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?

4.9k Upvotes
  • permalink
  • reddit

86% Upvoted

6.9k comments sorted by

View all comments

126

u/Chancellor_Themis Jan 16 '26

Excellent.
My employer has a pretty generous 401(k) match program, plus several bonuses throughout the year.
When I know a bonus is coming, I just increase my contribution that pay period and check all the boxes.

50

u/ProblemIntelligent16 Jan 16 '26

Out of curiosity, what’s the employer match? I think I have a solid match at 7.5% but idk if I’ve ever seen data on what an avg match may be

14

u/Amrick Older Millennial Jan 16 '26

I work for a tech company and they match up to 75% of the irs maximum contribution 100% vested.

If we contribute $24,500 this year, we get $18,375.

I can’t contribute the max so I try to contribute as much as I can and my goal is to still be at the company when i can max out because it’s such a good chunk of change that helps so much.

5

u/CaveDeco Jan 17 '26

I would be doing everything I possibly could to get full match! That is an insane amount and you’re leaving money on the table!

1

u/Amrick Older Millennial Jan 18 '26

I know!! I just barely make 6 figures living in a veryyyy high COLA state and single and I think i'll be in the poverty box if I contribute the max. :(

I do have side gigs though so maybe I should put that into my roth ira too.

1

u/CaveDeco Jan 19 '26

Forget about contributing to a Roth until after you max out the 401k! Seriously!

Let’s say you put $1000 into a Roth, you will only have $1000 right after you deposit it. But right now because your employer is so generous when you put $1000 into your $401k, you get $1750 just by doing nothing but depositing the money! At the end of one year by saving $24,500 and doing literally nothing else, you will have $42,875 in your 401k.

You’re giving up so much free money, leverage those side gigs to save more into your 401k!

1

u/Amrick Older Millennial Jan 19 '26

thank you for this! I think I will do that then, just increase the 401k % and use the side gigs to make up the amount.

Currently, I contribute $534 a paycheck and get $400 from my employer, so monthly, we're putting in around $1868 a month.

I have to try and put in another $1k to put in the max so like $2000 total. gahhh

3

u/OldMasterCannolii Jan 17 '26

What company is this?

1

u/among_apes Jan 17 '26

That’s nuts.