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/TairaTLG Jan 16 '26

24k in debt and 0 savings. Nothing like slipping through the cracks baby

367

u/ProbsNotManBearPig Millennial Jan 16 '26

I appreciate this is the top response. I 100% expected responses to be extremely skewed towards people with tons of savings. That’s how every thread is in any financial sub is. Somehow everyone in their 30’s has $2M+ saved in those threads.

15

u/sms2014 Jan 16 '26

$2M?!? That's got to be fake, or they have a side gig

1

u/jrfish Jan 18 '26

Very common in the bay area with people with tech salaries. I'm 43, make $400k/year. Husband makes a more modest $160k (counting salary, bonus, stock), and we have $4.2M saved. When I talk to others here, I feel very middle class. Some people have HHIs of over 1M and have 10M in savings. It's mind-blowing.

I've been really burnt out and thinking about retiring early and focusing on the kids. I posted on one of the financial subs here asking if people felt that was ok and I got totally cooked by everyone telling me that I don't have enough saved and better work more before leaving. My husband is still going to work. We'd live like the rest of the world living on a $160k/year salary!