How much Americans have saved for retirement at each age — average vs median balances, plus common savings targets. ✓ Vanguard / Fed data
Median is far below average because large accounts skew the mean.
| Age | Average balance | Median balance |
|---|---|---|
| Under 25 | $7,350 | $2,240 |
| 25–34 | $37,560 | $14,930 |
| 35–44 | $91,280 | $35,540 |
| 45–54 | $168,650 | $60,760 |
| 55–64 | $244,750 | $87,570 |
| 65+ | $272,590 | $88,490 |
A widely used rule of thumb from Fidelity suggests having about 1× your salary saved by 30, 3× by 40, 6× by 50, 8× by 60 and 10× by age 67. Actual US averages fall short of these targets for most age groups, so treat them as goals rather than typical balances. As with net worth, the median is well below the average because a minority of large accounts pull the mean up — the median is the more realistic gauge of a typical saver.
Wherever you are on the chart, the levers are the same: contribute enough to capture your full employer 401(k) match, raise your savings rate over time, and let compounding work. See how your balance could grow with our retirement calculator, 401(k) calculator and compound interest calculator.
These balances are editorial estimates drawn from public Vanguard and Federal Reserve data and cover US workplace and retirement accounts. They exclude pensions and Social Security, which also fund retirement. Savings norms differ in the UK, Canada and Australia, where workplace pension systems work differently.
Retirement balance tables invite a straight comparison, but the number that matters is not the balance — it is the balance relative to the income it has to replace. A $300,000 balance supports a very different retirement for someone spending $40,000 a year than for someone spending $90,000.
The usual bridge between the two is the withdrawal rate. At the commonly cited 4%, a portfolio supports roughly 4% of its value each year with inflation adjustments, so $500,000 implies about $20,000 a year before tax. Working backwards from spending is far more informative than comparing balances: annual spending divided by 0.04 gives the target, and Social Security or a pension reduces the gap the portfolio actually has to fill.
These tables also mix medians and averages, and the two diverge sharply here for the same reason they do for net worth. A small number of very large balances lifts the average well above what a typical household in that age band actually holds.