<prompt> Human: I just recently read an article about how much one should have saved for retirement.Ill be 40 next year, and I currently have 44k in Vanguard index funds. My company does not offer match for 401k, and the expense fees are 1 so I stay far away from that.I make around 90k pre-tax with take-home pay of about 66k. My wife and I have 3 teenagers in the house oldest goes off to college next year, and due to health issues my wife does not contribute to our income.I currently contribute about 1 of my take-home pay into the Vanguard accounts, which I know is not a lot but given the tight budget and the circumstances its about what I can do right now.I feel like once the kids are out of the house another 6 or 7 years cross fingers Ill be able to contribute a lot more, but Im concerned that Ill be too far behind at that point.What are your thoughts?  <response>: Youre behind. The longer you wait, the more difficult is to catch up. That said, so be it. Work with what you have. Maybe you can save a few extra percent going forward. Not everybody retires to cruises, european vacations and plays golf everyday. Just make sure your expectations are realistic. 