re: Here's how much money you should have saved at every age

quote:

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I'm just pointing out that if you stick to the plan and don't keep up with the jones's, this is a do'able path. this is not some kind of crazy path that makes you live in your mom's basement and eat potted meat for every meal and bike to work.

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Exactly.

While the general rules of thumb in the OP might not be possible for some people, they do represent good financial targets for most. Some may be able to hit them easily. Some may struggle. But to just say that it can't be done because (new or leased) car payments, travel/vacation, eating out, private school or whatever will get in the way... well, people sometimes confuse needs with wants. Those who do that may end up working until the day they drop dead. Those who employ (realistic) budgeting and use written financial goal setting at least have a road map. And they can use various rules of thumb (that included more than just pure savings and investments, by the way - some apparently didn't carefully read the OP) to track their progress. If you don't know where you are, how do you know where you're going?

Something that I did last year was to read some stats on the number of Americans that do NOT contribute to an available employer sponsored 401k, and those that do not contribute enough to fully capture the (free money) employer match. Then, there was the number that did not contribute to ANY sort of retirement savings plan. And then I read about the amount that Americans spend on discretionary items, including lottery tickets. If anyone wants to read some sad stories, Google those categories and keep a box of Kleenex handy.

While there are always exceptions to any rule (especially rules of thumb), when one looks at per capita spending vs. saving/investing in the U.S., it's rather clear that at least part of our problem revolves around confusing needs with wants and keeping up with the jone's, as you correctly pointed out.