Forget the average retirement savings for Americans. Here’s a better way to prepare for a comfortable retirement.

The average retirement savings in the US is $333,945, according to data from the Federal Reserve. But this gives an inaccurate picture of what the typical worker has. The averages are easily skewed by a few high earners.

Average stats are generally more useful, and in this case, they’re much lower — just $87,000. But even this is little more than an interesting statistic.

It doesn’t matter if you’ve saved more or less than the average American. If you want to retire comfortably, you need to build a retirement plan just for you.

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Why comparing your retirement savings to others is counterproductive

Knowing that the typical American worker has $87,000 in retirement savings might seem to give you a benchmark you can use to measure your progress. But this is a dangerous trap to fall into.

First, this data looks at workers of all ages, and age has a huge effect on whether $87,000 is an adequate amount of retirement savings. That’s great for someone in their 20s, but it’s worrisome for those in their 50s or 60s who may soon have to rely on their savings to cover living costs.

This figure also tells you nothing about the type of lifestyle the average American wants in retirement. Some probably hope to travel and buy expensive items, while others are more comfortable staying close to home and maintaining their current standard of living. One person might never want to work another day in their life, while another would be bored without at least a part-time job. You might plan for a 20-year retirement, while your neighbor with a serious medical condition will only plan for a 10-year retirement.

All of these factors have a significant effect on how much you will need for your future. Instead of focusing on how you measure up to others, find out exactly what you need to meet your retirement goals and work towards that.

How to build your personalized retirement plan

Creating a personalized retirement plan starts with asking yourself what you expect retirement to look like. Start with the following questions:

• When do I want to retire?
• How long do I think I will live?
• Where do I want to live in retirement?
• How do I want to spend my time?
• Do I plan to make large purchases (holiday home, fishing boat, etc.)?
• Do I have any ongoing expenses that will disappear in retirement (business attire, transportation to and from work, etc.)?

Use the answers to these questions to help you estimate how much you’ll need to save. It is possible to get by with less money than you do today. Some workers only need about 80% of their pre-retirement income for retirement, but this varies greatly from person to person.

You won’t have to cover all of your retirement expenses yourself because you’ll get money from Social Security and possibly a job or a pension. Find out their value so you know how much of your monthly costs you need to cover independently.

Estimating your income from a retirement job probably isn’t too difficult. There is a lot of data online about average earnings for different types of jobs. If you qualify for a pension, your employer can give you a better idea of ​​how much you will receive in retirement. And for Social Security, you can create a Social Security account to estimate your monthly benefit at each possible claim age.

Once you have a rough idea of ​​how much your retirement income will be, subtract that from your total estimated retirement expenses to determine the monthly income you’ll need to save on your own. For example, if you expect $2,000 a month from Social Security and think your retirement expenses will be $5,000 a month, then you need to cover the remaining $3,000 a month yourself.

A popular retirement savings rule of thumb says that you should save 25 times your annual income to help your money last 30 years. In our previous example, if you had to cover $3,000 in monthly expenses yourself, that would be $36,000 annually. That would give you a retirement savings target of $900,000. But you may need more than that, especially if you’re planning for a higher standard of living or a longer retirement.

Once you’ve determined how much you’ll need to save, figure out how to get there. A retirement calculator can help you figure out how quickly your money will grow.

It’s usually best to be conservative here. Plan for a rate of return on investment of around 6%, even though the actual rate of return could be higher. Don’t forget to factor in an inflation rate of about 3% annually.

The calculator should help you determine how much you need to save per month to reach your goal. If this amount is not feasible for you, you may need to change your plan. Try a few scenarios until you find one that works for you.