Average retirement savings by age (2024)

Katherine Tierney, CFA®
Senior Retirement Strategist, Client Needs Research

Key points

  • Deciding how much to save for retirement can be confusing.
  • Average savings benchmarks can show how you compare with others in your age bracket, but not how prepared you are to meet your individual needs. Determining that will require different tools and benchmarks.
  • Your financial security after retirement will be unique to you: It will depend on things you control, such as spending habits and savings and things you don’t, such as financial market volatility and tax rates.
  • To help you get started on an effective long-term strategy, we’ve calculated broad estimates of how much you should have saved during each decade of your career.

How much should I save for retirement?

The bottom-line goal of retirement planning is deceptively simple: accumulating enough money to live the life you want once your career is no longer occupying most of your time or generating a regular paycheck.

Achieving that goal requires asking questions that have no easy answers: How much money will you need? How can you measure your progress toward a target decades in the future?

A financial advisor can help you with those questions, then tailor a financial strategy to help you meet your individual goals.

Often, people trying to figure out how well they’re doing begin by comparing their own savings with those of others in the same age bracket. If you’re curious how you stack up, data collected by the Federal Reserve in its 2019 Survey of Consumer Finances, shown below, can tell you. What those numbers can’t do, though, is tell you how close you are to your goal.

Using them as a gauge is a little like comparing your SAT score with the average of your graduating class in high school to determine whether it’s high enough to get you into a particular university.

The one piece of data that’s crucial is the average SAT score of the freshmen the university admitted. Without that data point, you have no idea whether your score meets the institution’s standards.

Average retirement savings by age

Average retirement savings by age (1)

Source: Federal Reserve Survey of Consumer Finances, 1989-2019; https://www.federalreserve.gov/econres/scfindex.htm

Average retirement savings by age (2)

Source: Federal Reserve Survey of Consumer Finances, 1989-2019; https://www.federalreserve.gov/econres/scfindex.htm

The above chart shows that U.S. residents 35 and under have an average of $30,170 in retirement savings; those 35 to 44 have an average $131,950; those 45 to 54 have an average $254,720; those 55 to 64 have an average $408,420; those 65 to 74 have an average $426,070; and those over 70 have an average $357,920.

It’s the same with retirement: 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.

For example, what’s your average monthly spending today and do you expect to maintain it after retirement? Do you expect to relocate? If so, will you live in a region where the cost of living is higher or lower than where you are now? How do you plan to spend your time — traveling the world in style or volunteering in your neighborhood and working in your garden?

To help you begin evaluating your progress, we’ve developed generalized benchmarks, below, that are more useful, and more detailed, than average savings levels for someone retiring at age 65.

Retirement savings goalposts by age

Below you'll find generalized age- and salary-benchmarks for investment levels that might let you retire comfortably, using broad assumptions about factors including taxes and spending preferences. For example, if you are 29, making $100,000, you would want a savings of $15,000 - $90,000 to maintain your current lifestyle. (The higher and lower ends of the range reflect differing assumptions about market volatility during your career.)

Having a ballpark projection of how much money you need to retire comfortably can be helpful. However, relying on broad-based assumptions, they can’t address individual circumstances such as your income, spending needs and risk tolerance.

That’s where a qualified financial advisor comes in. After you evaluate your status with these tools, schedule a face-to-face meeting with a financial advisor to set a more precise goal.

Retirement savings benchmarks notes on methodology and assumptions:

To estimate how much money you need in retirement, we created a lower and upper boundary based on the following methodology and assumptions about lifestyle and savings habits:

  • In retirement, we assume you will maintain your current level of spending (adjusted for inflation). We calculate your current spending as current gross income minus savings and taxes.
  • All savings are for retirement. Savings are pretax, equivalent to 15% of gross income, and adjusted assuming an inflation rate of 3% per year.
  • We assume an effective tax rate of 25%, which is applied to gross income after deducting pretax savings.
  • We assume your retirement portfolio earns an annual return of 6% pre-retirement and 5% post-retirement.
  • Annual spending in retirement is adjusted assuming an inflation rate of 3% per year.
  • We assume retirement at age 65 and life expectancy of 90. Benchmarks are only provided through the assumed retirement age.
  • We assume that in retirement, you have two sources of income to cover your spending needs: Social Security and withdrawals from your retirement portfolio.
  • We assume the amount you receive from Social Security is the minimum between 35% of your gross income and $35,916 (which in 2022 is the maximum Social Security benefit if you retire at 65). We assume you pay taxes on 85% of that amount at the effective tax rate of 25%.
  • Withdrawals from the portfolio are taxed at the effective tax rate of 25%.
  • Values are rounded to the nearest$5,000.

Lower Boundary: Our analysis assumes the portfolio grows at a constant rate of return each year in retirement and is entirely depleted at death.

Upper Boundary: Our analysis incorporates expectations for market volatility and is calculated so that the probability of the portfolio lasting until death is 80-90%.

How Edward Jones can help

When saving for retirement, going it alone can be risky.

