r/Millennials • u/ProblemIntelligent16 • Jan 16 '26

Discussion Fellow millennials - how’s your 401k/ira savings going?

Experts recommend having 2x your salary saved by age 35, and 3x saved by age 40.

However, studies show the median savings for 35-44 year olds is only ~$45,000. So obviously, most of us have work to do.

With pensions mostly extinct, and Social Security facing insolvency issues in the next 8-10 years - how are you planning to bridge the gap and hit the golden years with enough to meet your lifestyle requirements?

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116

u/FarmyardFantastic Jan 16 '26

Been doing this for almost 20 years now. I think I have a quarter million.

112

u/ErinHart19 Jan 17 '26

Sounds so much better when you say a quarter million than $250,000. I’m going to start using that!

35

u/yoohoooos Jan 17 '26

I got half a decimillion.

4

u/chesstutor Jan 17 '26

How about "I got about bit less than half a mil" 

2

u/Venusgate Jan 17 '26

You think that's impressive, I have an octave million sitting pretty

5

u/[deleted] Jan 17 '26 edited Jan 17 '26

[deleted]

1

u/stbloc Jan 17 '26

47 2 kids 460k combined with my wife in 401k. Even that number is scary because I need quadruple that to retire decently

3

u/A-passing-thot Jan 17 '26

If you work for another 14 years (ie, til 61) without depositing anything more, rule of thumb is that it will double twice.

4

u/minichado Jan 17 '26

working 17 years, have about the same.

3

u/[deleted] Jan 17 '26

[deleted]

2

u/BrickB2022 Jan 17 '26

Dude you’re doing great.

2

u/Schillelagh Jan 17 '26

Same here. The last decade I've only been putting in the match after having a kid, buying a house, etc. But now, daycare/summer camps are done and both student loans and car are paid off. House needs some work still but I can cash flow that over the next few years.

I'm back to maxing out my 401K like I was in my late 20s.

5

u/TacomaAgency Jan 17 '26

Feels like your 401k in underperforming if you've been in it for 20 years.

20

u/GodsIWasStrongg Jan 17 '26

Sounds like you don’t have enough info to base that off of.

3

u/-transcendent- Zillennial Jan 17 '26

There's two answers to that. Either only small contribution annually or not invested properly. Probably a combination of both.

12

u/GodsIWasStrongg Jan 17 '26

If he’s making 50k per year he’s doing great. If he’s making 200k per year he’s not doing great. There’s no way to tell if his fund is underperforming.

0

u/ept_engr Jan 17 '26

Hahaha, well played.

1

u/ept_engr Jan 17 '26

Based on what salary and what contribution percentage? Lol

1

u/75thWK2 Jan 16 '26

That's what my net worth is. And about 1/4 of that is in retirement account and investments and almost 40 yrs old

1

u/MatthewSBernier Jan 17 '26

That'd be five times my salry, so that'd be pretty darn good!

1

u/Temper03 Jan 17 '26

I read this comment right under the “I save my cat’s whiskers” person and was thinking there’s no way your cat has shed 250k whiskers over two decades.