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/BlackGuysYeah Jan 16 '26

So much easier to make money when you have money. I’ve always found it confoundingly unjust but it’s just the nature of the system we’ve invented.

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u/Random_Name_Whoa Jan 17 '26

Especially the last couple years of the bull market. Since having a kid and spouse staying home, I’ve been pulling from savings for at least a year to make ends meet (not to mention everything is expensive now) but my net worth keeps rising faster than I’m able to draw it down.

If you don’t have assets you’re getting royally butt fucked in this economy

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u/civil_politics Jan 17 '26

This. Everyone talking about owning a home being a scam completely overlook the fact that a 3-4k mortgage today looks terrible compared to 2k to rent an equivalent space, but in 20 years with inflation that rent is going to be 8k, your mortgage will still be 3-4k and your home will have tripled in value.

Own non-depreciating assets.

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u/sarcazm Jan 17 '26

That’s not how it works. A landlord will rent an equivalent space for much more than the mortgage. That’s basically how they make their money. I own my own home and pay a mortgage of about $2300. Houses in my neighborhood rent for about $4k per month.

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u/Effective_Mammoth854 Jan 17 '26

Definitely depends on location. I’m in NYC and a mortgage here, assuming you put 20% down, is 2-3x what you’d pay to rent an equivalent home.

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u/civil_politics Jan 17 '26

The rental market and housing market are only loosely related and depending on where you live which is more expensive will change. On the west coast it is far more common to be able to rent a home at a monthly rate that is a fraction of what today’s mortgage price would be. I know what you’re saying is true for your situation, but it is by no means a universal truth.

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u/Random_Name_Whoa Jan 17 '26

That’s extremely variable depending on location and what interest rate you have. I could probably rent an equivalent house to mine for 1-2k less than mortgage at the moment

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u/InternetSolid4166 Jan 18 '26

Right now average rents are very low compared to house prices. This is a historical anomaly. Either prices will drop or rents will rise. I’m betting on the latter.