Save at least eight times ending salary for retirement, Fidelity says Jeanne Thompson, Fidelity vice president, explains why she thinks people should have eight times their yearly income saved for retirement by age 67. Do you have enough saved for retirement? If you're not sure, you might want to pay attention to a set of savings guidelines issued by Fidelity Investments, a major administrator of company 401 (k) plans. Fidelity said most employees should aim to have at least eight times their ending salary in order to meet basic income needs in retirement. In order to reach that threshold, 401 (k) savers should have saved about one times their salary at age 35, three times their annual salary by age 45 and five times the amount they earn by age 55. Fidelity's guidelines are designed to help workers assess whether they are on track to meet their income needs in retirement based on their current savings, the company said.