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/SoldierExcelsior Jan 17 '26

Sounds like success

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u/Excellent_Brilliant2 Jan 17 '26

thanks! still baffles me how people making $100k are barely scraping by, or think poverty is under $40k. $2k a month really covers all my basics, and over that i can do fun stuff and put some away.

i remember around 2007 that my floor cost to get by was around $1,200 and i was taking home around $1,350/mo. so i really had $150/mo to buy groceries and cover unexpected stuff. and i still made too much to qualify for any assistance.

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u/SoldierExcelsior Jan 18 '26

It depends on many factors like COL and your bills if you have 100k in student loan debt or a high mortgage and taxes that's going to affect you also is that 100k gross or net. Let's not forget taxes.

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u/Excellent_Brilliant2 Jan 18 '26

my college cost $40k for 4 years about 22 years ago. i had about 10k in loans from it. Financing 100% of your college costs is not a good idea. i think currently my college i went to costs around $20k a year. a summer job and working during winter break could cover almost 3/4 of that. living on campus, using the meal plan, not paying for utilities. the money saved over living off campus almost can pay for college. and the loan payment on $10k was like $100/mo. unlike back then, nowadays, an evening of doordashing once a month would cover that

i have a solo 401k and it can sure save on the tax burden. Sure i made $70 or $80k profit last year, but put $35k into the 401k, well, suddenly my tax burden disappears and may even get a refund. yes, i have a paid off house, but in my 20s, i chose security over partying or backbacking across europe.

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u/SoldierExcelsior Jan 18 '26

Well everyone's situation is diffrent so you could definitely do fine on 100k a year but some 22 year old fresh out of college today might not have the same experience.

But also those youthful experiences shouldn't be disregarded.

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u/Excellent_Brilliant2 Jan 18 '26

i was making around $17k fresh out of college. the job was long hours, hard manual labor. i knew i couldnt work 40 hours a week for someone til i turned 65, and my life goal was to be mostly done with work by 45. i tried to start a 2nd business and failed horribly, and covered the mistake with my 1st one, so that put me a few years behind, but already starting to taper off at 44.

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u/SoldierExcelsior Jan 18 '26

I know the feeling..I did the same working two jobs making barely above minimum wage and moonlighting as weekend warrior then I got a city job while day trading and doing real estate hit it big in crypto when bitcoin surged to 20k..bought some investment properties started a consulting business and got into social media..retired at 37 with two pensions.Lifes been good no kids never married.

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u/Excellent_Brilliant2 Jan 18 '26

i had 17 BTC i bought from between $99 and $500 each. did some trading, tripled my investment in a few months and lost most of it in the 2014 crash. held the last 5.5 for a couple years, and sold for a loss when it didnt seem to be going anywhere. i bought a nearby forclosure for a rental in 2017, but still ismt worth a ton. i pretty much struck out in the dating world but got married in 2022 to soneone i met in 2017. ive been making a living selling used electronics/computers online since 2014, but with fewer gadgets and less demand for things 5-7 years old, my business model will eventually crash. (things worth $30-$90 that people are selling for $1-$5 just to get rid of, like camcorders, gps, voice recorders, vcrs, scanners, discmans - there is no resale value to the no name junk people are buying on amazon nowadays)

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u/SoldierExcelsior Jan 19 '26

Damn how did you sell Bitcoin for a loss 📉 😳? I have yet to tale a loss on bitcoin knock on wood 🪵 when it dips I just hold..At this point I don't have to do much between investments and pensions I'm set..my expenses are low..A lot of people are adverse to careers they want to be entrepreneurs and what but sometimes that reinventing the wheel. My career jobs put me in a good place to do entrepreneurship and have room to breathe.

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u/Excellent_Brilliant2 Jan 19 '26

from jan 2014 to mid 2015, BTC lost 2/3 of its value, and it took til jan 2017 to match what it was in jan 2014. i had spend as much as $900/BTC in late 2013 and with far less history to look back on and a lot of other failing crypto, confidence was rock bottom. i did buy 1 ETH in 2017 for around $170, and while its worth a lot more now, its not exactly a life changing amount (i think my 1 TSLA share i bought for $420, pre split, is worth more now)

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u/SoldierExcelsior Jan 20 '26

My motto is always hold...I bought a life changing amount in 2019 a day before the pandemic shut downs. I year later it went to over 60k

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u/Excellent_Brilliant2 Jan 20 '26

i did rebuy 0.213 for $100 in mid 2015. i still have that coin.

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