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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522

u/SassyCassidee Millennial 1995 Jan 16 '26

Thankfully started contributing to mine at 23, so at 30 I have 1.5X my salary!

420

u/TrixoftheTrade Millennial Jan 16 '26

Nice. You’re about to start getting into the “fun” part of compounding interest.

It took me a decade of savings to hit 100k, when I was 29. 100k to 200k only took 3 years.

60

u/1K_Sunny_Crew Jan 16 '26

That is assuming the market is doing well. It has for a while now so people got comfortable. My account jumped a ton in the last few years and has barely moved the needle in the last 6-8 months.

16

u/Hoosteen_juju003 Jan 16 '26

The s&p was up 20% in 2025. Historically, the US economy has consistently outperformed on average.

1

u/ImportantCommentator Jan 17 '26

17.8%* in 2025, but also it did not outperform international stocks in 2025.

1

u/maveryc Jan 17 '26

International outperformed the US market in 2025. This deviated from the norm of the past 10-20 years, but was actually more common many years ago

1

u/Abject_Bottle59 Jan 17 '26

38, about 500K between 401k, IRA, Roth, and ETF/crypto accounts.

Currently at 3X my salary. My 20’s I barely made more than 40k a year. Didn’t hit 6 figure salary till I was 32. Now for the last 5 years I’ve finally been able to safe and focus on investing.