I’ve crunched a few numbers. Considering a 12K deposit in 2007 (and adding 3% to my contribution each year) for the next 20 years, here’s what my retirement account might look like in 2027.
The following chart reflects possible returns of 6% to 14%.
| Year | Annual Deposit | 6.00% | 8.00% | 10.00% | 12.00% | 14.00% |
| 2007 | $12,000.00 | $12,720.00 | $12,960.00 | $13,200.00 | $13,440.00 | $13,680.00 |
| 2008 | $12,360.00 | $26,584.80 | $27,345.60 | $28,116.00 | $28,627.20 | $29,412.00 |
| 2009 | $12,730.80 | $41,674.54 | $43,282.51 | $44,931.48 | $45,333.12 | $46,725.41 |
| 2010 | $13,112.72 | $58,074.50 | $60,906.85 | $63,848.62 | $64,581.75 | $66,192.87 |
| 2011 | $13,506.11 | $75,875.44 | $80,366.00 | $85,090.20 | $86,196.71 | $88,571.70 |
| 2012 | $13,911.29 | $95,173.93 | $101,819.47 | $108,901.64 | $110,427.87 | $113,661.21 |
| 2013 | $14,328.63 | $116,072.71 | $125,439.94 | $135,553.30 | $137,550.48 | $141,746.64 |
| 2014 | $14,758.49 | $138,681.07 | $151,414.31 | $165,342.96 | $167,867.75 | $173,142.18 |
| 2015 | $15,201.24 | $163,115.25 | $179,944.79 | $198,598.62 | $201,713.62 | $208,193.91 |
| 2016 | $15,657.28 | $189,498.88 | $211,250.23 | $235,681.49 | $239,455.85 | $247,282.94 |
| 2017 | $16,127.00 | $217,963.43 | $245,567.41 | $276,989.33 | $281,499.42 | $290,828.96 |
| 2018 | $16,610.81 | $248,648.69 | $283,152.47 | $322,960.16 | $328,290.29 | $339,294.11 |
| 2019 | $17,109.13 | $281,703.29 | $324,282.53 | $374,076.21 | $380,319.48 | $393,187.25 |
| 2020 | $17,622.40 | $317,285.23 | $369,257.33 | $430,868.48 | $438,127.59 | $453,068.61 |
| 2021 | $18,151.08 | $355,562.49 | $418,401.08 | $493,921.51 | $502,309.79 | $519,554.99 |
| 2022 | $18,695.61 | $396,713.58 | $472,064.42 | $563,878.83 | $573,521.30 | $593,325.39 |
| 2023 | $19,256.48 | $440,928.27 | $530,626.57 | $641,448.84 | $652,483.38 | $675,127.28 |
| 2024 | $19,834.17 | $488,408.18 | $594,497.60 | $727,411.32 | $739,989.96 | $765,783.43 |
| 2025 | $20,429.20 | $539,367.62 | $664,120.95 | $822,624.56 | $836,914.95 | $866,199.51 |
| 2026 | $21,042.07 | $594,034.28 | $739,976.06 | $928,033.30 | $944,220.21 | $977,372.32 |
| 2027 | $21,673.33 | $652,650.07 | $822,581.35 | $1,044,677.30 | $1,062,964.42 | $1,100,399.00 |
At the low end, I’ll have around 650K and at the high end I’ll have around 1.1M. Yikes. I’ll be 52 years old in 20 years. Who knows when I’ll be ready to retire, but this chart gives me some indication of where I’ll be.
My thoughts? I worry about inflation, when I should retire, and if I should be contributing more money. We shall see.
Edit: This chart does NOT include the 21K I currently have in retirement. The chart is simply an illustration of where I might be in 20 years.
Inflation worries me as well… in 20 years at 3% inflation that 650k is only worth about 350k in todays dollars.
I’d ramp up the savings. It’s worth it. Our net worth increased a lot last mainly through savings and returns. You need a million dollars to generate $40k/year to live on. That’s only 50% of your salary now. The other 35% you need to live on can come from the pension and SS. A lot of experts are saying if you save 15% then you only need to generate 85% of your current income.
However this is not true the older you are and closer to retirement you are, because then you need more.