years of compounding and a few extra working years can close a large gap. Many people also plan to delay Social Security, which raises the benefit for life. Run the numbers with a realistic contribution and see which lever does the most.
What’s a good way to track retirement progress without a spreadsheet? #
Use a tool that turns contributions into a projected date. Log what you save, check the date and the odds once a month, and review your assumptions once a year. The goal is to catch drift early, while it’s still small enough to fix.