If You Save 20% of Income, How Long Until Financial Independence?

Why 20% is the threshold

Below 20%, you're working until 65+ and dependent on Social Security. At exactly 20%, you'll generally hit traditional FI by your late 50s. Above 20%, every 5% bump compounds — both because you're saving more AND spending less (so the FI target is lower).

How to get from 10% to 20%

Capture the 401(k) match (often 4–6% free). Max Roth IRA ($583/mo). Direct every raise toward savings rather than spending. Refinance high-interest debt. The first 10 percentage points are usually optimization, not deprivation.

How PeakWorth turns a savings rate into a dated FI Age

The 'years to FI' table assumes a clean-slate saver with no existing balances, no taxes, and a flat income. PeakWorth instead runs your real savings rate through a year-by-year deterministic simulation to age 95 — folding in your current portfolio, employer match, federal + state taxes, and the spending that sets your FI target.

Because a higher savings rate both adds contributions and lowers your FI number (you're living on less, so ~25× of less is a smaller target), the effect compounds. PeakWorth reports the exact dated FI Age for each rate you might pick, so the abstract '5% chops 4–6 years' becomes a specific year on your plan.