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Still Time To Save $1 Million?

The Mazzellis are a typical couple. They married young, saved to buy a nice home, and helped put their children through college. But now, Victor and Debra, both 50 years old, have saved only $80,000 for retirement.

Supposing both spouses retire at age 66, when they will have reached full retirement age (FRA) for Social Security benefit purposes, that gives them just 16 years left to sock away enough for retirement. If the couple's goal is to have $1 million saved by then, what will they need to do?

It will be difficult, but not impossible. Victor and Debra still can secure a comfortable retirement by following a few basic strategies:

Making other changes, such as downsizing to a smaller home, cutting back on luxuries, and possibly moving to a less expensive area will provide additional savings. Without even taking those factors into account, the other strategies can enable Victor and Debra to build a nest egg of $1,008,692 ($80,000 + $578,692 + $100,000 + $250,000).

Bottom line: The $1-million goal isn't a pipe dream for this couple—and it doesn't have to be for you either. But the sooner you get started, the better.