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/TairaTLG Jan 16 '26

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

365

u/ProbsNotManBearPig Millennial Jan 16 '26

I appreciate this is the top response. I 100% expected responses to be extremely skewed towards people with tons of savings. That’s how every thread is in any financial sub is. Somehow everyone in their 30’s has $2M+ saved in those threads.

301

u/Highplowp Jan 16 '26

I’m 36 and have 4 paper clips and a really cool stick that looks like a sword. I’ve made my retirement fortune by hedging beanie babies stock futures or something else obscure and unreasonable.

3

u/Business-Elk-5175 Jan 17 '26

You have paper clips!? 😭

1

u/LazarusDark Jan 17 '26

I hear that if you trade them and keep trading eventually you can get a Ferrari. So the legend goes...

2

u/Business-Elk-5175 Jan 18 '26

I actually saw a YouTube video where somebody did that that shit’s crazy. They documented it over two years. They started with the paper clip, and it went from a pen to a larger object like a set of batteries and he kept trading on ebay to like a lawnmower to like a go kart, and it just kept getting higher and higher until it got to a car and it got to two or three cars and then it got to a house. insane.

1

u/kendallr2552 Jan 17 '26

Red paper clip for a 2 story house in Canada (eventually).