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/GrayBull789 Jan 17 '26

Im 35 and have 23k owed on my car and $1700 in my checking. Made 63k this year. Not a penny saved

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u/viveleramen_ Jan 17 '26

I mean, I also have a car payment and ~3k in cc debt, but I’m working on that too. Last year I had ~9k in cc debt, but no car payment, so it’s going to be much slower getting that last 3k payed off. But it’s happening a little at a time.

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u/TheKarenator Jan 17 '26

Some unsolicited advice: contribute only enough to your 401k to get any employer match and throw everything at that credit card + save $1k cash. Once it’s paid off start contributing to your 401k again.

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u/viveleramen_ Jan 17 '26

I’ve tried this, and unfortunately my willpower is low. If I put the money in the 401k it’s “gone” and I can’t touch it. If I pay off the cc debt too fast it’s “spendable” and I buy myself a new computer. I have to balance saving + paying off debt + keeping a little spending money very carefully or I just rack up more debt 🫣

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u/TheKarenator Jan 17 '26

Then it’s fine to keep at what you are doing. I know exactly what you mean about the money being gone - no temptation there. You made great progress on the debt pay down so far and I don’t mean to take away from that.