How much does a single person need for retirement?

When it comes to planning for retirement, many articles cover how a married couple can form a strategy together to reach their goals. However, this advice does not necessarily work for people who are single, widowed or divorced. A person who is single cannot simply take the advice given for two people and divide it by two. They need a financial plan that works specifically for them.

A general guideline for a single person to keep in mind is to save about 70% of what is recommended for a retiring couple in the same financial bracket. For example, if a retiring middle-class couple can live on about $70,000 in retirement income per year, then a single middle-class person should be able to live on about $49,000 per year once retired. 

How much should a single person save to be able to retire?

Retiring as a single person is typically more challenging than retiring as a couple. Singles have only one income from which to save, while couples often have two incomes. A single person bears the sole responsibility of saving up for retirement. This can make it challenging to decide how much of your income to set aside for investing in your retirement plan.

You can use a retirement calculator to get a good idea of how much you need to save. These tools, like this one from nerdwallet, take certain factors into consideration, such as your age, pre-tax income and how much you already have saved up. It compiles this information to provide a helpful estimate of how much you should try to save for your retirement.

The benefit of retiring single

Although singles bear the full responsibility of reaching their retirement goals, they usually have more opportunities to save. Living expenses are often lower for singles, especially those without children or those whose children are grown and out of the house. This enables you to have more funds to contribute into your retirement plan. 

Retiring as a single person with the help of a ProVise financial advisor

You might be single, but this does not mean you are alone. Planning for your retirement can be difficult when you do not know how to navigate the fiduciary landscape. However, a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professional from ProVise Management Group can help you make smart retirement decisions.

Our team takes the time to get to know you, your financial circumstances and your retirement goals before drafting a personalized financial plan to help you reach them. We create plans at a fiduciary standard of care with a money-back guarantee if you are unhappy with your written plan. Simply return it to us and we will refund 100% of the fee paid.

Retiring as a single person might seem daunting, but it can be more straightforward than you might think. Our team is here to help you make your retirement goals a reality. Contact ProVise today to schedule a complimentary consultation.