How Do I Know Whether My Retirement Savings Are on Track?

How much should I have saved for retirement by age 30, 40, 50, and 60?

Fidelity’s 2026 milestones are one times income at age 30, three times income at age 40, six times income at age 50, and eight times income at age 60.

The table is simple. The machinery beneath it is not.

Fidelity’s 2026 model assumes continuous work, annual real wage growth of 1.5%, contributions that rise with pay, no pension income, and a portfolio holding more than 50% in stocks during working years. It plans through age 93 and targets retirement savings that replace 45% of preretirement income after Social Security.

That last detail changes the meaning of every multiple. A household with pension income is not using the same map. A worker aiming to leave work before age 67 is not using the same map either: Fidelity’s 2026 target rises to replacing 50% of preretirement income for retirement at age 65 and falls to 40% for retirement at age 70.

The number is a screen. The assumptions are the test.

Is a retirement savings-by-age chart a realistic way to tell whether I am on track?

A retirement savings-by-age chart is realistic as a fast comparison, but it cannot establish whether a specific household has enough.

Start by dividing the retirement balance by current annual income. That produces a multiple to compare with the age row. Then place the result beside the benchmark’s starting age, total savings rate, target retirement age, pension assumption, and Social Security role. A match on the chart means the inputs look similar. It does not promise the same outcome.

Fidelity says its 2026 figures were stress-tested across historical market simulations to succeed in nine out of 10 hypothetical market conditions. It also states that the figures are not guarantees or individualized advice. Markets are only one variable. Work timing, spending, benefits, and health costs shape the gap as well.

The difference between planned and actual retirement dates deserves its own line on the worksheet. In the 2025 EBRI and Greenwald Research survey, workers reported a median expected retirement age of 65, while retirees reported a median actual retirement age of 62. In that same 2025 survey, 40% of retirees said they retired earlier than planned.

A chart asks, “How does this balance compare?” A personal plan asks, “What income must this balance produce?” The second question is harder. It is also the one that connects a number to a retirement timeline.

Build that second view from spending rather than income multiples alone. List expected retirement spending, then subtract known income sources. The remaining amount is the portion savings must support. Fidelity’s 2026 withdrawal guideline uses an initial withdrawal range of 4% to 5%, with inflation increases, and cites 4.5% for retirement at age 67 through age 93. That is a planning assumption, not a personal withdrawal instruction.

The Social Security Administration’s calculator can estimate benefits using an earnings record and a selected stop-work age. It can show results in today’s dollars or future inflated dollars. The SSA cautions that future-dollar estimates depend on its inflation assumptions, so one dollar basis should be used throughout the spending plan.

Income multiples give speed. Spending estimates give fit.

Does my employer 401(k) match count toward my retirement savings rate?

Yes. Fidelity’s 2026 15% total pretax savings-rate assumption includes employer contributions, so an employer 401(k) match counts toward that benchmark.

The match also belongs in the plan’s full contribution picture. The IRS states that the 2026 overall annual-additions limit includes employee elective deferrals, employer matching contributions, employer nonelective contributions, and forfeiture allocations. For one employer in 2026, that limit is the lesser of 100% of compensation or $72,000, excluding catch-up contributions.

Employee deferrals and employer money are not the same decision. The IRS sets the 2026 employee elective-deferral limit for a traditional or safe-harbor 401(k) at $24,500. The employer match can raise the total going into the account without changing that employee-deferral limit.

For eligible workers, the IRS lists an additional 2026 catch-up contribution of $8,000 for age 50 or older, or $11,250 for ages 60 through 63, if the plan permits it. The IRS also says a worker does not need to be behind on plan contributions to use a permitted catch-up contribution.

A useful contribution-rate check separates three figures: employee contributions, employer contributions, and their combined share of pay. The combined figure belongs beside Fidelity’s benchmark. The employee figure belongs beside the IRS plan limit and the household budget. Housing costs, including the cost of qualifying for a one-bedroom apartment alone, affect that budget long before an account statement does.

Public data does not supply one correct savings rate for every worker. The facts that matter are the retirement date, expected spending, current balance, future contributions, Social Security estimate, pension income, and the assumptions used to connect them.