401(k) Balance by Age: How Much Should You Have?

What the Benchmarks Actually Say

Three institutions publish widely-used age-based retirement savings benchmarks: Fidelity, T. Rowe Price, and Vanguard. They differ in their exact figures, but they all share the same underlying assumption: save roughly 15% of gross income starting in your early 20s, earn around 7% real returns on a diversified portfolio, and plan to retire at 67.

Here is how their targets compare, expressed as a multiple of your current salary:

The spread across institutions is meaningful. Fidelity's 6x at 50 versus T. Rowe Price's 4x at the same age reflects different assumptions about Social Security replacement rates and portfolio allocation. None of these are wrong. They are designed for different assumptions about how much of your retirement income will come from sources other than the 401(k) balance itself.

The common thread is the 4% withdrawal rule: at retirement, you withdraw 4% of your portfolio annually. Ten times your $75,000 salary is $750,000; 4% of that is $30,000 per year from your 401(k), supplemented by Social Security.

What Real Americans Actually Have

The benchmarks are targets, not averages. Actual balances look quite different. The data below draws from EBRI and Vanguard's 2025 "How America Saves" reports, projected forward to 2026 conditions:

The most important thing to notice in this table is how far the mean (average) exceeds the median at every age. At 55-64, the average is $269,000 while the median is $98,000. That gap exists because a small number of very high earners with very large balances pull the mean up significantly. The median is the more useful number for understanding where a typical worker stands.

The $98,000 median at 55-64 against Fidelity's 7x target at 55 (which on a $75,000 salary would be $525,000) tells you most people are running well behind the benchmark at this stage. That is a sober fact, but it does not mean retirement is impossible. Social Security, home equity, and other assets are not counted in these 401(k) figures. And for workers in this age group, the next decade of contributions at higher rates can still move the number materially.

What It Actually Takes to Hit the Benchmarks

The math behind Fidelity's benchmarks is straightforward: 15% savings rate, 7% real return, retirement at 67. Here is what that looks like in dollar terms on a $75,000 annual salary, depending on when you start:

The starting age matters more than almost any other variable. Starting at 22 versus 30 with the same monthly contribution produces an $800,000 difference in final balance. That is compound growth working over an extra eight years.

For workers over 50, the IRS provides catch-up contributions specifically to address this gap. In 2026, the standard 401(k) contribution limit is $23,000. Workers 50 and older can contribute up to $31,000, a $7,500 boost that adds up to an additional $75,000 over a decade, plus the growth on those contributions.

If You Are Behind: 3 Things That Actually Move the Needle

Most people are behind the benchmark at some point. What matters is what you do with that information. Three changes have the largest impact:

• Increase your savings rate by 1% per year automatically. Many 401(k) plans have an auto-escalation feature that bumps your contribution rate by 1 percentage point every year. If your plan has it, turn it on. Going from 6% to 10% over four years feels painless in any given year, but the cumulative effect on your balance over two decades is substantial.
• Capture your full employer match before anything else. An employer match of 50% up to 6% of your salary is an immediate 50% return on every dollar you contribute up to that threshold. No investment reliably beats that. If you are not contributing at least enough to capture the full match, you are leaving compensation on the table.
• Never cash out when you change jobs. Mid-career cash-outs are one of the most common and expensive retirement mistakes. When you leave an employer, you have the option to roll your 401(k) into an IRA or your new employer's plan. Cashing it out instead means paying income taxes plus a 10% penalty, and losing all future compounding on those funds. EBRI estimates that frequent cash-outs cost workers hundreds of thousands of dollars in retirement savings over a career.

The Employer Match: The Least-Used Benefit in Your Package

About 25% of workers eligible for an employer match do not contribute enough to capture it fully, according to Vanguard's plan data. This is more common among younger workers and lower-income employees, but it happens at all income levels.

Here is what a typical match is worth in concrete dollars. Say your employer offers 50% matching on contributions up to 6% of salary. On a $75,000 salary:

• 6% of salary is $4,500 per year, or $375 per month from you
• Your employer adds 50% of that: $2,250 per year, $187.50 per month
• Over 20 years at 7% real returns, that $2,250 annual employer contribution alone grows to approximately $98,000

Not claiming that money is equivalent to turning down a raise every year. It is the first dollar of retirement savings you should prioritize before anything else, including paying extra on a mortgage or contributing to a taxable brokerage.

Roth vs Traditional 401(k): A Quick Frame

This article focuses on the accumulation question (how much), but the tax treatment question (Roth or traditional) matters too. The short version: if your marginal tax rate today is lower than you expect it to be in retirement, prefer Roth. If your marginal rate now is higher, prefer traditional. For most people in their 20s and 30s at lower income levels, Roth tends to win. For people in peak earning years in their 40s and 50s, traditional often makes more sense.

For a deeper comparison, see our Roth vs Traditional 401(k) comparison, which walks through the math for different tax scenarios.

Sources and Methodology

The benchmark figures are drawn from Fidelity's 2024 Retirement Savings Assessment, T. Rowe Price's Retirement Income Calculator methodology, and Vanguard's How America Saves 2025 report. Actual balance data reflects EBRI Retirement Confidence Survey 2025 and Vanguard participant data, projected to 2026 based on market returns through early 2026. Contribution projections assume a constant 7% real annual return (approximately 10% nominal minus 3% inflation) and ignore taxes on growth, which will vary by account type.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is the Fidelity benchmark realistic?

It is realistic for people who start saving early and maintain a 15% contribution rate throughout their career. For most Americans, who start saving in their late 20s or early 30s and contribute 6-10%, the benchmark describes an aspirational target rather than a probable outcome. The useful question is not "am I at the benchmark?" but "am I moving in the right direction at the right rate?" Consistent incremental improvement, starting from wherever you are today, compounds into meaningful progress.

How much should I contribute monthly to hit 10x by 67?

On a $75,000 salary, 15% is $937.50 per month. Starting at 22, that reaches roughly $2.4 million by 67 at a 7% real return. Starting at 30, you land around $1.5 million. The later you start, the higher the required savings rate to hit the same endpoint. Someone starting at 40 would need closer to 25% per year to hit the 10x target by 67.

What if I started saving late?

Late starters have several real levers. Capture your full employer match before anything else. Use the IRS catch-up contribution allowance after age 50 ($31,000 in 2026). Consider working a few extra years, since extending your runway from 65 to 68 can add hundreds of thousands to your final balance while also reducing the number of years the portfolio needs to fund. Most importantly, avoid mid-career cash-outs at job changes. Rolling over into an IRA or new employer plan keeps compounding intact.