For years, Americans have been told they'll need millions of dollars to retire comfortably. But before you panic over the flashy "magic number" estimates, new data from Fidelity (1) offers a more realistic perspective: How much have people your age actually managed to save?
The investment company ****** yzed more than 25 million workplace retirement accounts, revealing how 401(k) balances grow over the course of a career.
Everyone's retirement journey is unique, and the key is to remember these figures aren't pass-or-fail benchmarks.
Income, career changes, years in the workforce and retirement goals all shape how much someone saves. The Fidelity data offers some grounded yardsticks for seeing how your nest egg stacks up.
Fidelity's latest data shows that retirement balances build gradually, not overnight. Workers in their early 20s have an average of just $7,700 saved in a 401(k), while the average doesn't cross the $100,000 mark until their early 40s.