The Average 401(k) Balance of Americans at Every Age

By Free Republic | Created at 2024-09-22 19:10:13 | Updated at 2024-09-30 09:26:08 1 week ago

The Average 401(k) Balance of Americans at Every Age
Moneytalksnews ^ | 09/20/2024 | Chris Kissell

Posted on 09/22/2024 11:57:42 AM PDT by ChicagoConservative27

Saving for retirement is a huge challenge. Knowing where you stand in comparison to peers can help to gauge whether your efforts are on track, or whether tweaking your approach is in order.

Recently, Vanguard looked at 2023 account balances by age in its defined contribution plans. Vanguard then calculated both the average balance and the median balance for each age cohort.

The average balance can be skewed by those with higher levels of wealth. So, in some ways, the median balance — the number midway between the high and the low — can be a more accurate measure of where Americans are at in terms of retirement readiness.

(Excerpt) Read more at moneytalksnews.com ...

TOPICS: Business/Economy; Local News; Reference; Society
KEYWORDS: 401k; americans; average; balance

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A guy at work was telling me that The first time he was married, his wife made a ton of money and he maxed out each check into his 401k. This was during the '90s. Then he got divorced, met another person at work and got married and now they can't retire yet because they claim that health insurance is too much money. Otherwise they would. They're in their Early '60s.

To: ChicagoConservative27

2 posted on 09/22/2024 12:00:39 PM PDT by mass55th (“Courage is being scared to death, but saddling up anyway.” ― John Wayne)

To: ChicagoConservative27

Cut back on spending, max the 401k, put every other penny into a brokerage or high yield interest savings account, and if your mortgage in under five percent, make the minimum payment.

To: ChicagoConservative27

The median figures are shockingly low to me. I’m closing in Medicare, way too low of savings to think of retirement. But close to average so way above median.

To: mass55th

I never had one either, I started working for myself early, and retired early. I used a Simple IRA, but very little of my assets ended up in it, I wasn’t allowed to put enough in. IIRC, about 20% of Americans work for themselves, and are never included in these types of articles. Career self-employed people tend to have higher net worths than most employed people. There’s a big hole in all the articles that cover retirement situations.

5 posted on 09/22/2024 12:08:35 PM PDT by SaxxonWoods (.)

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