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What % of your income goes to retirement?

January 18th, 2010 at 02:30 pm

I posted a similar question for % of income that goes towards mortgage. There were some interesting responses, so I figured I'd ask the same for retirement.

Currently my husband and I have roughly 8.5% going to a combination of pension/401k/403b for retirement. We try to increase contributions by 1% each year. We are in crazy debt payoff mode so I've held off on doing anymore. As soon as T's student loan and my new (used) car is paid off, we're going to open up a Roth IRA.

I still haven't figured out what our retirement goal is. I have a pension so it's difficult to know what my pension will look like in 22 years and I'm having a hard time trying to figure out what my retirement goal is when I'm only 25 years old. I'm currently thinking our goal should be 20% to retirement and then our rental property to supplement. Ask me again in 5 years, I'm sure I'll have a different idea then. Smile

Posted in Uncategorized | 6 Comments »

6 Responses to “What % of your income goes to retirement?”

  1. Caoineag Says:
    January 18th, 2010 at 02:59 pm 1263826782
    1263826782

    At the moment, 9% of our income is going towards retirement. That will go up once the credit cards are gone, but in the meantime, that's as good as it gets.

  2. Apprentice Bliss Hunter Says:
    January 18th, 2010 at 03:13 pm 1263827631
    1263827631

    I have a pension at work too... defined benefit... but I doubt I will be working in this job in 10 years time - never mind in 35 years ! (I'm 30)

    Currently I contribute 9.4 % of my Net Income to an individual retirement account to complement my employer's scheme.

    This will go up to 10% in April when I'm debt-free and I intend to leave it at 10% for the foreseeable future.

    When I leave my current job, I'll probably increase it to compensate for the loss of years in my employer's scheme - if that makes sense.

    If one has no pension scheme at work, I think 15% to retirement is a good guide.



  3. creditcardfree Says:
    January 18th, 2010 at 03:15 pm 1263827748
    1263827748

    We currently contribute 16.2% of our gross income to retirement. We have always contributed 10%, but have increased the amount in recent years as income has increased. I'm sure you will be able to do the same!

  4. monkeymama Says:
    January 18th, 2010 at 05:14 pm 1263834852
    1263834852

    Hard to say. When we both worked, I put 10% in a 401k. Since then, I have gotten a 10% benefit from my current job. We randomly fund our ROTHS though, and have averaged 12% gross income, since graduating college. (10% is my minumum mark - always striving for more).

    We just hit 15% (from income - not including windfalls and such), BUT my retirement benefit is up in the air.

    For the long run, with 2 incomes, I'd put in the max possible. Wasn't a priority to max out in our 20s. But definitely is our financial priority going forward.

  5. my english castle Says:
    January 19th, 2010 at 04:23 pm 1263918224
    1263918224

    I think debt payoff does come first, but lots of people use 15% to retirement as a guideline. Good luck with the debt payoff!

  6. patientsaver Says:
    January 19th, 2010 at 07:49 pm 1263930578
    1263930578

    If you're talking gross income, it WAS 22%, but since being laid off: 0%.

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