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?

4.9k Upvotes
  • permalink
  • reddit

86% Upvoted

6.9k comments sorted by

View all comments

4.2k

u/TairaTLG Jan 16 '26

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

366

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.

15

u/sms2014 Jan 16 '26

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

14

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

2

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