<prompt> Human: Im 30 and my 401k is at about 20,000 saved so far in my life.According to the website of the company that manages my 401k if I contributed 18,500 every year until Im 67 Id still be at risk of not being able to retire, that confuses me.I want to retire someday and hearing people saying my generation will never retire is depressing.I will never be able to contribute 18,500 to my 401k, but even if I were doing it Id be screwed it sounds like. What do  <response>: If you can afford to put that amount in to a 401k then yes, do it. If not, contribute as much as you can comfortably contribute. Never throw away a company contribution to a 401k.I disagree that it wouldnt be enough to retire on. Im doing it with less and living the same standard of living I had when I was working.I typically tuned my savings. I first saved too much and found that I had to dip in to it I combined my savings in to retirement tax deferred and credit union savings account, majority in to tax deferred.When I found that I saved too much and had to withdraw some of it to make my expenses, I tweaked my savings to the point where that was no longer necessary. At that point, I knew I was saving as much as I could.I retired at age 59 and have had no problems with incomeexpenses.I also lived within my means, didnt run up credit cards, didnt continually buy a larger homenewer car etc. I have a good balance between quality of life and financial responsibility.I worked as and electronics engineer FWIW 