How much should you have saved for retirement at every age?

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• Start investing early; time boosts your retirement corpus.
• Aim for 2-3 times annual income invested by age 35.
• Shift focus to preserving wealth and reducing debt in your 50s.

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Retirement planning advice often throws around intimidating numbers. “You need Rs 5 crore.” “You should save 15 percent.” “Start early or you’re doomed.” But the truth is simpler and more personal. What you need to save depends on when you start, how you live, and how much flexibility you have left.

Instead of one giant number, it helps to think decade by decade.

In your 20s: Build the habit, not the corpus

In your 20s, the goal is not to hit a magic retirement figure. It is to create discipline.

If you can invest 15 to 20 percent of your take-home income consistently, you are ahead of most people. Even Rs 10,000 a month invested at age 25 can grow dramatically over 30 to 35 years because of compounding.

This is the decade where time does the heavy lifting. Missing a few years here hurts more than missing a few years later.

If your employer contributes to Employees’ Provident Fund, that already gives you a base. Adding a systematic investment plan in equity mutual funds on top of that builds growth potential.

You do not need Rs 50 lakh by 29. But you should aim to have at least one year of annual income invested by 30 if possible.

In your 30s: Acceleration phase

Your 30s usually bring higher income, but also bigger expenses. Home loans, children, parents, lifestyle upgrades.

This is where retirement planning either gets serious or gets postponed.

A useful benchmark is to have 2 to 3 times your annual income invested by 35, and 4 to 5 times by 40. That includes Provident Fund, National Pension System, equity funds and long-term investments.

If you are behind, this is still a forgiving decade. Increasing your savings rate to 25 to 30 percent of income can make up for a slow start.

Avoid the trap of assuming your salary growth alone will save you. It won’t unless your investment rate grows too.

In your 40s: Correction and clarity

Your 40s are where retirement stops feeling abstract.

College costs are visible. Career uncertainty feels real. Health issues may appear. This is the decade to calculate actual numbers.

If you want Rs 2 lakh per month in retirement 20 years from now, you cannot guess. You need to project inflation, expected returns and retirement age.

A broad rule of thumb is to have 6 to 8 times your annual income invested by 45, and 8 to 10 times by 50.

If you are short, you still have 10 to 15 years. But now the adjustment has to be deliberate: higher contributions, controlled expenses, fewer financial experiments.

In your 50s: Protection matters more than growth

In your 50s, retirement planning shifts from accumulation to preservation.

You may want 12 to 15 times your annual income invested before you retire, depending on lifestyle and whether you have pension income.

Asset allocation becomes critical. Too much equity exposes you to volatility risk just before retirement. Too little growth risks outliving your money.

This is also when debt should ideally be minimal. A home loan at 58 changes retirement math completely.

The uncomfortable truth

There is no perfect number that fits everyone. Someone living in Mumbai with no pension needs a very different corpus from someone in a smaller city with rental income.

But one principle stays constant: the earlier you start, the less you need to strain later.

Retirement planning is not about fear. It is about giving your future self options.