Even if you follow all that advice, it isn&#x27;t necessarily sufficient. Probably not even close. If you figure you need roughly $1.5 million to retire without drawing down principle, then that means you&#x27;re by definition in the top 5% of the United States by wealth.<p>And in order to get $1.5 million from $0 by age 65, well there are a lot of ways to get there assuming unrealistic stock market returns.  But over twenty years, the S&amp;P 500&#x27;s returns vary wildly [1].<p>If you start at age 25 and aim for retirement at 65 then that&#x27;s 40 years. If median return after inflation is 4%, you still have to save over $1000 &#x2F; month, and that&#x27;s banking you&#x27;d hit median returns. If you figure 3%, then that&#x27;s around $1500 &#x2F; month.  If it dips into negative returns like it did for a few 20-year periods in the S&amp;P-500 history, then good luck, you&#x27;d need to save over $4000 &#x2F; month.<p>(Rough numbers based off of monthly interest)<p>[1] <a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.nytimes.com&#x2F;interactive&#x2F;2011&#x2F;01&#x2F;02&#x2F;business&#x2F;20110102-metrics-graphic.html" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.nytimes.com&#x2F;interactive&#x2F;2011&#x2F;01&#x2F;02&#x2F;business&#x2F;20110...</a>