$1.5m is a bit high for the average case. The median household income in the United States today is about $50k, so if you estimate 80% of your income for retirement, that's $40k. The conditional life expectancy of a 65-year-old is ~17 yrs, and inching up very slowly, so maybe will be 20 years in a few decades. So that's $800k in today's money, modulo investments.
And that's assuming zero contribution from social security. Even if social security gets chopped at some point, I don't expect it to go all the way to $0; people working today and paying in will probably get some payout. Even if it's only $10k/yr, that reduces the needed savings to $600k.
Granted, most people don't have anywhere near $600k either, so it might be arguing between whether they need to save infinity or 2*infinity more than they currently are.
Yes, but your math only works if you don't exceed the life expectancy... if you want to be reasonably sure to have money into your 90s, you'll need more.
And that's assuming zero contribution from social security. Even if social security gets chopped at some point, I don't expect it to go all the way to $0; people working today and paying in will probably get some payout. Even if it's only $10k/yr, that reduces the needed savings to $600k.
Granted, most people don't have anywhere near $600k either, so it might be arguing between whether they need to save infinity or 2*infinity more than they currently are.