<prompt> Human: I keep crunching the numbers in various retirement calculators across the net and keep coming up short but I admit I suck at the basic math thats needed for some of this stuff. This is where I am financially at the moment - single guy, no kids Income - 80k I have only recently had this income. Up until about 5 yrs ago I made 35-40k a year consistently. Realistically my income probably wont go up much at this point. Debt - Only my house 40k. No credit cards, cars, student loans, etc... Paid all that off years agoRetirement assets are sadly only about 100k in a Roth and a 401k wemployer match. I spent half of my 20s not saving at all and the other half saving little more than 100-200 a month. Im currently saving about 15 of my income for retirement investing in index funds. Boring but it works. Ideal perfect world Id love to retire at 55. Every calculator I run online says that isnt remotely possible unless I save 80-90. Fine. We all have pipe dreams. I push that back 10 years to 65 and the calculators all say I still need to save 60-70 I clearly need to up my contributions but 60-70 just isnt a reasonable number. I have no idea how to even plan at this point. Assistant: 55 is not achievable65, with your numbers, is achievable if you manage your retirement expense well. Also retirement doesnt mean not working, lots of older folks work part time for a little extra cash and the social aspectHuman: I tend to agree that 55 is a no-go unless my income increases drastically like doubles or my plan is to die early like 70. Neither of these is realistic. 65 even seems dicey the more I look at the math. Pushing that back another decade seems more realistic but I really dont want to work til Im 75.  <response>: People with a lot less than you retire at 65. Its all about adjusting expectation. You are in great shape as a homeowner, You can still work part time, you can move somewhere with a lower cost of living, etc 