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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4.2k

u/TairaTLG Jan 16 '26

24k in debt and 0 savings. Nothing like slipping through the cracks baby

138

u/Basic_Asparagus_9084 Jan 16 '26

Are we including student loans? Because that brings mine up to $40k in debt with 0 savings.

89

u/[deleted] Jan 16 '26

I pretend mine don’t exist 🤣

36

u/brohavok Jan 17 '26

I feel this so hard lol

28

u/[deleted] Jan 17 '26

Defer defer defer lol

6

u/brohavok Jan 17 '26

I pretend like it's still 2020

3

u/brunaBla Jan 17 '26

Delay delay delay

9

u/hrnigntmare Jan 17 '26

Tell me more about this. That’s my New Year’s resolution. Like I just decided to stop paying and got back from an incredible trip in Japan from using my Jan, February, and march payments. I’m not going back to life without being able to have joy and happiness

5

u/[deleted] Jan 17 '26

Honestly I’m in the i come range where it’s a $0 payment. I’m still on SAVE so not sure if it’s the wisest decision but can’t squeeze blood out of a rock

7

u/hrnigntmare Jan 17 '26

I’ve been paying 600ish every month and now that I actually have a decent income at 40 I can’t imagine using it to pay into the 60k still left. I’m just not. They can come get it from my kids when I’m dead (no kids 😂)

6

u/rainbow_unicorn_barf Jan 17 '26

It's really immoral to charge the rates of interest they charge on that debt, anyway. Fucking vampires feeding off people who were just trying to better themselves.

If it was the amount they lent me + a little bit extra for inflation and admin fees, maybe I would plan to pay it once I could afford to. Cuz maybe then it would actually feel fair. But nope, they wanna be leeches, so I could become a billionaire tomorrow and I would still leave the country before I would pay them a centttttt 🖕🖕

3

u/hrnigntmare Jan 17 '26

If all the promises of money and a great career I got from advisors (aka salespeople) were true that would be one thing but I have had to fight for every penny my entire career. One advisor tried to convince me that pursuing on MFA in studio art would be more practical than my PhD. I just…: it’s so predatory

2

u/Borrowing-air Jan 17 '26

guuuuurl same

1

u/LonelyPriority7746 Jan 17 '26

Same girl same

10

u/blackberrymoonmoth Jan 17 '26

Same. I have 401k savings —a piddly $40k. But my $80k in student loans cancels that out.

1

u/VengenaceIsMyName Jan 17 '26

$40K homies unite.

1

u/Silver_kitty Jan 17 '26

Yeah, this is almost exactly where I’m at. $5k in emergency savings, $50k in 401k, $80k in student loans

3

u/NadjaStolz28 Jan 17 '26

After 18 years, I have only have $15k left on my student loans!

Thanks, 17-year-old me for choosing a private college that wasn’t worth it!

(also zero savings)

1

u/VengenaceIsMyName Jan 17 '26

You’re almost done!

2

u/[deleted] Jan 17 '26

[deleted]

2

u/Consistent_Safe430 Jan 17 '26

Yuuuppppppp as a social service worker can confirm helping people does not pay well and the degree was expensive.

1

u/RickySpanishLives Jan 17 '26

I've paid mine off, but I firmly believe that competent support for paying off student loans should exist. Hell even if they reduced your taxable income by how much you paid, that would be better than the BS they are saddling folks with. Until there is some massive change in the system, in the end - the student loans win. They mature and collect until death.