If you’re interested in learning more about how Edward Jones can help you create an effective plan to reach your retirement goals, contact an Edward Jones financial advisor for a discussion today.

Katherine Tierney

Katherine Tierney is a Senior Retirement Strategist on the Client Needs Research team at Edward Jones. The Client Needs Research team develops and communicates advice and guidance for client needs, including retirement, education, preparing for the unexpected and leaving a legacy. Katherine has more than 15 years of financial services and retirement experience. She is a contributor to the Edward Jones Perspectives newsletter and has been quoted in various publications.

Read Full Bio

Katherine Tierney is a Senior Retirement Strategist on the Client Needs Research team at Edward Jones. The Client Needs Research team develops and communicates advice and guidance for client needs, including retirement, education, preparing for the unexpected and leaving a legacy. Katherine has more than 15 years of financial services and retirement experience. She is a contributor to the Edward Jones Perspectives newsletter and has been quoted in various publications.

Read Full Bio

Average retirement savings by age (2024)

FAQs

What is the actual average retirement savings by age? ›

The above chart shows that U.S. residents 35 and under have an average of $30,170 in retirement savings; those 35 to 44 have an average $131,950; those 45 to 54 have an average $254,720; those 55 to 64 have an average $408,420; those 65 to 74 have an average $426,070; and those over 70 have an average $357,920.

What percentage of retirees have $2 million dollars? ›

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.

How many people have $1000000 in retirement savings? ›

However, not a huge percentage of retirees end up having that much money. In fact, statistically, around 10% of retirees have $1 million or more in savings.

How do I know I saved enough for retirement? ›

By age 40, you should have accumulated three times your current income for retirement. By retirement age, it should be 10-12 times your income at that time to be reasonably confident that you'll have enough funds. Seamless Transition: enough to replace 60%-100% of your pre-retirement annual income.

How many people have $3,000,000 in savings in usa? ›

1,821,745 Households in the United States Have Investment Portfolios Worth $3,000,000 or More.

What is the average Social Security check? ›

Social Security offers a monthly benefit check to many kinds of recipients. As of December 2023, the average check is $1,767.03, according to the Social Security Administration – but that amount can differ drastically depending on the type of recipient. In fact, retirees typically make more than the overall average.

What is considered wealthy in retirement? ›

Wealthy: To be considered well off, a person must be in the 90th percentile, possessing a household net worth of $1.9 million. This level of wealth affords trips, charity donations and college funds for children.

What net worth is considered rich? ›

While having a net worth of about $2.2 million is seen as the benchmark for being rich in America, it's essential to remember that wealth is a subjective concept. Healthy financial habits and personal perspectives on money are crucial in defining and achieving wealth.

What is considered retiring rich? ›

Even $800,000 in retirement savings doesn't necessarily mean you're wealthy — it just means you'll have enough to retire comfortably for 25 to 30 years. According to some surveys, you need at least $2 million in net worth to be considered wealthy.

Can I live off interest on a million dollars? ›

Once you have $1 million in assets, you can look seriously at living entirely off the returns of a portfolio. After all, the S&P 500 alone averages 10% returns per year. Setting aside taxes and down-year investment portfolio management, a $1 million index fund could provide $100,000 annually.

What does the average American retire with? ›

What is the average and median retirement savings? The average retirement savings for all families is $333,940 according to the 2022 Survey of Consumer Finances.

What is the net worth of the top 1 percent? ›

In the U.S., it may take you $5.81 million to be in the top 1%, but it takes a minimum net worth of $30 million to be considered among the ultra-high net worth crowd. As of the end of 2023, this ultra-high net worth population is on the rise, reaching 626,000 globally, up from just over 600,000 a year earlier.

Do most people retire with enough money? ›

But most people are far from reaching that objective, with the study finding that the average amount held in a retirement account today is just $88,400. That means that the typical worker has a $1.37 million gap between their actual savings and their retirement aspirations.

How long will $400,000 last in retirement? ›

Safe Withdrawal Rate

Using our portfolio of $400,000 and the 4% withdrawal rate, you could withdraw $16,000 annually from your retirement accounts and expect your money to last for at least 30 years. If, say, your Social Security checks are $2,000 monthly, you'd have a combined annual income in retirement of $40,000.

How long will $900 000 last in retirement? ›

Yes, it is possible to retire very comfortably on $900k. This allows for an annual withdrawal of around $36,000 from age 60 to 85, covering 25 years. If $36,000 per year or $3,000 per month meets your lifestyle needs, $900k should be plenty for retirement.

What is the average 401k balance at age 65? ›

Average and median 401(k) balances by age
Age rangeAverage balanceMedian balance
35-44$76,354$28,318
45-54$142,069$48,301
55-64$207,874$71,168
65+$232,710$70,620
2 more rows
Mar 13, 2024

How much does the average 65 year old have in retirement savings? ›

According to data from the Federal Reserve's most recent Survey of Consumer Finances, the average 65 to 74-year-old has a little over $426,000 saved.

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