It depends upon which decade they were born as to how much they should aspire to save, to enable them to have the benefit of a similar standard of living in retirement to that enjoyed during their working life.

According to estimates made by experts and through studies undertaken, those born in the 1980’s will need to salt away about $1.8 million.  The younger millennials – those born in the 1990’s - are worse off as they will need upwards of $2.5 million. 

These equations have been arrived at on the assumption that, from their savings, the millennials could generate $30,000 - $40,000 and that the rate of inflation will be a modest 2%.

However, the math changes if more than $40,000 dollars is required or if inflation runs at 3%, which is the long term historical average.  It has been estimated by a financial adviser that in those circumstances, $3 million would be required in savings.

Doubtless, 20 and 30-somethings will find it very difficult to put aside a chunk of money each month, as young adults in America are faced with two major financial hurdles that prevent them from having a lot of extra wealth to invest for retirement i.e. high housing costs and student-loan debt. Data from the Pew Research Center states that for the first time in over a century, more Americans between the ages of 18 to 34 are having to live in their parents' home than with a spouse or partner and in addition, college graduates under the age of 35 years with student loans are paying one-fifth of their salaries on repayments.

According to a survey from Franklin Templeton Investment, despite 70 percent of the younger employees feeling anxious when thinking about retirement savings and investments, 40 percent of them have no strategy in place. This highlights the importance of financial education for younger generations who are in the early stages of their careers and have the most to gain from thinking about retirement now.

Employers should encourage their younger workers to contribute into company-sponsored retirement plans. Despite the fact that the younger millennials need to save approximately $1,000 dollars a month for 48 years and also need to get a 5% growth on their investments to hit the $2.5 million dollar target, if they increase their savings only slightly the employers will have done their jobs responsibly. Every dollar counts.