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 ...
LOL!! What’s a 401(k)?
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.
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.
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.
Less than 300k even at 65 as an average, even worse the median is less than 90k at 65, no way anyone is retiring on 300k and 90 is nothing more than a poor reserve savings.
Truth is if you do not have at least 1 million in your 401k at retirement you will not have a good retirement, you will have a future at McDonald’s or Walmart, which is why so many retirement age people work there now.
Happy to say i have more than 4X the average balance at my age group.
I have worked for the same company for almost 38 years. A year into the job, when i wasn’t even 24YO, one of the old timers came to me and said, “Did you sign up for the 401K yet?” I said, “nope.”
He replied, “I’m going to get the form and we’ll sign you up now.” He sat down and filled out the form with me. When it came to the % of contribution he said, “put 10% there”
I thought to myself, “10%??? When he’s not around i’ll change it to 2%”....I never did as much. I used the money 35 years ago to get out of credit card debt then used the money 7 years later to purchase a condo in foreclosure.
It was the greatest bit of financial advice i ever received.
Compound Interest is the 8th Wonder of the World.
I tell my kids: “Invest early, invest often!”
And now I’m going to talk about a dumb guy. He opened a 401(k) when he was 25. But he was overly cautious, and put most of his contributions into money market and short-term bond funds.
He didn’t consider that time will smooth out stock market fluctuations. This dumb guy finally fully diversified into stock funds, but he wasted 8 years before doing that.
That dumb guy is me.
You call living in a rundown trailer park and drinking cheap boxed wine not a good retirement? Try it. It's not that bad. And when it is . . no whining just more wineing.
| Age Bracket | Average 401(k) | Median 401(k) |
|---|---|---|
| <25 | 7 | 3 |
| 35-44 | 91 | 36 |
| 45-54 | 169 | 61 |
| 55-64 | 245 | 88 |
| >=65 | 273 | 88 |
LOL if that is your vision of a good retirement awesome!
I prefer to at least have a good meal and an actual house that will not fall down around me or situated in a neighborhood next to 3 local drug dealers and shootings ever weekend :p
Retired, DEBT FREE at age 56. It can be done! Followed Dave Ramsey and a few other money people, lived BELOW my means (I know - what a concept!) and used credit wisely. Paid for college as I took classes along the way.
Granted, my healthcare is through the VA as a Veteran, so that was a large part of the puzzle that allowed me to retire early. ;)
I have my future room reserved at the Vet’s Home in Chippewa Falls for when the time comes if I end up all alone in my end years. (Statistically, I will.)
“Truth is if you do not have at least 1 million in your 401k at retirement you will not have a good retirement, you will have a future at McDonald’s or Walmart, which is why so many retirement age people work there now.”
Not true. We only have $100k in a 401k and we have a very comfortable retirement.
Ya the median is what actually matters here as that is what most will have. But utterly frightening is the average is so low even at 273K, that mans TONs of people basically have next to nothing for retirement!
I am at least 8 times the 65 average and own my house and still feel unsure about my retirement sometimes, geesh!
It’s a way to make Joe Biden the business partner in your retirement. Invest wisely for Joe. Otherwise, or maybe just because he can, he’ll take it all.
I have nowhere near a million dollars in the 401 k, But retirement in a few years should be OK.
My finance guy has worked with me, and figured out retirement income from the 401K, retirement income from social security, And then other savings.
It all depends what your expenses are in retirement. I expect some ongoing expenses to go down. Some will increase. Inflation is the big unknown in future years.
Everyone’s financial situation is different.
Never had a 401, I wasn’t interested. Instead we bought a bit of property while in CA when it was half way reasonable. The folks I do know who did the 401 thing do a lot of bitching about government and the banks taking more and more of it.
It’s worked out well for us...We don’t blow money on stupid things like cruises, buying boats, new cars etc... We laugh because if we had tons of money we still wouldn’t be interested in traveling or whatever old people think they need to do...We made our compound so nice, except of local travel, leaving the compound it rarely crosses our mind or even interests us. In fact, even the thought of airports and traveling with the public nowadays makes us shudder at the thought...No joke..LOL!
A 401k? Hoarders, everyone of them! Other people need money, too. /s
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