Retirement Reality Check

So many political arguments are being made about funding social security and medicare, it made me wonder. Is it possible for a middle income worker to save enough money to support him or herself in retirement for, say, 20 years? I decided to try to answer my own question.

The current individual median income for workers 25 and over is about $33,000. That means half of American workers earn more and half earn less. Also, that's exactly what my latest full-time annual salary was with an associate's degree and many years of working up from entry-level clerk to senior office associate. So it seems like a good number to use for representing a middle income.

I used the calculator at CalcXML to determine how much a 25 year old would have to save in order to achieve the equivalent of $33,000 annual income from age 70 through 89 (assuming 3% inflation per year). I assumed the retirement savings plan would earn 6% per year, which is roughly the historical average return for stock funds. Here's the result:

"To provide the inflation-adjusted retirement income you desire, you need to save $7,282 or $607 a month. The total amount needed for retirement...is $2,423,159."

Does anyone expect a young middle-class worker to sock away over $600 per month for retirement? I think that's highly unlikely, which raises more questions, especially this one: Are there other ways to fund one's own retirement?