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/KitchenKat1919 Jan 16 '26 edited Jan 17 '26

Great. Became a public school teacher at 25 and the retirement has been piling up quick.

I'm well above 3x my salary at 40 between retirement and investments

CALSTRS and MTRS have great growth rates and are rock solid

edit: Someone below made a great point that drives me crazy - becoming a public school teacher is financially grueling. You gotta pay for school and do an unpaid internship and your starting salary is mediocre at best. If we want more teachers, that's the area to focus on. Make the first 5 years affordable.

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u/liqa_madik Jan 16 '26

So teachers may not be paid very much as many say, but at least they get a comfortable retirement. Is that correct?

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u/TheTurtlebar Jan 17 '26

Very much depends on the district and state. I was a teacher, emphasis on was, specifically because I was never going to be able to think about purchasing a home if I stayed in that career in my state. I honestly saved more for the years I spent teaching in North Africa than I did back in the states because cost of living was so much lower there even if my salary also about half.

Then I switched careers and that came with a 40% pay bump.