Planning for retirement is one of those "important decisions" that you will have to make. And probably soon. For many of us, especially those around my age (not quite 30), pensions aren’t available. And we’re not entirely sure our full Social Security benefits are going to be available either. So that means we have to rely on ourselves. So, how much will you need in retirement? Generation X Finance has some insight:

The most common method is simply by using one of the general rules of thumb about retirement income. For years people have been told that you need to earn 75-80% of your pre-retirement income during retirement to maintain your lifestyle. This is a fine place to start but there are simply too many problems with this method.

It is nice to be able to say "I just need x-percent of my income" and leave it at that. However, this is not how it works. Your particular financial situation will include specific items important to you, such as how much you want to travel (for me – alot), whether you want to leave a large inheritance (I don’t think so – shouldn’t I enjoy the money?) and what kind of long term care you expect to need.

So, it is good to start with the x-percent of your income, you should also get a financial planner to help you figure out a more specific and detailed target for retirement.