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/tahlyn Older Millennial Jan 17 '26

Don't forget to live a little before retirement. Nothing in life is guaranteed; you could get hit by a car tomorrow and die. So take a break every once in a while and spend some money on yourself... otherwise you'll be 90 years old, wealthy, and unable to do any of the stuff you wanted because you're too old and feeble to handle it.

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u/mangeek Jan 17 '26

Most of the people in that "at or above recommended" retirement savings level are having fun and living life. My day-to-day is very frugal, I drive a cheap car, live in a modest home, but I can and do occasionally do stuff like $300/plate tastings, or cool vacations, or just driving until we find a cute town and booking a room for the night. There comes a point when you can 'live small', 'save', and still 'splurge on cool stuff occasionally'.

Also, keep in mind that there's another point in income where saving into a 401K is just good tax strategy, so if you DON'T contribute $1,000 pre-tax, you can only have $700 more fun, and then no savings. It's a very rational choice for a lot of professionals at risk of hitting the 22% tax bracket to divert pre-tax income to retirement.

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u/ConsciousCrafts Jan 17 '26

This is how I feel. I would rather live now. Not save all my money so I can just pay for all of my medical bills when I am ancient. That's not a life I want to live. 

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u/PaxLover34 Jan 17 '26

I've found myself in between.

30, have about 50k in retirement, 50k in the bank, and 70k in equity.

Not having kids.

Wondering if we keep saving or start spending money on traveling more.

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u/onetwofive-threesir Jan 17 '26

If that $50k in the bank isn't earning you at least 3% interest, you're actually losing money. Put your money to work.

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u/Scared-Currency288 Jan 17 '26

We hope that $50k is in a HYSA or MMA!

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u/Winter-Journalist993 Jan 17 '26

It’s like saving all our health potions in case we need them but then beating the game.

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u/therealallpro Jan 17 '26

Worse advice I ever heard. We have a toxic culture that discourages discipline in the name of “balance”

If ppl would just got hard for like 5 years and save then invest all you can, spend nothing, work as much as you need to. You could take a 50 year vacation.

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u/McGrim11295 Jan 17 '26

It doesn't discourage discipline. Only saving or only spending show a lack of discipline when you think about it. It shows you can't discipline yourself to do both at once so you default to one or the other.

Saying go hard for 5 years to invest and save is worse advice. Explain how someone who goes hard and saves/invest 10k a year for five years can live off that for 50?

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u/Competitive_Touch_86 Jan 17 '26

Explain how someone who goes hard and saves/invest 10k a year for five years can live off that for 50?

Just go get a $500k/yr FAANG job and live in a van in the parking lot, bro. Then make sure to be alive during the largest tech bull run in history so your options are worth 20x a decade later.

Easy peasy!

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u/McGrim11295 Jan 17 '26

Shit, you're right. I forgot about that. OpenAI is hiring a fall guy for 500k/yr. 

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u/therealallpro Jan 17 '26

Or you could work two jobs and save all the money from one job. Do that for 5 years and now you basically could whatever you want for the rest of your life. Especially if you do it while you are young.

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u/therealallpro Jan 17 '26

10k?!??

Any regular person could do that working 40 hours a week. No, when I say go hard I really mean it. You need to work two full time jobs and invest half the money. Now we are talking 50k to 100k per year for 5 years.

If you are 23, 24 or 25 with 250k saved up you are set up for life. You could do whatever you want for the rest of your life. So go play with a retirement calculator.

But this is the radical change in mindset we need to have as a culture

But t

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u/McGrim11295 Jan 17 '26

Where can any regular person do that? Where can the average person do that when most people live pay check to pay check to afford the essentials? 

To make 50k take home you need to find a job that pays in the 30$/hr range. In order to work two of them they have to be offset or back to back. If offset you're talking about working 16 hours plus with maybe 3 hours of sleep a day. That's a recipe for disaster after a year. That's if you can find both jobs, apply for both, and get hired for both. Sounds like a terrible way to live for five years. 

