If you live a humble, simple life, you don't need much for retirement. If you are humble and mix with lower income groups of people, you don't need much to retire. Those who need a lot to retire are those who have friends who are of the upper echelon and they have to keep up with the Joneses. They cannot retire without a car as their rich friends will look down on them. They cannot downgrade from a condo to a flat as their friends will look down on them. They cannot stop playing golf as their friends will look down on them. So since they have to keep up with their high standard of living, they will need to work very hard, day and night until they reach 75. They will then die at 80 and hence will only enjoy their retirement for 5 years. They may just spend $500k over their 5 years of retirement and will leave their millions to their children. Their children will just squander all their hard earned money.