| Dear Carrie: How much should one save as a percentage of their income? Ten? Fifteen? Twenty? -- A Reader
Dear Reader: Thank you for focusing on one of the simplest -- but most important -- questions in financial planning. Many of us are much more interested in discussing esoteric investments, but at the end of the day, the amount of money you save will likely have an even bigger impact on your success.
A comfortable, financially secure retirement is certainly the biggest challenge for most of us. I'll devote most of my answer to that critical issue, but I will review some other common savings goals as well.
Of course, like so many personal finance questions, there's no single correct answer that works for everyone. You can find all kinds of calculators and tools online to help you figure out how much money you'll ultimately need for retirement. But the following guidelines can be helpful.
 Also, understand that the experts who did the math for us made some assumptions. For example, they assume that you'll need about 80 percent of your pre-retirement, pre-tax income, and that your retirement will last about 30 years. They are also assuming that you will keep working (and saving) until that time. And they suppose that you have no current savings at all -- that you're starting from scratch.
The bottom line? As you might guess, the younger you are, the less you have to save as a percentage of current income. And the differences are pretty dramatic:
-- If you're getting started in your 20s: Save 10 percent to 15 percent of your pre-tax income.
-- If you're getting started in your 30s: Save 15 percent to 25 percent of your pre-tax income.
-- If you're in your early 40s: You'll need to save 25 percent to 35 percent of your pre-tax income to ensure a comfortable retirement, which is starting to be a meaningful chunk of your income.
-- And if you're 45 or older: Well, now the percentages start to get big quickly. A 46-year-old, for example, will need to save about 40 percent of pre-tax income; someone over 50 who is just starting to save will need to set aside about 60 percent of pre-tax income.
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