What’s the Biggest Threat to Building Wealth? July 9, 2021 May Jiang Post in Financial Planning Inflation is the biggest enemy of retirement savings and the retirement life in general. Just think about it, in 30 years, $100 would be equivalent to $41 in today’s dollars. So if someone retires in 30 years, and the retirement income is $50,000 a year, that’s equivalent to about $20,600 a year in today’s dollars. That’s no way close to a comfortable retirement lifestyle. So then, what’s the secret to a comfortable retirement lifestyle? Start with a budget. Save as much as you can. Invest in the most aggressive growth fund. Let’s say: you would like to receive $100,000 a year in 30 years (about $41,200 in today’s dollars) when you are 67 years old, and live till you are 97 years old. You’ll need to save about $5,700 a year if you invest it in that growth fund I mentioned above. If you choose bond fund which is more conservative with lower rate of return, you’ll need to save about $16,800 a year to reach the same goal of $100,000 a year.