Here’s how much the average American has in retirement savings by age (2024)
(NEXSTAR) – While many Americans want to retire comfortably, it’s a goal that may seem out of reach for some struggling to save due to the rising costs of housing and everyday expenses.
According to a recent AARP survey, about 1 in 4 U.S. adults aged 50 and older say they never expect to retire and 70% are concerned about prices increasing faster than their income.
For those who plan to stop working, determining the right amount of money to set aside can be tricky as several factors come into play, like your spending habits, lifestyle, and location.
A GoBankingRates study, for example, found that you’d need over $1.1 million to fund a 25-year retirement in Miami, Florida, compared to nearly $570,000 in McAllen, Texas – based on the annual cost of groceries, housing, utilities, transportation, and healthcare costs.
One way to benchmark your savings is to see how you compare with others in your age range, though, as Edwards Jones points out, it won’t “tell you how close you are to your goal.”
“The relevant data point isn’t what others your age have saved but how much money you need yourself. The answer depends almost entirely on you, your habits now and your plans for later,” the financial services firm noted on its website.
Below are the median amounts for individuals, categorized by age:
Age Range
Median Retirement Savings
Under 35
$18,880
35-44
$45,000
45-54
$115,000
55-64
$185,000
65-74
$200,000
75 or older
$130,000
The average retirement savings account balance for all families is higher, at $333,940, since the wealthiest households tend to drive the average up. This also applies to individual account balances, as illustrated in the following table.
It says by age 30, you should aim to have the equivalent of one year’s salary saved. So, if your annual salary is $60,000, your 401(k) balance should ideally be $60,000.
Here’s the full guideline from Fidelity:
By age30:Save 1x your income
By age35: Save 2x your income
By age 40:Save 3x your income
By age 45: Save 4x your income
By age 50:Save 6x your income
By age 55: Save 7x your income
By age 60:Save 8x your income
By age 67: Save 10x your income
However, it’s important to remember that while this can be a useful tool, it’s not a mandate.
“These milestones are aspirational. You likely won’t meet all of them,” Fidelity explained on its website. “But they can serve as goalposts to help you make a plan to save enough to maintain your lifestyle in retirement.”
The Associated Press and Nexstar’s Addy Bink contributed to this story.
For people aged 35 and under, the median savings were $18,880, while this amount increased to $200,000 for those aged 65 to 74. At current rates, this means that older generations are living on a mere $10,000 per year in retirement based on these savings alone.
For people aged 35 and under, the median savings were $18,880, while this amount increased to $200,000 for those aged 65 to 74. At current rates, this means that older generations are living on a mere $10,000 per year in retirement based on these savings alone.
According to the Federal Reserve's latest Survey of Consumer Finances, only about 10% of American retirees have managed to save $1 million or more. This leaves a significant 90% who fall short of this milestone. Don't Miss: The average American couple has saved this much money for retirement — How do you compare?
While retiring on $400,000 is possible, you may need to adjust your lifestyle expectations if this is your final retirement amount. If you want to retire early, $400,000 might be a difficult number to make stretch.
The average American has $65,100 in savings — excluding retirement assets — according to Northwestern Mutual's 2023 Planning & Progress Study. That's a 5% increase over the $62,000 reported in 2022.
According to EBRI estimates based on the latest Federal Reserve Survey of Consumer Finances, 3.2% of retirees have over $1 million in their retirement accounts, while just 0.1% have $5 million or more.
Specifically, those with over $1 million in retirement accounts are in the top 3% of retirees. The Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI) estimates that 3.2% of retirees have over $1 million, and a mere 0.1% have $5 million or more, based on data from the Federal Reserve Survey of Consumer Finances.
Your net worth is what you own minus what you owe. It's the total value of all your assets—including your house, cars, investments and cash—minus your liabilities (things like credit card debt, student loans, and what you still owe on your mortgage).
WASHINGTON—A new AARP survey finds that 20% of adults ages 50+ have no retirement savings, and more than half (61%) are worried they will not have enough money to support them in retirement.
Most Americans retire with nowhere near $1 million in savings. The notion that we need that much money to fund a secure retirement arises from opinion polls, personal finance columns and two or three rules of thumb that suffuse the financial planning business.
In the United States, the concept of being rich is often a subject of discussion, curiosity and, sometimes, aspiration. Charles Schwab's 2023 Modern Wealth Survey provides insights into this topic, revealing that the average American equates being wealthy with a net worth of approximately $2.2 million.
Net worth is the difference between the values of your assets and liabilities. The average American net worth is $1,063,700, as of 2022. Net worth averages increase with age from $183,500 for those 35 and under to $1,794,600 for those 65 to 74. Net worth, however, tends to drop for those 75 and older.
£300k in a pension isn't a huge amount to retire on at the fairly young age of 60, but it's possible for certain lifestyles depending on how your pension fund performs while you're retired and how much you need to live on.
With $300,000 planned for your use as a retiree, a retirement age of 50, and an anticipated life expectancy of 85 years, you need that money to last you 35 years. This should mean that your yearly income is around $8,571, and your monthly payment is around $714.
How much does the average 70-year-old have in savings? Just shy of $500,000, according to the Federal Reserve. The better question, however, may be whether that's enough for a 70-year-old to live on in retirement so that you can align your budget accordingly.
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