For many early-to-mid career workers, a commonly recommended retirement-savings target is roughly 10–15% of income (including employer match). This target aims to balance meaningful long-term accumulation with near-term financial needs like housing, emergency funds, and debt repayment. The rationale combines compounding math with practical constraints: starting earlier allows lower contribution rates to reach similar retirement accumulations; hence the 10–15% range is a default that assumes steady saving over decades and the presence of tax-advantaged accounts like 401(k)s or IRAs. Employer matches should be factored in when measuring progress toward total saved percentage, because matches are effectively “free money” that boosts long-term outcomes.

Personalization matters: ideal contribution rates depend on age, desired retirement lifestyle, other savings, and expected Social Security benefits. If you start later in life, higher percentages (20%+) may be needed to catch up. If your employer offers an excellent match (e.g., 5% or more), prioritize contributing at least enough to capture the full match before allocating excess to other goals. Use retirement calculators to test different rates, project outcomes, and model the impact of contribution increases over time. Consider automatic escalation features where your payroll contribution increases a small percent annually — a low-friction way to approach or exceed the 10–15% target without a perceptible impact on take-home pay.