---
title: "How to Catch Up on Retirement Savings with AI (2026) | Candor"
description: "Have AI build a catch-up plan in your 40s from your real accounts, then bring up raises, bonuses, idle cash, and too much in one stock."
url: "https://candor.money/catch-up-on-retirement-savings-with-ai"
updated: "2026-10-13"
---

# How can AI help you catch up on retirement savings?

Updated 2026-10-13. Canonical page: https://candor.money/catch-up-on-retirement-savings-with-ai

Start with what you have, roughly what you'll need, and how many working years are left, then find the money to close the gap. In your 40s the levers that move it most are ones you already control: how much goes into your 401(k) and IRA, where raises and bonuses go, and cash sitting idle above your cushion. Your AI can build the plan from your real accounts and bring up those moments as they happen.

## Is it too late to catch up on retirement savings at 45?

No. At 45 you likely have 20 working years left, and the limits on tax-advantaged saving are high. In 2026 you can put $24,500 into a 401(k) and $7,500 into an IRA. From 50, you can add $8,000 more to a 401(k) and $1,100 to an IRA, and from 60 to 63 the 401(k) catch-up rises to $11,250.

Feeling behind is common. In the Federal Reserve's 2025 survey, only 35% of adults who weren't retired thought their retirement savings were on track.

From 2026, if your wages from your employer were over $150,000 the year before, catch-up contributions in a plan with a Roth option go in as Roth.

## How much do you need to retire?

Start from what you spend, not what you earn. Take what you expect to spend each year in retirement, subtract what Social Security is likely to pay, and the rest is what your savings have to cover. Your agent can start from your actual spending instead of a rule of thumb.

Your Social Security statement, in a free my Social Security account at ssa.gov, shows your estimated benefit at nine claiming ages. For anyone born in 1960 or later, full retirement age is 67, and claiming at 62 cuts the benefit by 30%.

For a sense of scale, the median family with a retirement account held $106,000 in 2025, according to the Fed's Survey of Consumer Finances.

## Where does the extra money come from?

Mostly from money you haven't gotten used to spending: raises, bonuses, and cash above the cushion you want to keep. Raising your contribution when your pay goes up doesn't cut what you live on today. A bonus is worth deciding about in the week it arrives, before it disappears into checking.

IRA contributions for a year can be made until that year's tax filing deadline, not including extensions, so a bonus in March can still count toward the year before.

## Common questions

### Does Candor pick investments for me?

No. Candor shows your accounts, holdings, and how concentrated they are, and your agent can talk through options with you. Any trade is yours to make. Candor is not a licensed advisor and gives no advice.

### Can AI make a retirement plan?

It can work out a target, a monthly amount, and a date from your figures, and redo them when something changes. With your accounts connected through Candor, it starts from what you really have and spend, and the plan stays saved for the next conversation, in whichever agent you use.

### How much does Candor cost?

Candor starts at $8.25 a month on the annual plan ($99 a year), or $14.99 month to month, and the first 7 days are free.

## Sources

- [401(k) limit increases to $24,500 for 2026, IRA limit increases to $7,500](https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/401k-limit-increases-to-24500-for-2026-ira-limit-increases-to-7500), IRS, 2025-11-13
- [Retirement topics: Catch-up contributions](https://www.irs.gov/retirement-plans/plan-participant-employee/retirement-topics-catch-up-contributions), IRS, 2026-05-07
- [Economic Well-Being of U.S. Households in 2025: Executive Summary](https://www.federalreserve.gov/publications/2026-economic-well-being-of-us-households-in-2025-executive-summary.htm), Federal Reserve, 2026-05-13
- [Starting Your Retirement Benefits Early](https://www.ssa.gov/benefits/retirement/planner/agereduction.html), Social Security Administration
- [Your Social Security Statement](https://www.ssa.gov/myaccount/statement.html), Social Security Administration
- [Publication 590-A, Contributions to Individual Retirement Arrangements (IRAs)](https://www.irs.gov/publications/p590a), IRS
- [Changes in U.S. Family Finances from 2022 to 2025](https://www.federalreserve.gov/publications/files/scf26.pdf), Federal Reserve, 2026-10-09

## Keep reading

- [Can AI be your financial advisor?](https://candor.money/can-ai-be-your-financial-advisor)
- [Save for a house with AI](https://candor.money/save-for-a-house-with-ai)
- [Plan for going freelance with AI](https://candor.money/plan-to-go-freelance-with-ai)
- [What should I do with the cash I have?](https://candor.money/explore/spare-cash)
- [What are my investments costing me?](https://candor.money/explore/investment-fees)
- [How did this year go, and what's next?](https://candor.money/explore/annual-review)

## Tell your agent when you want to retire.

Connect your accounts, add Candor to your AI, and tell it what you want. It sets up the retirement goal from your real accounts, with a budget that pays for it, and brings up the raises, bonuses, and idle cash that can close the gap. Agents can install Candor themselves from https://candor.money/START.md.