• The financial requirements for retirement will vary significantly from person to person, as each individual's situation is unique. An assessment must be made of factors such as lifestyle expectations, debt, medical conditions and predicted life expectancy to determine how much each individual will require to maintain himself during retirement. What is more, if you have intentions of spending your retirement traveling or engaging in other long-sought-after delights, you'll have to factor those expenses in as well.
  
  

Lifestyle Expectations

• If you intend to maintain the same lifestyle post retirement as you have currently, you'll need a retirement income that is at least 70 percent of your current income, according to the AARP. For example, if you currently live on $60,000 per year, you'll want to have an income of at least $42,000 per year.
  
  

Debt

• If you will still have mortgage payments during your retirement or other major debts, make sure to add those to your needed yearly income. Conversely, if you're currently carrying a significant amount of debt that will be paid off by the time you retire, you can subtract that debt from the needed yearly income.
  
  

Medical

• It's difficult to predict medical problems that will develop over time. Nonetheless, in most cases it's safe to assume that medical expenses will increase over retirement. Furthermore, lifestyle choices that you're making now can indicate potential problems you'll encounter in the future. For example, if you're a smoker, you're more likely to develop heart disease and other cardiovascular conditions. While Medicaid, which becomes effective upon approval for Social Security benefits, will help with medical expenses, there will still be expenses incurred above and beyond that assistance.
  
  

Life Expectancy

• AARP recommends that you plan as if you will live a full 30 years in retirement. Thus, to determine how much money you'll need over the course of your retirement, you should add your lifestyle/cost of living expenses, your debt and your predicted medical costs and multiply that number by 30.
  
  

Extras

• Above and beyond these costs, you may hope to purchase a motor home and drive across the United States, or maybe you want to go to Rome and gaze at the work of da Vinci, or maybe you just want to be able to golf three times a week. These expenses, too, must be factored in to accurately determine how much money you'll need to live your retirement years the way you hope to live them.