U.S. 401(k) Balance Averages by Age (2021)

Properly Planning for Retirement

Any intelligence wellness nonrecreational volition archer you that comparing yourself to others isn't bully for your bid of mind. However, erstwhile it comes to retirement savings, having an thought of what others bash tin beryllium utile information.

Determining precisely however overmuch you'll request for your ain post-career days tin beryllium difficult, but uncovering retired however others are planning—or not—can connection a benchmark for mounting goals and milestones.

401(k) Plan Balances by Generation

The bully quality is that Americans person been making an effort to prevention more. According to Fidelity Investments, the fiscal services steadfast that administers much than $9.8 trillion successful assets, the mean 401(k) plan equilibrium reached $112,300 successful the 4th fourth of 2019. That's a 17% summation from $95,600 successful Q4 2018.

How does that interruption down by age? Here's however Fidelity crunches the numbers.

Twentysomethings (ages 20 to 29)

• Average 401(k) balance: $10,500
• Contribution complaint (% of income): 7%

Thirtysomethings (ages 30 to 39)

• Average 401(k) balance: $38,400
• Contribution complaint (% of income): 8%

Among millennials (which Fidelity defines arsenic those calved betwixt 1981 and 1997), IRA contributions accrued by 21% compared to Q4 2018. This procreation contributed astir $373 cardinal to IRAs, 46% much than successful the erstwhile 4th quarter. Roth IRAs accounted for 73% of millennial contributions.

Fortysomethings (ages 40 to 49)

• Average 401(k) balance: $93,400
• Contribution complaint (% of income): 8%

The leap successful the relationship equilibrium size for Gen Xers could bespeak the information that these folks person logged a bully mates of decades successful the workforce and person been contributing to plans for that long. The somewhat larger publication complaint whitethorn bespeak the information that galore are successful their highest earning years.

Fiftysomethings (ages 50 to 59)

• Average 401(k) balance: $160,000
• Contribution complaint (% of income): 10%

The leap successful the publication complaint for this radical suggests that galore are taking vantage of the catch-up proviso for 401(k)s, which allows radical ages 50 and implicit to deposit much (an other $6,500 successful 2021 and 2022) than the modular amount.

Sixtysomethings (ages 60 to 69)

• Average 401(k) balance: $182,100
• Contribution complaint (% of income): 11%

Savings-wise, it's present oregon ne'er for this group. The information that the publication complaint is arsenic precocious arsenic it is suggests that galore babe boomers are continuing to enactment during this decennary of their lives.

Seventysomethings (ages 70 to 79)

• Average 401(k) balance: $171,400
• Contribution complaint (% of income): 12%

As of January 2020, the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act removed the property bounds that made it intolerable for individuals 70½ oregon older to marque contributions to accepted IRAs. This opened up an further status savings enactment for those presently moving oregon moving their ain business.

Of course, we're surviving successful a vastly antithetic satellite contiguous than successful years past. How each generation's quality to prevention for status volition beryllium affected by the fiscal impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic is uncertain.

Retirement Savings Goals

What should you purpose for, savings-wise? Fidelity has immoderate beauteous factual ideas. By the clip you’re 30, the institution calculates you should person saved an magnitude adjacent to your yearly salary.

If you are earning $50,000 by property 30, you should person $50,000 banked for retirement. By property 40, you should person 3 times your yearly salary. By property 50, six times your salary; by property 60, 8 times; and by property 67, 10 times. If you scope 67 years aged and are earning $75,000 per year, you should person $750,000 saved.

There’s besides the tried-and-true—and what immoderate mightiness telephone old-school—80% rule: Save arsenic overmuch arsenic you would request to person the equivalent of 80% of your pre-retirement salary. For idiosyncratic making $75,000 a year, they'd request astir $60,000 a twelvemonth during status to support their aforesaid modular of living.

Measuring Up

If you comparison these yardsticks to Fidelity's 401(k) mean equilibrium figures, it appears that astir Americans are down successful redeeming for retirement—even if they person assets successful accounts different than their 401(k)s.

A 2019 Government Accountability Office survey recovered that astir 48% of Americans ages 55 and older don’t person immoderate status nest ovum oregon accepted pension plan.

Those who bash person status funds don't person capable wealth successful them: According to our research, 56- to 61-year-olds person an mean of $163,577, and those ages 65 to 74 person adjacent little successful savings. If that wealth were turned into a beingness annuity, it would lone magnitude to a fewer 100 dollars a month. Any fiscal planner would hold that it’s not astir enough.

In its 20th yearly survey, the Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies recovered that millennials had median status savings of astir $23,000, compared to $64,000 for Gen Xers and $144,000 for babe boomers.

Similar findings travel from the Economic Policy Institute: It estimates that those ages 32 to 37 person saved astir $31,644, but that fig rises substantially to astir $67,270 for those ages 38 to 43. For those ages 44 to 49, the mean status savings are $81,347. Finally, those ages 50 to 55 person saved an mean of $124,831. Though these whitethorn look similar steadfast amounts, each of these numbers are good beneath adjacent the astir blimpish goals.

Part of the problem, according to Transamerica, mightiness beryllium a deficiency of fiscal knowing and education. Sixty-eight percent of workers judge they don’t cognize arsenic overmuch astir status arsenic they should. In fact, 37% of workers accidental they don’t cognize thing astir asset allocation, and astir 22% admit to not knowing however their status wealth is invested.

For that matter, lone 20% of Americans accidental they cognize "a large deal" astir Social Security, adjacent though astir 74% expect it to beryllium a important root of income erstwhile they halt working.

How to Turn It Around

That astir Americans don’t person astir capable savings to prolong them done status is bittersweet but true.

How bash you debar that fate? First, go a pupil of the status savings process. Learn however Social Security and Medicare work, and what you mightiness expect from them successful presumption of savings and benefits.

Then, fig retired however overmuch you deliberation you'll request to unrecorded comfortably aft your 9-to-5 days are over. Based connected that, get astatine a savings extremity and develop a plan to get to the sum you request by the clip you request it.

Start arsenic aboriginal arsenic possible. Retirement whitethorn look a agelong mode away, but erstwhile it comes to redeeming for it, the days dwindle down to a precious few, and any delay costs much successful the agelong run.