My Savings Tripled Over 25 Years—Is That Good Enough for Retirement?

Tripling your money sounds impressive—until you do the math. Over 25 years, that's a 4.5% annual return, barely ahead of inflation and well below what a simple index fund would have delivered.

That's the situation an anonymous reader recently described to MarketWatch's The Moneyist: He tripled his savings over two and a half decades without a financial adviser and wanted to know if it was enough to retire on.

The answer depends less on the growth rate and more on the raw number, and whether it can cover his expenses for the rest of his life.

What Tripling Over 25 Years Really Means

Tripling your money over 25 years works out to 4.5% annually before inflation. That's reasonable if you prefer keeping your money safe, such as parking cash in a high-yield savings account or Treasury bonds.

But even with modest risk, you could have done much better. From 2000 through 2025, the S&P 500 returned an average of 8.15% a year with dividends reinvested. While few financial advisors would suggest you put all of your money in the broader stock market, a mix of other assets for greater safety still wouldn't have pulled your returns down to 4.5%.

Inflation makes the gap sting more. With rising living costs, 4.5% returns shrink to a real return of about 2%—not enough to build wealth unless you started with a large sum or spend very little.

How To Know You're Ready for Retirement

Experts use different benchmarks for gauging retirement readiness:

• You've saved enough to replace 70% to 80% of your preretirement income for your life expectancy.
• You've saved eight to 10 times your annual salary by the time you retire.
• You've saved enough to cover 25 times your estimated annual retirement expenses.

These benchmarks are just broad guidelines. Everyone’s situation is different, and retirement readiness depends on your health, expected life span, overall lifestyle, and the amount of your Social Security benefit.

When Tripling Your Savings Might Be Enough

Tripling your savings could be plenty if your fixed expenses are low—no mortgage, no debt, modest spending habits—and you have other reliable income streams like Social Security or a pension.

Say you tripled $200,000 to $600,000. That won't cover the average person's expenses. But if Social Security covers your core expenses and you're in good health, it could work.

Delaying retirement can help, too. A few extra years means more savings, a shorter drawdown period, and a bigger Social Security check. Together, those factors can turn a borderline situation into a more sustainable one.

When It Likely Isn’t Enough

Tripling savings means little on its own. What matters is the dollar amount saved and whether it can cover your needs.

Start by checking the classic tests above. Do you have eight to 10 times your annual salary saved? Can you replace 70% to 80% of your preretirement income? If you fall short and don't have very low expenses, you probably aren't ready yet.

It does no good to underestimate how much you’ll spend. Retirement is more expensive than many people expect. Free time often results in more discretionary spending, and you’ll be entering a phase of life when medical expenses become more frequent and costly.

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The Bottom Line

Retirement readiness isn’t defined by a single number or growth rate. It depends on each individual’s spending needs, lifestyle, and sources of income. For some people, tripling their savings over 25 years may be enough. For others, it will fall well short.