<prompt> Human: I often see people recommend to save a certain percentage of your income. How should I be calculating this? I assume pre-tax, but then that makes determining the percentages for Roth IRA contributions a bit more difficult. Is there a simple way to get a real value, instead of estimating?Thanks!  <response>: It isnt that complicated; you just have to calculate in the correct order. 1. Determine how much you get paid per paycheck raw pre-deduction amount2. Deduct any pre-tax deductions 401k, medical, etc.3. Deduct taxes on the remaining amount4. Deduct post-tax deductions from the remaining amount Roth, ESPP, etc.5. Budget remaining for regular expenses living, savings, etc.When dealing with percents, they are typically percents of your raw pre-deduction annual pay, but in order to do the math you have to deduct at the appropriate step. I typically consider rent food utilities first, then work all of my other numbers 401k, emergency savings, other expenses around those, because those are my inflexible expenses that I need in order to live. Saving for retirement doesnt help if you dont make it until then. 