It’s the question I hear more than any other: “Am I saving enough?”

Most people try to answer it by pulling a single number out of thin air — usually assuming a smooth 7% annual return in a spreadsheet. But early in your investing journey, staring at market returns is actually a distraction.

If you’re trying to build your first $100k or reach that $1 million milestone, your savings rate does almost all the heavy lifting. In the early years, what you put in matters far more than what the market does. The market doesn’t build your foundation — you do.

Investment returns only take over the heavy lifting once your portfolio reaches critical mass. Until then, hoping for a 7% or 8% return to save a weak plan is a bad strategy.

Our Investment Goal Planner was built to take the guesswork out of that equation. Instead of giving you a fantasy return number, it flips the problem on its head:

Given your goal and timeline, it shows you what your savings rate needs to look like — and how much less pressure you have to put on the market when you make small, consistent adjustments to your contributions today.

A few quick takeaways before you run your numbers:

Early on, focus on contributions over returns. In the first decade, your saving habits move the needle far more than stock market variance. That’s great news: it means your progress is in your control, not Wall Street’s.

Time lowers the bar. Push your timeline out a few years, and watch the return you need drop drastically. Starting early is the closest thing to a free lunch in personal finance.

Adjust for silent inflation. A million dollars in twenty years won’t buy what a million buys today. Make sure you’re planning for real purchasing power, not just a nominal number on a screen.

Whether you’re grinding toward your first big milestone or checking if your existing plan is still on track, take a look at your numbers across realistic market scenarios rather than one best-case guess.

Calculate your potential growth with our Investment Goal Planner.

If you run your scenario and want a second set of eyes, I’d be happy to look over the numbers with you — no obligation, just a straight conversation about whether your plan adds up. Get in touch.