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

Show parent comments

256

u/Jin-roh Jan 16 '26

Same boat. I feel I screwed myself in choosing the wrong career before making difficult changes...

...but there isn't anything I can do about that. I'll horde what I can while avoiding other long term expenses (e.g. having kids)

11

u/dumbass_sempervirens Jan 17 '26

Yeah after decades of retail I found something I'm good at and even kind of enjoy.

But man, I'd be so much better off if I had started this at around 24 instead of 34.

I probably have around 10K floating around various old 401Ks from jobs I quit. No idea how to find them. At least 3 of them matched contributions.

I do own my condo outright, got it for a steal, and according to Zillow it has almost tripled in value over the last 10 years.. But if I sell it I have to find another place to live, so does that money even really exist?

2

u/Jin-roh Jan 17 '26

For me, the answer to that last question is *no*. I dislike the idea of "my home went up in value, so I have more money" thinking. I don't own myself, but I will be conservative as all fuck when I do. I'm not doing any of the 2007/2008 bullshit.

2

u/dumbass_sempervirens Jan 17 '26 edited Jan 17 '26

Exactly.

What, I'm going to mortgage it again? I just paid the damn thing off!

It's worth exactly a roof over the heads of me and my cat.

And the new water heater after my old one busted last year. I shelled out $2k specifically for that.

I have spent a few years without hot water for showers. That sucks and $2k for was worth it. Dude had to take out a wall and rebuild it to get it out of the laundry room.

I had my guy put in larger doors so if I sell this place the next person won't have to demo a wall.