re: Lets say you plan on retiring at age 60 and you are now 30....

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I just ran some basic numbers for a single earner - assume $40k gross salary at 20 (which is far higher than median but whatever). Living in Louisiana. Saving 20% pre-tax with 5% match. Assuming $140/mth for all insurance, including life, you're looking at a take home of ~$2k. Let's say you spend all of that, either savings and spending down the road or on a monthly basis. Also, your wages increase by 3% annually and so to does inflation. Using a reasonable net rate of return of 6-6.5%, you'd be a millionaire in your 401k by 49. If you retired at 50, shifted your portfolio to reflect your withdrawal needs and now netted 5-5.5%, you'd likely run out of money by 73. If you retired at 55, you'd have a shot to make it to ~88ish. Long story short, it's definitely not "easy" to do, even for a single responsible person, by 50 or 55 without SS.

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