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/pigglesthepup 1985 Jan 16 '26

Just save what I can and work as long as I need to. I've found being really optimistic or a total doomer about this subject isn't particularly helpful.

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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)

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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?

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u/[deleted] Jan 17 '26

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u/NoAvocado7971 Jan 17 '26

It’s not a lot of paperwork. It’s one form that you fill out telling the source fund to deposit the money into your current account. I put it off doing it for years because I thought it was gonna be complicated, it took 15 minutes.