Americans with a plan retire 3× wealthier than those without one. Find out where you stand — and exactly what to do next.
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Average American Retirement Score
of Americans are behind on retirement savings · Federal Reserve 2024
average amount needed to retire comfortably · Fidelity 2025
estimated retirement healthcare costs per couple · Fidelity 2025
more wealth accumulated with consistent retirement planning
Answer 7 questions. Get your personalized retirement readiness score instantly.
Used to calculate your savings rate benchmark
Include 401(k), IRA, Roth IRA, pension, brokerage
Average retiree spends $4,345/month · BLS Consumer Expenditure 2024
Fill in your details and hit Calculate to see your personalized retirement score.
Your age, income, current savings, monthly contribution, employer match, retirement age, and desired income. No personal data is stored or transmitted.
Income replacement potential, savings rate vs 15% benchmark, progress vs Fidelity age milestones, and years remaining to course-correct.
A 0–100 score with letter grade, your projected nest egg, your retirement gap or surplus, and exactly how much more to save to improve your score.
Think of your retirement score the way you think about a credit score. Just as a credit score gives you a snapshot of your financial health today, a retirement score gives you a forward-looking view of your retirement readiness. It distills complex variables — savings rate, projected nest egg, income replacement, and time horizon — into a single number between 0 and 100.
Using our retirement readiness calculator, a score of 90 or above earns an A+ and indicates you're on track for a genuinely comfortable retirement. Scores between 80 and 89 earn an A — you're doing great, with only minor tweaks needed. A score of 70–79 is a B: you're ahead of most Americans, but there are gaps worth addressing. A C (60–69) signals fair progress with meaningful shortfalls to close. D grades (40–59) mean significant changes are needed now, while an F (below 40) means the situation is critical and immediate action is required.
The average American scores approximately 72 on the RetireScore scale — a solid C — reflecting the Federal Reserve's 2024 finding that 56% of households are behind on retirement savings. Knowing your score is the first step toward improving it. Keywords: retirement score, retirement readiness calculator.
The most reliable framework for answering "how much do I need to retire" is the 25× rule, derived from the famous 4% safe withdrawal rate. The math is simple: multiply your desired annual retirement income by 25. If you want $5,000 per month in retirement, that's $60,000 per year — meaning your target retirement nest egg is $1,500,000.
The 4% rule holds that you can withdraw 4% of your portfolio annually with very high historical confidence that your money lasts 30 years. This assumes a diversified portfolio earning approximately 7% annually with 3% going to inflation adjustment. This is the same return assumption powering our retirement nest egg calculator.
One important offset: Social Security. The average Social Security benefit in 2026 is $1,976 per month. If you're entitled to that benefit, your actual nest-egg target decreases substantially. For example, if you want $5,000/month and expect $1,976 from Social Security, you only need to fund $3,024/month from savings — reducing your nest egg target to approximately $907,200. RetireScore does not factor Social Security in by default, giving you a conservative self-reliance-based score.
One of the most cited frameworks for "am I on track for retirement" is Fidelity's age-based savings benchmarks. These suggest you should have saved a multiple of your annual salary by specific ages. Here's how to use the retirement calculator by age concept in practical terms:
| Age | Savings Target | At $80K Salary | At $120K Salary |
|---|---|---|---|
| 30 | 1× salary | $80,000 | $120,000 |
| 40 | 3× salary | $240,000 | $360,000 |
| 50 | 6× salary | $480,000 | $720,000 |
| 60 | 8× salary | $640,000 | $960,000 |
| 67 | 10× salary | $800,000 | $1,200,000 |
These benchmarks are built directly into RetireScore's Component C calculation, comparing your actual savings to your age-appropriate Fidelity milestone. Whether you're a 30-year-old just getting started or a 60-year-old in the final sprint, your benchmark score tells you precisely how you stack up. This makes our tool a true retirement calculator by age that adjusts to where you are in life.
Here's a counterintuitive truth: two people with identical retirement account balances can have dramatically different retirement outcomes — and dramatically different scores on this retirement planning calculator. Why? Because retirement readiness isn't just about how much you've saved. It's about how much you need, how long you have to get there, and how efficiently you're saving.
Consider two 45-year-olds each with $400,000 saved. Person A earns $150,000 annually, wants $8,000/month in retirement, and saves 8% of income. Person B earns $70,000, wants $4,000/month, and saves 15%. Our 401k calculator logic would show Person B with a meaningfully higher score despite the same raw balance — because their income replacement ratio is achievable, their savings rate beats the 15% benchmark, and their Fidelity ratio is strong relative to their salary.
RetireScore's four-component scoring — income replacement (40 pts), savings rate (25 pts), Fidelity benchmark progress (25 pts), and time bonus (10 pts) — captures this nuance. It rewards people who save the right amount relative to their goals, not just those with the biggest numbers. That's what makes it a true retirement income calculator rather than just a savings accumulation tool. Use it annually, and watch your score improve as your financial habits improve.