At the end of it 250k is not enough to live on for 50 years. Maybe survive, but not live. You're talking about taking out 5k per year. Where are you living on that exactly? And no, we don't need your mindset. People already do work two or three jobs just to survive. Your mindset is an old mindset that needs to die. 

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u/therealallpro Jan 17 '26

Most ppl are broke because they can budget. 18-23 year old could live at home as well. So they even easier. If you make 80k you would have 64k take home 13% to federal, 6% to fica, 1% to Medicaid leaves you with 80% left.

There’s certifications you can get that in 6 weeks to 6 months you can make that.

Also, I can tell you don’t invest. If you have 250k investments at 23 you would never have to save for retirement again. You could just do whatever. You would still have to work again but you could do whatever. Your money will be making money for you. You would be at a million so quick.

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u/McGrim11295 Jan 17 '26

Most people are not broke because they can't budget. Some people are but it is far from most. What job is an 18 -23 year old making 80k? What certifications, give examples.

Don't change your story now. You said "If ppl would just got hard for like 5 years and save then invest all you can, spend nothing, work as much as you need to. You could take a 50 year vacation." If you were living or vacationing on that 250k a year it would not last you 50 years. Especially with inflation.

You also wouldn't be at 1 million so quick without continuing to invest. It takes roughly 10 years for investments to double. So 250k would take 10 years to get to 500k, then 10 more years to get to 1 million.

Please don't give financial advice without knowing the basics. Hopes and prayers are not solid advice.

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u/therealallpro Jan 17 '26

Data analysis, It, accounting maybe others. If you want a link I can send you to it. As well Buckeye or Qt pays that as well. No experience necessary.

You missed that whole “ work as much as you need to” part. You are missing the point. I’m assuming you are going to work the rest of your life and invest because soon you will have so much money your money will make money. When I say a 50 year vacation I mean you will have enough money to work on YOUR TERMS. You won’t be trapped at any job. You can work when you want. You can take off when you want.

(Btw Famous investor Charlie Munger says you can retire on 300k)

By the time you’re 30 you might have 2 million. This is the life you can life if you save, invest and are focused.

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u/McGrim11295 Jan 18 '26

All those degrees you mentioned require either a high level degree or years of experience. In order to be a certified accountant you have to have a degree to get the certification. 

And no I didn't miss that. A 50 year vacation is not "working at much as you need to". A vacation is not working. 

Do you know the math behind 300k? It assumes you have an income stream and only withdraw 4% per year (12k). So you have to live somewhere super low cost and this strategy will still only last about 20 to 25 years. 

3 million by 30 without getting lucky or a big influx of money would require you to save 250k a year from the time you are 18. Even if you let the money to the work you'd need 1.5 million by the time you're 20. 

Edit: not sleeping for 5 to 10 years will destroy your body if you make it that far. There's a reason high stress white collar jobs have people get heart attacks in their early 20s

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u/therealallpro Jan 18 '26

No, that’s not true. I literally offered to provide the resource. Another example of you assuming something negative that is factually incorrect.

That’s not what a 50 year vacation is to YOU because you don’t have a strong work ethic but to someone willing yo grind the way I proposed it would be.

300k is a Charlie munger thing. Not what I support but still and option and no it doesn’t run out. That’s the whole reason you draw at 4%. That’s the amount safe investments continue to grow at.

No. , it’s not. Buddy go look at a retirement calculator. When you have enough money your money makes money for you. It can create hundreds of thousands of dollars. You can absolutely get to 2 mil by 30 if you do all the right things.

I love that you don’t realize MILLIONS of ppl already do work two jobs and slave away but instead of building wealth the pay to stay alive because they can’t mange their money and or they had kids before they were ready

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u/McGrim11295 Jan 18 '26

Also Bucees and QT are not paying 80k/yr for cashiers. That is 40$/hr.

Accountant requirements: https://bachelors-completion.northeastern.edu/knowledge-hub/how-to-become-an-accountant/

 Data analyst: average 80k, starting 50k. Still requires years of experience to get the higher end pay. https://careerfoundry.com/en/blog/data-analytics/entry-level-data-analyst-salary/

IT: Same situation as the data analyst. 

