]To add, the classic answer is one can withdraw 4% of the 401 money each year with about an 80-ish% probability of not running out of money. If interest rates stay where they are, make it 3%. The other classic answer is replace 70% of your pre-retirement income in retirement. The 415 programs were not designed to replace pensions, it just worked out that way.

You're taking the risk that, over your career, the principal will grow--A LOT.

In timbo's example, you'd need about 3.5 mil to replace 200k in final year income. 200,000 x .7 = 140,000. 3,500,000 x.04 = 140,000. The Scotch low light in KIX DL Lounge is ON.

GF