How much do people my age have saved for retirement?
See what share of U.S. families your age have a retirement account, their median and average balance, and a pay-multiple rule of thumb, in 2026 dollars.
Show medians in
The 2022 balances raised 14.5% for inflation: CPI-U in August 2026 ÷ its 2022 average (Bureau of Labor Statistics).
YOUR RETIREMENT SAVINGS · AGE UNDER 35ABOVE THE AVERAGE SAVER
19.4× median saver
At $420,000, your retirement accounts are 19.4 times the $21,600 median for U.S. families under 35 that have a retirement account and above their $56,200 average. 49.6% of families under 35 have one. These are Federal Reserve survey figures from 2022, raised to 2026 dollars with the CPI-U, not a target.
Median, with an account
$21,600
Average, with an account
$56,200
Have an account
49.6%
Savings ÷ your pay
2.90×
Your retirement savings against families your age
You, against U.S. families under 35 with an account$420k
Median $22k
Average $56k
$420,000 is above both the $21,600 median and the $56,200 average balance for U.S. families under 35 that have a retirement account; fewer than half of them reach the average. Half of the families that have an account have less than the median and half have more; the average is pulled up by a small number of very large balances. The median and average are the 2022 survey figures raised to 2026 dollars.
Retirement savings by age, in 2026 dollars
| Age group | Have an account | Median saver | Average saver | You ÷ median saver |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Under 35 (you) | 49.6% | $21,600 | $56,200 | 19.4× |
| 35–44 | 61.5% | $51,500 | $162,000 | 8.16× |
| 45–54 | 62.2% | $131,600 | $358,500 | 3.19× |
| 55–64 | 57.0% | $211,800 | $615,300 | 1.98× |
| 65–74 | 51.0% | $228,900 | $697,300 | 1.83× |
| 75 or more | 42.0% | $148,800 | $529,300 | 2.82× |
| All ages | 54.4% | $99,600 | $382,200 | — |
Among savers (families that have a retirement account), the median balance runs from $21,600 for families under 35 to a peak of $228,900 at 65–74, then falls to $148,800 at 75 or more. These are the survey’s 2022 medians ($18,880 to $200,000) raised to 2026 dollars. The share of families with any account runs from 42.0% at 75 or more to 62.2% at 45–54. Medians and averages cover only savers. Your group is marked, and the last column divides your balance by each group’s median.
Your savings as a multiple of your pay, against a rule of thumb
You at 34, times your yearly pay (marks are age:multiple)2.9
30:1×
40:3×
50:6×
60:8×
67:10×
At 34 you have 2.90 times your yearly pay saved for retirement. You have passed the 1× checkpoint for age 30 and are short of the 3× checkpoint for age 40 ($435,000 at your pay). The checkpoints are Fidelity’s guideline, not Federal Reserve data, and assume saving 15% of pay a year from age 25 and retiring at 67.
What moves the needle
Each row re-runs the calculation with one change. Click to apply.How it's computed
FORMULA
your ÷ median = retirement accounts ÷ median balance of families your age that have an account
median in 2026 dollars = 2022 median × CPI-U (August 2026) ÷ CPI-U (2022 average)
multiple of pay = retirement accounts ÷ yearly pay
- The comparison group is U.S. families under 35 in the Federal Reserve’s 2022 Survey of Consumer Finances that have a retirement account (individual retirement accounts, Keogh accounts, and employer plans such as 401(k)s, 403(b)s and thrift savings accounts), raised to 2026 dollars (see the data and prices note below). A couple’s accounts are added together. Social Security and traditional pensions are not counted.
- A saver is a family with a retirement account: the median and average are among savers (49.6% of families under 35). The Federal Reserve publishes no percentiles by age, and no median that includes families with no account, so this page places you against the median and average of savers.
- Data and prices: the balances come from the Federal Reserve’s interactive chart, which is built on the survey’s public data (the Bulletin’s own tables use the internal version, so a figure can differ by a percent or two). Each is the survey’s 2022 figure × 1.1446 (CPI-U 334.980 in August 2026 ÷ 292.655 for 2022, Bureau of Labor Statistics), rounded to the nearest $100. The Federal Reserve calls the survey’s dollars “2022 dollars” although about a quarter of the interviews were held in January to April 2023; this page follows that label. The restatement keeps purchasing power on that basis; it does not estimate what families hold today. The results of the Federal Reserve’s next survey, for 2025, are due in late 2026.
- The rule of thumb is Fidelity’s: 1× your pay by 30, 3× by 40, 6× by 50, 8× by 60 and 10× by 67. It assumes saving 15% of pay a year from age 25 (employer match included), more than 50% of savings in stocks, retiring at 67, and savings that provide about 45% of pre-retirement pay. It is not Federal Reserve data, and this page does not fill in ages between checkpoints.
