According to the Social Security Administration, its retirement benefits are only designed to replace approximately 40% of the average worker's wages. That means the remaining 60% of your retirement income will need to come from other sources such as your IMRF pension, other retirement savings accounts, personal savings, and/or other investment earnings.

One major investment firm recommends that you aim to save at least 1x your salary by age 30, 3x by 40, 6x by 50, 8x by 60, and 10x by 67. So, if you are earning $50,000 by age 30, you should have $50,000 banked for retirement. If you reach 67 years old and are earning $75,000 per year, you should have $750,000 saved, based on this rule of thumb.

Another major investment firm says that saving 15% of your income per year is an appropriate savings level for many people.

For information on how your savings compare to others your age and for details on how to use IMRF's Voluntary Additional Contributions (VAC) program to bulk up your retirement savings, click here.

To provide you with timely IMRF communications and to prepare for the upcoming upgrades to IMRF's Member Access system, we need your email address and mobile phone number.

If you do not already have a Member Access account, you will need a registration key to create one. To get a registration key, you can either call 1-800-275-4673 and ask for the registration key on your latest member statement, or you can request that a new registration key be mailed to you by clicking here.

This webinar will explain how your pension is funded, your benefits as an IMRF member, and the importance of having more than one savings vehicle as you prepare for your eventual retirement.

For the months of July - October, the Your Glass is Half Full Workshop webinar will be offered online, on-demand on the IMRF website. You can view this recently pre-recorded webinar at any time, when it is convenient for you. To watch the Your Glass is Half Full Workshop webinar, click here.