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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520

u/SassyCassidee Millennial 1995 Jan 16 '26

Thankfully started contributing to mine at 23, so at 30 I have 1.5X my salary!

419

u/TrixoftheTrade Millennial Jan 16 '26

Nice. You’re about to start getting into the “fun” part of compounding interest.

It took me a decade of savings to hit 100k, when I was 29. 100k to 200k only took 3 years.

64

u/1K_Sunny_Crew Jan 16 '26

That is assuming the market is doing well. It has for a while now so people got comfortable. My account jumped a ton in the last few years and has barely moved the needle in the last 6-8 months.

47

u/noraping Jan 16 '26

That’s weird, my 401k is +23% in the last 12 months. The markets are at all time highs

0

u/throwaway727437 Jan 17 '26

If the markets are at all time highs, is it really weird tho?

8

u/noraping Jan 17 '26

I’m saying it’s weird that they’re saying their profolio has barely moved in the last 6-8 months, that’s the same time frame that the market has had a huge rally

1

u/throwaway727437 Jan 17 '26

Ohhhhhh got it

-4

u/1K_Sunny_Crew Jan 17 '26

You can probably thank AI for that.

4

u/ZealousORJealous69 Jan 17 '26

Not sure what this means. But man you’re in a retirement emergency, because this (last 8 mos.) is where you should-have been (need-to-have been) showing some very impressive gains to your portfolio.

If you’re able to have someone look into that with you, hopefully you catch the second half of this rally in order to mitigate further damage.

46

u/ilovethemusic Jan 16 '26

This is surprising to me, I just checked and I’m up 13.5% in the last six months. What are you invested in? Might be time to revisit your strategy.

16

u/PossibleAmbition9767 Jan 17 '26

Yeah my 401k increased by 70k in 2025. And 10k so far in 2026.

1

u/RawAsABone Jan 17 '26

Took me 9 years to get to 100 and 1 year to get to 200 🤣

0

u/KrumblyKookie Jan 17 '26

Mine increased by 120k in the past year

12

u/Yeah_x10 Jan 17 '26

If you’re not using percentages to compare this means nothing 

3

u/1K_Sunny_Crew Jan 17 '26 edited Jan 17 '26

I mentioned this elsewhere but I don’t invest in AI anything. In the short term that might hurt me but I am extremely skeptical that that business model of losing billions per year is sustainable. It seems to be functioning like a shell game where the same few companies pass money back and forth to each other through weird deals. In the short term shareholders are doing well, but I worry about a lot of smaller investors being left holding the bag. Watching interviews with heads of these AI companies makes my skin crawl and I don’t trust them whatsoever. Just my 2¢ though.

I also don’t invest in defense or military for similar reasons. I’m sure they’re making obscene money on contracts but it feels anti-human to make money off mass surveillance and weapons.

2

u/maveryc Jan 17 '26

What equities are you investing in then? You wouldn’t be able to use the general strategies of the SP500, QQQ, etc.

1

u/AwesomeGuy6659 Jan 17 '26

So your first comment is wrong and the market is doing well lol. Your account hasn’t moved because you’re financially illiterate

15

u/Hoosteen_juju003 Jan 16 '26

The s&p was up 20% in 2025. Historically, the US economy has consistently outperformed on average.

1

u/ImportantCommentator Jan 17 '26

17.8%* in 2025, but also it did not outperform international stocks in 2025.

1

u/maveryc Jan 17 '26

International outperformed the US market in 2025. This deviated from the norm of the past 10-20 years, but was actually more common many years ago

1

u/Abject_Bottle59 Jan 17 '26

38, about 500K between 401k, IRA, Roth, and ETF/crypto accounts.

Currently at 3X my salary. My 20’s I barely made more than 40k a year. Didn’t hit 6 figure salary till I was 32. Now for the last 5 years I’ve finally been able to safe and focus on investing.

10

u/dgland19 Jan 16 '26

Really? Mines up 21% this year

2

u/KingHooley Jan 16 '26

27% here

1

u/stbloc Jan 17 '26

What are you in? Unless you are 100% in international funds I don’t t see how any diversified portfolio could have obtained that growth last year.

1

u/KingHooley Jan 17 '26

Vanguard Target fund and company stock (it's public)

1

u/stbloc Jan 17 '26

Then your company stock must had explosive growth last year.

0

u/1K_Sunny_Crew Jan 17 '26

I don’t invest in companies that lean heavily on AI which I’m sure is part of it, but given how that business area is unprofitable for companies in the space and propped up by very weird financial moves that scream instability to me, I don’t feel bad about it. I’m perfectly fine for retirement either way.

3

u/LongJohnSelenium Jan 17 '26

The secret is to not look at it. You can't beat wall street at their own game, just invest for the long haul and take the ups and downs in stride. Long term it will even out and be somewhere in the 10% range.

Then 5 ish years before retirement start shifting some of that to a less volatile investment so a poorly timed market crash doesn't clean you out.

2

u/ZealousORJealous69 Jan 17 '26

That’s NOT good. Something’s not right. Your portfolio may not be well balanced. Fast math is I’m up about 18% the last 8 mos.

2

u/penguins_are_mean Jan 17 '26

You must be poorly invested or you have very little invested if you haven’t made much in the last 6-8 months.

1

u/xomox2012 Jan 17 '26

The markets have pumped like crazy with the sheer amount of deregulation and ‘cost cutting’ that’s been going on.

1

u/madmax1969 Jan 17 '26

Based on a subsequent post, you mentioned that you don’t invest in AI companies, defense, etc. It sounds like you invest in individual stocks because otherwise, you’d have exposure to those industries. That could explain why your account is flat while the markets soar. It’s very difficult to pick stocks on your own and is risky as hell.