How much does a person or couple really want or need to have a comfortable retirement?
The amount varies from person to person, from year to year because of inflation, and it depends on the way you ask the question
The question in this case includes the word "comfortable," so how much would it take to achieve that feeling in retirement?
A new survey from Charles Shwab shows the average amount that people expect to have for that comfortable retirement is about $839,000.
In recent years that number has been as low as a net worth of $624,000, but KTRH money man Pat Shinn says it's extremely hard to quantify how much you would need because of the many variables.
"Remember when we look at averages, that's like saying 'I've got my head in the oven and my feet in the freezer, but on AVERAGE, I'm very comfortable.'"
There are people who crave adventure when they retire and to do that could take a million or two depending on the location and degree of danger in that adventure, but there are other folks who'd rather grow flowers or read books or visit loved ones -- they'll need less than that $839,000 average.
That's why he says you can pretty much ignore estimates of how much the "average" person might need for the "average" comfortable retirement.
Pat Shinn's best advice, he says, is to go to "one of a number of financial calculators that'll get you the answer.
"Now, the most popular ones are from Charles Schwab, Fidelity, Vanguard, and T. Rowe Price. Now, it's not limited to those, but those are the big ones."
But he adds, "This does not end up showing how happy you'll end up being.
"I know people who have very little, they lead great lives and are happy as clams -- I also know people who have more money than they know what to do with...and they are miserable."