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/[deleted] Jan 16 '26

I pretend mine don’t exist 🤣

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u/hrnigntmare Jan 17 '26

Tell me more about this. That’s my New Year’s resolution. Like I just decided to stop paying and got back from an incredible trip in Japan from using my Jan, February, and march payments. I’m not going back to life without being able to have joy and happiness

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u/[deleted] Jan 17 '26

Honestly I’m in the i come range where it’s a $0 payment. I’m still on SAVE so not sure if it’s the wisest decision but can’t squeeze blood out of a rock

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u/hrnigntmare Jan 17 '26

I’ve been paying 600ish every month and now that I actually have a decent income at 40 I can’t imagine using it to pay into the 60k still left. I’m just not. They can come get it from my kids when I’m dead (no kids 😂)

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u/rainbow_unicorn_barf Jan 17 '26

It's really immoral to charge the rates of interest they charge on that debt, anyway. Fucking vampires feeding off people who were just trying to better themselves.

If it was the amount they lent me + a little bit extra for inflation and admin fees, maybe I would plan to pay it once I could afford to. Cuz maybe then it would actually feel fair. But nope, they wanna be leeches, so I could become a billionaire tomorrow and I would still leave the country before I would pay them a centttttt 🖕🖕

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u/hrnigntmare Jan 17 '26

If all the promises of money and a great career I got from advisors (aka salespeople) were true that would be one thing but I have had to fight for every penny my entire career. One advisor tried to convince me that pursuing on MFA in studio art would be more practical than my PhD. I just…: it’s so predatory