Have you reviewed your retirement plans?

[BigV]

I have reviewed them since 2004. There have been some circumstances prompting changes in those plans. I am not a tinkerer or a daytrader when it comes to this money, but I am feeling the need to change again. Specifically, I want to review our budget and cash flow and increase our contributions. Right now, they're much too low.

But how low is too low? How much is enough? I've read numerous articles, and I still don't have much confidence that

A -- We've picked a suitable target number.

B -- We've picked a suitable target age(s).

C -- We've picked a suitable combination of deferral amounts and investment choices to hit our (hazy) choices in A and B above.

I am confident that we'll "have what we have, when we have it" or some other snooze-button platitude. I think we'll be working for a long time.

My biggest concern is that I don't know how to evaluate "the right amount". I can do the arithmetic, but I don't know what the right answer looks like. To be fair, I want to know a minimum, since, umpity bazillion bucks would be a problem I'd be willing to work through. I just don't see that happening. I'm not afraid of working, not afraid of saving, not afraid of interim losses.

...

After having said that, I guess I should just walk over to Payroll and ask for a status change form and crank up the rate to the maximum. At least then, the problem wouldn't be "I didn't do enough because I was cheap or near sighted".