What percentage of my salary should I put away for retirement

[Zephyr]

What percentage of my salary should I put away for retirement? What do you do?

[Canadian]

I would say as much as you can, but in my opinion one should save at least 10% of their gross salary. How much you put toward retirement will of course depend on many things, like your current age, your current savings, what standard of living would you need when you retire, etc.

[investor]

10% is good but when you have 2 kids, mortgage and 2 leased cars I don't know if you can manage 10%, more like 5% or nothing... Our house is part of our retirement plan

[trent]

10% is good but when you have 2 kids, mortgage and 2 leased cars I don't know if you can manage 10%, more like 5% or nothing... Our house is part of our retirement plan

If you count on house appreciation in Canada in the next few years, you will be disappointed. A house can be a part of a retirement plan, as long as it's fully paid, because it will provide shelter in your retirement years. A house is a place where you live and raise your family, not an investment.

[Steven]

I'm aiming to save 15% of my gross income, but this is close to impossible. On a very good month I might do it, but usually I end up saving 8%-10% monthly.

[Canadian]

I'm aiming to save 15% of my gross income, but this is close to impossible. On a very good month I might do it, but usually I end up saving 8%-10% monthly.

15% of gross income is an admirable goal, but is hard to achieve. I'm happy when I save around 10% of my earnings.

[bullish]

I'm aiming to save 15% of my gross income, but this is close to impossible. On a very good month I might do it, but usually I end up saving 8%-10% monthly.

Whoa, 15% of gross salary, you must be rich :). I can hardly save anything, but I'm not too worried about that.

[trent]

Whoa, 15% of gross salary, you must be rich :). I can hardly save anything, but I'm not too worried about that.

Of course you are not worried, because you are plainly ignorant. If you lose your job and have to rely on non-existent savings than you might start worrying a little.

[Canadian]

Yes, in such economic times everybody should have 6 months of expenses in emergency savings. Having less than that seems dangerous and irresponsible to me.

[trent]

If you can, save more than 6 months of living expenses. The way the things are going with the Canadian economy and job markets, you might need it.

[bullish]

Of course you are not worried, because you are plainly ignorant. If you lose your job and have to rely on non-existent savings than you might start worrying a little.

I'm not worried because I have a satble job, and many investments that will pay huge in the next few years.

[Canadian]

I'm not worried because I have a satble job, and many investments that will pay huge in the next few years.

If I were you I wouldn't be so sure about it. Just look around you - look at the layoffs, unemployment figures, stagnant wages, falling house values, inflation in food prices, etc. It's not pretty...

[trent]

I go to school full time and work part time, I only make around 300 a week. I have 600 dollars in bills a month.

Im basically lost about how to start for retirement. I have 4000 in my savings, which is really just my emergency fund.

Any information will be great Thanks

I'm aiming to save at least 30% of my gross earnings and believe me this is not an easy task in Canada.

[Jason]

I'm aiming to save at least 30% of my gross earnings and believe me this is not an easy task in Canada.

Congrats Trent! It looks like you are doing really well.

[neher]

I'm aiming to save at least 30% of my gross earnings and believe me this is not an easy task in Canada.

I've been saving 30% of my gross for the past few years after I realized that I needed to adjust my savings if I want to be able to do certain things in the future.

And let me tell you, I am by no means wealthy or highly paid.

It's been remarkably easy though. Having the money deducted right out of your paycheque and into some type of savings or investment vehicle goes a long way. The next part of course is living within your means with what money is leftover and having self control not to raid the bank.

It's gotten to the point now though where I have a nice chunk of money and watching them grow into something respectably big in the future is exciting. Even in down times like now, I still pump in the money, or more when I can. Watching it grow is awesome.

I think that intial savings are the hard part, when it's still small amounts. Once you start breaking the milestones... $10,000 ... $50,000... 100,000... and so on, it only gets easier and easier.

[francisford]

At what age is it ideal to start saving for retirement? Because in my opinion, when you're in your 20's and 30's, you're more concerned about starting a family and buying a home, saving for your kid's education...

[Rickson9]

What percentage of my salary should I put away for retirement? What do you do?

My wife and I don't plan for retirement specifically per se; definately not to the point where we calculate a % of our take-home pay. We max out our RRSP, company pensions and TFSA. That's about it.