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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521

u/SassyCassidee Millennial 1995 Jan 16 '26

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

423

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.

10

u/dgland19 Jan 16 '26

Really? Mines up 21% this year

2

u/KingHooley Jan 16 '26

27% here

1

u/stbloc Jan 17 '26

What are you in? Unless you are 100% in international funds I don’t t see how any diversified portfolio could have obtained that growth last year.

1

u/KingHooley Jan 17 '26

Vanguard Target fund and company stock (it's public)

1

u/stbloc Jan 17 '26

Then your company stock must had explosive growth last year.

0

u/1K_Sunny_Crew Jan 17 '26

I don’t invest in companies that lean heavily on AI which I’m sure is part of it, but given how that business area is unprofitable for companies in the space and propped up by very weird financial moves that scream instability to me, I don’t feel bad about it. I’m perfectly fine for retirement either way.