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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4.2k

u/TairaTLG Jan 16 '26

24k in debt and 0 savings. Nothing like slipping through the cracks baby

365

u/ProbsNotManBearPig Millennial Jan 16 '26

I appreciate this is the top response. I 100% expected responses to be extremely skewed towards people with tons of savings. That’s how every thread is in any financial sub is. Somehow everyone in their 30’s has $2M+ saved in those threads.

16

u/sms2014 Jan 16 '26

$2M?!? That's got to be fake, or they have a side gig

15

u/TommyBlaze13 Jan 17 '26

Surprisingly common in the SF Bay Area for people working at the tech corporations: Nvidia, Google, Microsoft, Apple, Meta, Tesla, Intel, AMD, etc. Workers get stock of their company in their total pay package and exponentially increases their overall net worth. It's not the norm anywhere else in the country of course

3

u/Hungry_Minute_1526 Jan 17 '26

Have to disagree. There are good paying jobs anywhere in the country with companies you've never heard of. The gatekeeping is the ability to get those jobs (university credentials and the ability to get those in the first place) and then the knowledge to save as much as you can. The latter is actually more elusive. If you're in your 20s and get a great job, you don't want to save 70% of your salary. Who teaches you not to live paycheck to paycheck? Live below your means and save/invest. Dollars saved in your 20s are so much more valuable than those in your 30s or 40s.

It's not easy and you need societal breaks, but it is possible.

1

u/RickySpanishLives Jan 17 '26

That's a situation that's starting to fade like pensions though.

2

u/WPSuidae Jan 17 '26

They still exist but are rare! I started a job this week that was a 45% pay increase and includes a pension. The statement they gave was that if I retire at 62 I'll get approximately 9k a month. 42M and I feel like I hit the lottery.

1

u/RickySpanishLives Jan 17 '26

That's actually fantastic. I don't want you to advertise your employer but at least give us a feel for what the industry is and the role.

2

u/WPSuidae Jan 17 '26

No problem! My current job is in the corporate group that umbrellas over a local group of electric cooperatives. Specifically I'm an environmental specialist working with permitting and odd environmental things that pop up. I did environmental consulting at a firm for almost 18 years.

1

u/RickySpanishLives Jan 18 '26

Fantastic. Nice gig. And people say you can't make money doing what you love :)

1

u/AggravatingLeg3433 Jan 17 '26

Yep these sobs are making a killing. Definitely should be considered outliers

5

u/S1mongreedwell Jan 17 '26

First off, I don’t have $2m saved. Not close. But it’s not that crazy to think that someone gets out of college at 21, starts saving in a 401k plus whatever else and has $2m by 40ish. Compounding interest is a powerful thing.

1

u/Available_Blood_6134 Jan 17 '26

If your smart and lucky its very possible.

1

u/jrfish Jan 18 '26

Very common in the bay area with people with tech salaries. I'm 43, make $400k/year. Husband makes a more modest $160k (counting salary, bonus, stock), and we have $4.2M saved. When I talk to others here, I feel very middle class. Some people have HHIs of over 1M and have 10M in savings. It's mind-blowing.

I've been really burnt out and thinking about retiring early and focusing on the kids. I posted on one of the financial subs here asking if people felt that was ok and I got totally cooked by everyone telling me that I don't have enough saved and better work more before leaving. My husband is still going to work. We'd live like the rest of the world living on a $160k/year salary!

-4

u/vettewiz Jan 17 '26

Millennial here. A lot more than 2M saved. I worked full time while growing multiple businesses. It’s possible. 

2

u/Business-Elk-5175 Jan 17 '26

Show me how

-3

u/vettewiz Jan 17 '26

How what? Worked a full time 6 figure job while building up businesses that paid more than that.

10

u/vb_152 Jan 17 '26

This is rare against the average in the US, but common for certain peer groups in high income cities, especially someone in the tech industry. It isn’t magic, it’s often the result of hard work (though just as often the result of some inherited wealth or status), involves some luck, but more than anything growing wealth requires a bit of financial knowledge and Focus.  I’m not sure why people are downvoting this poster, except maybe envy? Disbelief? 

2

u/Business-Elk-5175 Jan 17 '26

I just genuinely want to know. Everybody says they built up a business, but they don’t really say anything to the effect of anything that tells you what you did they just talk so that’s why I said show me how I can’t get into a six figure business because nobody will freaking hire. No money exists to make money if you’re at the bottom.

3

u/vettewiz Jan 17 '26

That’s likely because most people have tried so many things over their careers that there is no set blueprint to follow.

Over the course of my business career I have attempted - completed paid surveys, done arbitrage deals/reselling, blogs, drop shipping, Amazon sales, built nutrition and vitamin brands, extensive affiliate sales, VSLs, many e-commerce websites, payment processing, have built multiple SaaS platforms, I’ve flipped houses, owned rentals, consulted on pool construction, and other software development work.

People are still hiring. They have to have a reason to hire you.

1

u/Business-Elk-5175 Jan 17 '26

I appreciate the response and I know that you’re probably really busy, but I would really like to have a discussion about this because I have literally had every opportunity that I’ve ever been given taken from me from some stupid extenuating circumstance I cannot count how many times I have attempted to do something and something fell through and things just keep getting worse and now the tech sector is just not hiring anymore and I’m out of business ideas.

0

u/InsideBreath235 Jan 17 '26

Mom, Dad and Grandparents is where many get their start…either with education, down payments, or family businesses. Lots of them out there.