Haha, every now and then we will have posters rooting for retirement when they accumulate a little bit of money. Retirement is fun only when we are financially sound and have things to occupy our minds/time.

Lets look at the 3 cases of people at different ages considering retirement and see how much they would need (with and without inflation); Assuming all 3 cases expect to live till 85, annual expenses of $100k, and an annual inflation rate of 3%.

Case 1: Young upstart Joe and Wife both aged 40 and retiring at age 40.
Years expected in retirement : 45 yrs (till 85)
Total amount required to sustain their 45 years in retirement: 45 x $100k = $4.5m
With 3% inflation per year, total amount required for 45 years: >$9m

Case 2; Middle ager Mr Tan and Wife both retiring at 55.
Years in retirement : 30 yrs
Total amount required in retirement : $30 x $100k = $3m
With 3% inflation per year, amount required = $5.5m

Case 3: Workaholic couple Mr Lim and wife both retiring at 65.
Years in retirement :20 yrs
Amount required to sustain retirement : 20 x $100K = $2m
With 3% inflation per year, amount needed : $3.15m

The earlier you want to retire, the more money you need.

Be sure your savings is sufficient to sustain your retirement and make your savings work hard for you.