Retirement Security
Retirement Income Replacement Targets
Most plans need 70–85% income replacement — higher for healthcare-heavy or longevity-rich households.
Executive Summary
Most plans need 70–85% income replacement — higher for healthcare-heavy or longevity-rich households. This retirement security brief synthesizes peer-reviewed research, regulatory data (NAIC, BLS, Federal Reserve SCF, FEMA, SSA), and InsuranceQuoteToolkit's proprietary HRI and FSI scoring models. Use it as a decision-grade reference — not a marketing overview.
Key Takeaways
- Baseline: 80% income replacement
- + healthcare delta pre-Medicare
- + LTC potential cost
- − mortgage payoff savings
Research-Backed Guidance
The findings above draw on multi-source household-resilience research. Our review process triangulates federal data sets (BLS Consumer Expenditure, Federal Reserve SCF, NAIC market conduct filings), longitudinal academic studies, and the InsuranceQuoteToolkit national resilience panel. Read our methodology center for full scoring and weighting details.
- • Federal Reserve Survey of Consumer Finances — liquidity & net worth distributions
- • Bureau of Labor Statistics CEX — household burn-rate baselines
- • NAIC consumer publications — coverage prevalence and gap analytics
- • FEMA National Risk Index — geographic peril exposure
Practical Recommendations
- Use Monte Carlo, not straight-line
- Re-test every 3 years
Action Checklist
Print or screenshot this list. Move from a Moderate to Strong tier on the relevant index by completing each item within 60–90 days.
- 1Baseline: 80% income replacement
- 2+ healthcare delta pre-Medicare
- 3+ LTC potential cost
- 4− mortgage payoff savings
- 5Use Monte Carlo, not straight-line
- 6Re-test every 3 years
FAQ
Does the 4% rule still work?
Roughly, with reservations. Sequence risk requires a cash buffer.