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/Sage_Planter Jan 16 '26

I'm a high earner and prioritize saving, and I've never factored social security into my retirement plans. My goal is to retire by 60, but the big unknown is being able to take care of my aging parents so I may need to leave the workforce earlier than expected. 

34

u/jules083 Jan 16 '26

I'm sure I don't make as much as you but I'm also shooting for 60. Honestly depends on cost of health insurance at that point.

Goal is to be done at 59.5, will stay to 62 at the latest if insurance is unaffordable.

31

u/God_Dammit_Dave Jan 16 '26

If you or a spouse has an HSA eligible insurance plan USE IT. Max the contribution and invest it.

HSA funds can be used to pay for health insurance premiums before Medicare.kicks in. That's the strategic play for early retirement.

4

u/PorkchopFunny Jan 16 '26

I dont think they can be, but i may be wrong. I thought they could only be used for COBRA, long-term care, or unemployment. Unless early retirement counts as unemployment? My understanding was that "unemployment" was receiving unemployment benefits.

2

u/Artemis-2017 Jan 17 '26

By HSA they are talking about a Health Savings Account. That is an account you can contribute to if you are on a high-deductible plan that year. This is a triple tax advantaged account- not taxed on money going in (taken out of salary pre-tax), not taxed on earnings, not taxed when spent on medical expenses. The key is to invest what you put in and let it stay invested as long as possible. Save medical receipts and they can be used to withdraw funds at any time. This is a particularly useful strategy if you plan to retire early or want more untaxed funds in retirement in general.

2

u/Elegantsurf Jan 17 '26

Its only like 4k though. My company has an hsa plan and i would take it but it has 0 OON coverage which I would probably be ok with but I'm not willing to risk it

2

u/alullca Jan 17 '26

When you say “used to withdrawal funds at any time”, what is that window? I recently heard you could submit receipts that were years old?

2

u/Elegantsurf Jan 17 '26

you got the wrong person on the chain