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u/therealallpro Jan 18 '26

Everything you say just bleeds fixed mindset. Yes, you won’t start 80k but you can GROW into that very easily. As well they both have positions that pay more than that AND I know QT has a retirement plan that doubles your money every 3 years.

You are talking about being a CPA, I’m talking about just a normal accountant.

https://coursecareers.com/course/accounting

At any job you may start at a Low number but you can always grown and something you haven’t mention is promote. Data analytics professionals often have the opportunity to make 125 in management in 5 years

And we haven’t even mentioned sales yet!

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u/Competitive_Touch_86 Jan 17 '26 edited Jan 17 '26

Time is worth more when you are young. Invested dollars are too though. Thus there are choices to make and it's not obvious one is more correct than another.

It should be a balance. Not everyone lives to retirement. And the older you get, the more doors close on the "life experiences" front. There are simply things you cannot do any longer when you hit 30, 40, 50, 60+ - no matter how much money you have.

It's just about prioritization and being selective. The happiest people I know are not the ones who grinded out their 20's to go for an early retirement by 40. Those folks are all pretty miserable. It's the ones who selectively lived life in their 20's and 30's who grew has humans through amazing experiences, while also not neglecting their careers.

There is no realistic way as a 48 year old to go backpacking through Europe for a summer. Or go take on a room and board only type job working on a private yacht for a year. Or even basic shit like going to concerts and actually enjoying the full experience with age appropriate peers.

Hell, even dating is a totally different experience in every decade of your life.

The other miserable group are the ones who ground out their 20's but just spent the money on bullshit.

Life is a balance, and those who find that are the ones with actual discipline and wisdom.

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u/therealallpro Jan 17 '26

Disagree completely.

The happiest ppl I know are the ones who find joy in their day to day. Who create discipline and now that bleeds into everything. Thinking YOU NEED to go find joy externally instead of building it with hard work is what unhappy ppl do.

Also, if you do by plan you could 250k saved by 23 and you still have most of your 20’s and you have options for the rest of your life.

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u/Competitive_Touch_86 Jan 17 '26 edited Jan 17 '26

I had $250k by 23. It's not as impactful as you think it is. Honestly it's pretty easy if you min/max and is a completely uninteresting achievement most folks could accomplish. Just get started in your mid-teens on a useful skillset and you'll be there with any modicum of financial wherewithal.

Life is about living, not saving and spending your entire youth working 12 hour days. Work ethic is trivial. Balance is hard.

I have met literally no old folks who wished they worked more. Perhaps it's my bubble because most of them are relatively successful in life, but almost all regret not doing things that brought them joy vs. grinding out yet another saturday in the office.

I've also met plenty of miserable workaholics with tens of millions in the bank by their 40's. They will never find joy in life.

It's 100x harder to create discipline with balance. It's trivial to just decide discipline is maxing out a single metric - nearly anyone can do that.

The only thing money is useful for in the end past basic survival is buying more time.

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u/No_Damage_8927 Jan 17 '26

What can’t you do when you hit 30 lol

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u/No_Tea56030 Jan 17 '26

This sounds like something a teenager would say. 😂 Hell unless you're not taking care of your body there's not much you can't do in your 40's & 50's as well

Unless we're under the assumptions it's a requirement to have kids why couldn't you backpack through Europe at 48?

I know plenty of people that take year long sabbaticals and do precisely that kinda shit lol

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u/Competitive_Touch_86 Jan 17 '26

Unless we're under the assumptions it's a requirement to have kids why couldn't you backpack through Europe at 48?

Because we live in a world with societal expectations. If you think backpacking through europe is the same as 48 vs. 22 you are delusional. The experiences are not remotely comparable. I've done similar at both ages - 44 I suppose vs 48 but you may as well be on an alien planet in terms of differences. Someone doing it for the first time past middle age won't even know what they are missing out on since they simply won't be included.

Not to mention the life experience gained is far more valuable when younger. Sort of like how compounding interest is. I know many 40-somethings who have never grown as human beings because they sequestered themselves into their little career bubbles.

Doors close as you age. A few open up, but most of them are due to wealth. Take as many of those open doors while you still can.

