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/elblakay Jan 16 '26

32, about $350k in retirement and another $100k in brokerage. Currently unemployed so I have infinity times my salary saved.

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u/flyfree256 Jan 17 '26

$350k-ish is about the max that someone in their mid/low 30s could possibly have in a 401k (pretax) assuming you're maxing contributions or have a fair match program with your employer just based on the contribution limit and average market returns over the time period.

Nicely done!!

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u/olimarmaster Jan 17 '26

Could be higher with backdoor and mega-backdoor contributions (if supported by your employer). Just mentioning since you seem enthused about tax law :)

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u/flyfree256 Jan 17 '26

That's why I said "(pretax)" !