It's helpful to know the average retirement savings of your peers because, let's face it, your friends won't volunteer their numbers. As you near the end of your career, you'll want to be in at least as strong a financial situation as others your age so you can afford to vacation together or even move to the same retirement community. Most of all, it's a crucial step to ensure you're saving enough for the kind of retirement you want.
Calculating your retirement savings is easier than determining your net worth. You don't need to subtract liabilities like your mortgage from the equation. Instead, you can start by checking the balances of any IRA and 401(k) accounts you have. Then include the balances of HSAs and your after-tax accounts, such as Roth IRAs, mutual funds and brokerage accounts, as if they were all one “retirement portfolio.” You may already know your numbers if you have a financial adviser or financial software that aggregates your accounts.
