Sorry, but some of your assumptions seem ridiculous. Nobody I know experiences nominal wage declines, even of 1%. For reference, the average annual raise is a

Sorry, but some of your assumptions seem ridiculous. Nobody I know experiences nominal wage declines, even of 1%. For reference, the average annual raise is a full 3%. [1] As for 5% inflation, everyone knows Shadowstats is incredibly bogus and pushing a clear agenda without any grounding in realistic CPIs. [2] [3] For the past few years we've been experiencing almost 0% inflation, though I use 3% for my models (to be conservative). I'm not implying that someone with average income will retire with millions, I just took issue with the idea that somehow "everyone" is going to end up penniless. 50% of people fall above median income and a substantial portion of us can reasonably expect to have retirement savings readily available. 1: http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/personalfinance/2013/09/18/how-much-of-a-pay-raise-can-you-expect-in-2014/2832791/ http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/personalfinance/2013/09/... 2: http://voxrationalis.wordpress.com/2011/05/15/the-absurdity-of-shadowstats-inflation-estimates/ http://voxrationalis.wordpress.com/2011/05/15/the-absurdity-... 3: http://www.forbes.com/sites/modeledbehavior/2013/10/14/niall-ferguson-inflation/ http://www.forbes.com/sites/modeledbehavior/2013/10/14/niall...