What savings rate you need when starting at age 15, 25, 35 and 50

Waiting to win the lottery is a bad retirement funding strategy. What we must do is start saving as early as possible. That’s because the older one gets, the higher percentage of their annual income they have to put aside for a secure retirement. For example, a 20-year-old needs to save 11.1 percent of their annual income while a 40-year-old has to put away 43.2 percent. But there are signs the younger generation is getting the message. Over 60 percent of employees between the ages of 25 and 34 participate in their company’s 401(k) plans in 2011, up from 58 percent in 2003.