The average American adult can meet the challenge of ensuring a resilient retirement income even in the absence of a fiscally challenged Social Security program. At retirement, the individual must have accumulated an endowment fund that will be sufficient to provide an annual income for life that will be comparable to the individual’s earnings in the final year before retirement.

There is a clear path to retirement security: (1) Contribute 15% of annual earnings over a 40-year period to the individual’s retirement endowment fund; (2) target a minimum 7.5% annual rate of return on the investment portfolio of the fund; and (3) over a 30-year period following retirement, limit annual withdrawals from the retirement endowment fund to a maximum amount that is comparable to the individual’s final year earnings (adjusted for inflation).