- The “save more” moves add what the extra saving grows to at 7% a year with 3% inflation (a 3.9% real return): about $73,000 for $500 a month over 10 years, in today’s dollars. They then compare that balance with today’s figures for your current age group; families keep saving too, so read them as scale, not a forecast.
- The figures describe what U.S. families had. They are not a target.
WORKED EXAMPLE · SAMPLE NUMBERS
Retirement accounts $420,000. The survey’s 2022 median for families under 35 with an account is $18,880; × 1.1446 (CPI-U August 2026 ÷ its 2022 average) = $21,600 in 2026 dollars (rounded to the nearest $100), so $420,000 ÷ $21,600 = 19.4. $420,000 ÷ yearly pay $145,000 = 2.90 times your pay, against Fidelity’s 1× your pay by 30, 3× by 40, 6× by 50, 8× by 60 and 10× by 67.
SOURCES
[1]Chart: Survey of Consumer Finances, 1989–2022 (retirement accounts by age of reference person)Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System[2]Changes in U.S. Family Finances from 2019 to 2022: Evidence from the Survey of Consumer Finances (Appendix B: Survey Procedures and Statistical Measures)Aladangady et al., Federal Reserve Bulletin, October 2023[3]How much do I need to retire?Fidelity Viewpoints (the 1×, 3×, 6×, 8× and 10× guideline; page read September 28, 2026)[4]Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), U.S. city average, all items, not seasonally adjusted (series CUUR0000SA0)U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics[5]Federal Reserve Board begins 2025 Survey of Consumer FinancesBoard of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, press release of February 28, 2025 (results due late 2026)HSBuilt by Hussain Sehorewala · checked against worked examples · Sep 29, 2026
Keep this number honest as your life changes.
Put it on your Money Map and it re-runs as you change the seven numbers. It stays in this browser, and the calculator stays free.
Questions about this result
In the Federal Reserve’s 2022 Survey of Consumer Finances, the median retirement balance among families that had a retirement account was $18,880 for families under 35, $45,000 at 35–44, $115,000 at 45–54, $185,000 at 55–64, $200,000 at 65–74 and $130,000 at 75 or more, and the average was $49,130 for families under 35, $141,520 at 35–44, $313,220 at 45–54, $537,560 at 55–64, $609,230 at 65–74 and $462,410 at 75 or more, in 2022 dollars. In 2026 dollars, raised with the CPI-U, the medians are about $21,600 for families under 35, $51,500 at 35–44, $131,600 at 45–54, $211,800 at 55–64, $228,900 at 65–74 and $148,800 at 75 or more. The average runs 2.6 to 3.6 times the median in every group because a few very large balances pull it up, so the median is the fairer comparison.
One rule of thumb, from Fidelity, is to save at least 1× your yearly pay by 30, 3× by 40, 6× by 50, 8× by 60 and 10× by 67. It is an industry guideline, not Federal Reserve data. It assumes you save 15% of pay a year from age 25 (employer match included), keep more than half of your savings in stocks on average, retire at 67, and want your savings to provide about 45% of your pre-retirement pay, with Social Security assumed to help cover the rest. Your own target depends on when you retire and how you want to live, so treat the checkpoints as a reference, not a pass mark.
The Federal Reserve publishes, for each age group, the share of families with a retirement account and the median and average balance among those that have one, but not percentiles by age. So this page cannot say whether you are in the top 10%, and it does not guess. It can say whether you are above or below the median among families with an account, and whether you are above their average, which a few very large balances pull up. Half of the families with an account have less than the median.
The survey counts individual retirement accounts, Keogh accounts, and employer plans such as 401(k)s, 403(b)s and thrift savings accounts from current or past jobs, when the family can withdraw the balance. Social Security and traditional pensions that pay a monthly benefit are not counted, and neither are home equity, brokerage accounts or cash. The unit is the family, so a couple’s accounts are added together.
Use the total of all your retirement accounts, and your partner’s if you have one, because the survey counts a family’s accounts together. The survey files a family under the age of its reference person: the man in a mixed-sex couple, or the older partner in a same-sex couple. If you are single, use your own age.
It is the 2022 survey, published by the Federal Reserve in October 2023, in 2022 dollars. The balances come from the Federal Reserve’s interactive chart, which is built on the survey’s public data, so a figure can differ by a percent or two from the Bulletin’s own tables. This page raises the balances by the CPI-U, which averaged 292.655 in 2022 and was 334.980 in August 2026 (Bureau of Labor Statistics), 14.5% higher, and rounds them to the nearest $100. That keeps their purchasing power; it does not estimate what families hold today, because markets and home prices do not move in step with consumer prices. The Federal Reserve says the results of its 2025 survey will be published in late 2026; these figures will be replaced when they are. The Fidelity checkpoints are a separate industry guideline, not survey data.