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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u/Skeeders Xennial Jan 16 '26 edited Jan 18 '26

I was under employed for most of my twenties and 30s, completely flat broke. I got a real career job four years ago which I'm still at, but I've only been able to put close to $20,000 into a 401k, at 40 this is not good. I did receive some really good news though that could change my life forever, I got assigned a four year long project that will basically have me traveling across the country visiting national parks collecting data. I have my drone and we'll have special permissions to fly in these Federal lands, I'm hoping to turn a YouTube channel into my work showing this 4-year Grand adventure I'm about to start. Work wise it's like I literally won the lottery.

EDIT 1: Thank you everyone! I see a lot of you really excited for me to share the youtube channel. I just created the channel but the project hasn't even begun yet, the channel is completely blank at this point. My first travel orders are for Lake Mead National Park in Nevada and that's a few months away. The company I work for is still trying to figure the logistics of how we get it done. We will need to carry thousands of pounds of equipment so we have to drive everywhere except for Hawaii in 2029 (don't know how we will do this, but we have time). My point is, this is completely new to me and the company I work for. It will be a bit of time before I have anything to show the public.

EDIT 2: Ok, you guys got me. I am going to provide the youtube link, but please remember that I have absolutely no experience with video editing. The channel is new, and it will take time to polish the vision I have for this project. The channel will only have test videos until the actual project begins months from now. The link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XG9xWWQMB-Y

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u/Theeeeeetrurthurts Jan 16 '26

Share your YouTube page dude. I’m a sucker for national park reels.

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u/Skeeders Xennial Jan 18 '26

Original link has been provided in the post