Only 6 in 10 Americans Say They Can Afford a Comfortable Retirement for More Than 10 Years. Do This to Join Their Ranks

The idea of going from earning a steady paycheck to retiring completely can be scary. After all, instead of bringing in money, you'll be relying on what will likely be a combination of Social Security and personal savings to cover your senior living expenses.

Meanwhile, only 59% of Americans say they can afford a comfortable retirement that lasts more than 10 years, according to recent data from Edward Jones. If you want to be in a position where you can live comfortably for well over a decade, it's important to prioritize your retirement savings from a young age. Not only that, but you should also plan to invest your savings in stocks so your money grows at a rapid pace over time.

A winning formula

If your goal is to enjoy a comfortable retirement, it'll take money -- there's no getting around that. And to end up with a lot of money, you'll need to commit to funding your retirement savings from an early age and investing in the stock market to generate strong returns.

Over the past 50 years, the stock market has averaged an annual 10% return before inflation, based on the performance of the S&P 500 index (which is generally considered to be representative of the market on a whole). As such, if you invest your retirement savings in either a bunch of individual stocks that are part of that index, or an S&P 500 ETF, which basically lets you invest in the entire index with one transaction, you might enjoy an average yearly 10% return on your money, too.

So, let's say that happens, and that you start funding an IRA at the age of 25. Let's also assume you want to retire at age 65, which is when you're old enough to sign up for Medicare. That gives you a 40-year savings and investment window.

Finally, let's say you're able to sock away $200 a month for retirement throughout your career. The reality is that you might be able to contribute more than that as your career progresses and your earnings pick up, but we'll go with that $200 regardless, since it's a fairly reasonable sum of money to part with on a monthly basis.

When we combine all of these factors, you're left with a nest egg worth a little more than $1 million. That may be hard to believe considering that 40 years' worth of monthly $200 contributions means putting in just $96,000 of your own money. But it's that lengthy investment window and 10% return that could make it possible to end up with more than 10 times your money.

A comfortable retirement could be yours

Holding down a job for many decades isn't easy. So once you're ready to stop working, you deserve a rewarding, enjoyable retirement to look forward to.

Saving for that milestone from a young age and investing in stocks could set the stage for the comfortable retirement you want, so make every effort to follow these guidelines. Your senior self will thank you for it.