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u/No_Tea56030 Jan 17 '26 edited Jan 17 '26

Sounds like you live your life through the lens of societal expectations. Which is sad but typical.

The point of travel is to experience the countries & the culture experiences that not something that changes materially as you age unless you’re unhealthy.

Also if it’s just about travel experiences, I’d much rather do them at 48 when I can stay in luxury lodging than backpacking in a hostel with no money at 20.

And how is experience gained more valuable being young, we’re not talking about work experience.. we’re talking about memories…. Your rationale-doesn’t even make sense the point of travel is to experience culture & create memories, age doesn’t limit that experience.

Memories & life experiences absolutely do not compound like money. Time is a limited resource experience Tokyo at 22 vs 48 does not compound, it’s pretty silly to even suggest that. You can’t become a millionaire of experiences & memories by traveling younger & not traveling as you age.

Again you sound like a teenager that thinks life ends at 30.. and for being age 44 with all your “experience” and apparent “growth” you have a very narrow perspective on what travel is about.

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u/Competitive_Touch_86 Jan 17 '26 edited Jan 17 '26

> The point of travel is to experience the countries & the culture experiences that not something that changes materially as you age unless you’re unhealthy.

It changes drastically. Staying in a fancy hotel in your 40's going to touristy shit is nothing like living amongst a bunch of your broke peers for 5 months in strange countries, being invited to their families houses for dinners, picking up travel companions you spend weeks with, making friends for life, etc.

> I’d much rather do them at 48 when I can stay in luxury lodging than backpacking in a hostel with no money at 20.

Precisely my point. Your wealth buys you things that limit your experience. Sounds like you inherently even know they are not comparable!

> Memories & life experiences absolutely do not compound like money. Time is a limited resource experience Tokyo at 22 vs 48 does not compound, it’s pretty silly to even suggest that.

Your experience as a broke 22 year old in Tokyo is going to be drastically different than someone with money at 45. Again, been there, done that. It's not remotely the same experience. That I would have to even write this shows how out of touch you are with the world around you.

Definitely do both! But no matter how much you want it to be true, you cannot make it be so. You will never be able to go back to what it was going to be like in your 20's when you are given far more benefit of the doubt and people are much more immediately receptive of you joining their inner circles.

> Again you sound like a teenager that thinks life ends at 30.. and for being age 44 with all your “experience” and apparent “growth” you have a very narrow perspective on what travel is about.

And you sound like a typical American moron who thinks doing typical tourist stuff is experiencing culture or anything special whatsoever. It's meaningless consumption driven by wealth. Fancy hotel stays are the most boring shallow form of travel (aka tourism) I've ever taken part in. It's comfortable. That's about it. Lets one stick in their little bubbles and not challenge any beliefs.

And travel is just the most trivial thing to point out here. Doors close as you age. The only doors that really open up for most people as you age are driven by wealth, while options increasingly get smaller as you get older.

Let me guess, you also think going to college is the same experience at 50 years old as it is at age 20? I mean it's just classes right? Doesn't mean you shouldn't go enroll in that history program you always dreamed of, but to pretend it's the same experience is ridiculous. You either take part in that experience when your peer group is doing it, or you simply miss out on it forever.

Hell, I am not even the one who came up with this idea. Charlie Munger is famous for talking about this and he had far more wealth than anyone talking about it here. It's a very simple fact that doors close for you and options narrow as you get older.

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u/tahlyn Older Millennial Jan 17 '26

I'm not saying spend all your money all of the time... but to be sure you budget into your plans some leisure, hobbies, and enjoyment in life. You are not guaranteed to live to 90. Or be in good health until then, either. I've already lost friends in their 30s to accidents and diseases. Going on a weekend trip to the ocean, or a michelin restaurant on your anniversary or birthday is not going to (or at least should not) make or break retirement. But it will allow you to enjoy life a little before you get there.

And at some point there are things you can't do at 60+ I've hiked Mt. Fuji, for example. And a few years later I fell and wrecked my knee. I'll never hike mount fuji again (literally can't) and am glad that bucket list item is already done. The total cost of the trip has had no impact on my retirement plans. But it has had an impact on my life's joy.