The power of starting early
Because retirement money has decades to compound, when you start matters more than how much you contribute. Someone who saves $400/month from age 25 to 35 and then stops can end up with more than someone who saves the same amount from 35 to 65. This calculator assumes steady contributions and a constant return; real returns vary year to year.
The 4% rule
Once retired, a common guideline is that you can safely withdraw about 4% of your nest egg annually. So a $1,000,000 portfolio roughly supports $40,000/year of spending. For finer growth modeling see the compound interest calculator.
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