Year-round warm weather, hitting the links, and kicking back with the grandkids has long been the quintessential American retirement daydream. While that’s still out of reach for many Americans, most still hope and expect to retire comfortably after 40-plus years in the workforce.
The study, based on a survey of 4,375 adults, found that inflation, longer life expectancies, and growing anxiety about the future of Social Security are all pushing the ideal retirement figure higher.
“The new ‘magic number’ reflects a convergence of factors—from persistent inflation and longer life expectancies to uncertainty about the future of Social Security,” John Roberts, chief field officer at Northwestern Mutual, said in a statement. “Retirement is increasingly complex, and Americans are responding by setting higher expectations for what they’ll need.”
The problem with retirement savings isn’t just that the target is high. It’s that most Americans are way off from hitting it.
“That’s a lot. More than I was expecting,” Fink wrote in a 2025 shareholder letter. And “almost no one is close,” considering 62% of those surveyed had less than $150,000 saved for retirement (or only about 7% of what they think they need to retire comfortably).
For most Americans, achieving $1.46 million in retirement will depend heavily on when they start saving.
Northwestern Mutual did the math for us: assuming a 7% annual return on investments, a worker 35 years from retirement needs to save about $385 per month to reach $1.46 million. But if you wait until just 15 years out from retirement, that monthly savings amount would have to jump to more than $4,600.
And it’s not a problem that’s going away, according to Goldman Sachs’ 2025 Retirement Survey & Insights report.
“The long-term reality of managing competing financial priorities remains a persistent challenge for a substantial segment of the working population, particularly for those earlier in their careers,” according to Goldman Sachs.
To be sure: “Averages are interesting, [but] the amount you actually need to save is unique to you,” according to Northwestern Mutual. “Your need will be based on what your retirement might cost.” They suggest discussing with a financial advisor what you want to do in retirement, when you plan to retire, and how long you anticipate your life expectancy to be.
Experts have also said America’s broader retirement system earns just a C-plus grade, with persistent gaps in coverage, savings adequacy, and longevity protection.
