Yes, another retirement thread - RE: How much you need to retire

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but doesn't 800% of annual income seem like not that much to retire on

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Yes.

See the table below from a WSJ article several years back. I thought this was a simple, elegant and reasonable guideline for savings and debt at certain ages.

Age // Savings:Income // Debt:Income
20 // 0.01 // 2.25
25 // 0.05 // 2.00
30 // 0.10 // 1.70
35 // 0.90 // 1.50
40 // 1.80 // 1.25
45 // 3.00 // 1.00
50 // 4.50 // 0.75
55 // 6.50 // 0.50
60 // 8.90 // 0.20
65 // 12.00 // -

Source: Dorman Farrell LLC

ETA: For the average Joe; I'd expect most posters here to be beating those guidelines. Edited again to add source.

I'm banking on closer 800% of my current salary per year.

That's a terrible rule of thumb.

How long are you going to live? That, more than anything, will determine how much you need.

I've heard that to maintain your lifestyle you need an income of about 80% of your pre-retirement income.

I agree on life expectancy AND lifestyle. But, by framing it in terms of a multiple of your current earnings, it inherently assumes a "similar" lifestyle.

an old rule of thumb was that every $200,000 in savings would generate $10,000 in income for 25-30 years in retirement. So you'll need $1,000,000 saved for $50,000 in income needed in retirement. I also understand that prices double approx. every 20 years so $50,000 will only buy $25,000 of stuff 20 years from now due to inflation.

As for how much to save...A LOT.
10%/yr for necessities
15%/yr to be comfortable
20%/yr for a luxury lifestyle

ETA: inflation info

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Maybe I'm wrong, but doesn't 800% of annual income seem like not that much to retire on

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Is this including some type of pension and the 800% is to supplement that or is it saying $0 coming in from a pension type retirement?

If it is the first, it makes sense. If it is the second, I don't buy it.

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The guys in the ship yards may be doing better than you think. Those without real knowledge of finance are sometimes the ones that will get help, develop a simple plan, and stick to it over the long term.

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Yeah. Some are actually really good with money

I'm in a yard right now and there are a lot of people driving really modest vehicles that make a really good living

So they're either pretty responsible or they have a lot of child support to pay out

I didn't mean it in a derogatory manner. The point being that the Pareto principle probably holds true for retirement savings participation rates across education levels, professions, social classes, sex, race, religion, etc.