The only thing I'm doing is contributing to a 401k account. I started sometime in the middle of 2015. Yesterday, for the first time, my balance showed $100k. Here is how that breaks down.
employee contributions: $43k
employer contributions" $15k
change in market value: $42K
Anyone know if these numbers look right? I know the contributions can be whatever, but change in market value? My investments are almost entirely stocks. Looking over the years my low was like -9% and the high was almost 28%. I have 19 more years till I want to retire. I really have no idea how much I'll need to have saved.
Check out the "rule of 72". This is a quick way to roughly estimate how long it'll take to double your money.
I generally assume an average market return rate of about 8% for my calculations.
72 / 8 (percent return) = 9 years (for your money to double, with no additional contributions)
@glockman is killing it at 5-7 years.
For forecasting into the future, including your monthly contributoins, I like Dave Ramsey's investment calculator. It's really easy to use.
Investment Calculator
With our investment calculator, you can find out how much you can expect to have in your retirement portfolio over time.
www.daveramsey.com
How much you'll need at retirement depends on a lot of factors. Your lifestyle, health, etc.
I personally follow the 4% rule. Meaning 1 million in retirement will (highly likely) allow for 40k annual income indefinitely. Since I don't have any kids, I don't know how worried I am about maintaining anything indefinitely. Hopefully my last check bounces.