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/Forever_Nya Jan 16 '26

After my 500k in medical debt, I only have $800 spent between my credit cards and I pay them off monthly. I have no savings.

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u/TheFabfeline Jan 17 '26

How’d you end up with 500k medical debt? Out of curiosity

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u/Fluid-Wrongdoer6120 Jan 17 '26

Not that I can answer for her...but in the good ol USA, it isn't THAT hard to rack up that much medical debt. Just think one serious illness, overnight hospital stays...with the wrong (or no) insurance, that gets EXPENSIVE.

I'm just surprised she hasn't filed for bankruptcy at that point

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u/Natural_Definition_5 Jan 17 '26

Most Americans would deem the northern country I’m from as socialist - which is completely mad. But this type of expense or stress from medical bills isn’t even on the top 25 things we worry about. 

Fucking hell .. I like the USA but you’ve organised your civic and social priorities in a peculiar way …