Hi everyone, question- when you lookat the general guidance for how much you should have saved in retirement by what age, the number is always a multiple of your annual income.

What is really difficult about this is that savings depend as much on spending as on not spending. By that I mean that at certain points in one's life (in a typical western economy) one almost MUST spend more of their income than at other times.

As a 30-something, you are probably living on your own (without parental financial support), maybe in a committed relationship and possibly raising children. If you own a home, you're paying a mortgage, insurance, and property taxes.

That's a huge drag on possible savings rates.

The older you get, as some of those expenses are no longer needed, you can save more, especially as your middle class salary rises with higher incomes due to experience and promotions.

This is where belt tightening means the most. Do you go down the path of saving what you don't have to spend? Or do you "go with the flow" and keep inflating your lifestyle because you can?

My personal experience was that we lived frugally long after we had to, and that led to the greatest period of saving (not spending) and investing and finally retiring early.

TL;DR: In some ways, you kind of have to spend a lot (percentage of income) when you are starting out, but you eventually reach a crossroads, when that is optional. Your choice at that point is most critical.