Average Retirement Savings by Age in 2026: How Do You Compare?

Americans aged 55-64 have a median of $185,000 in retirement savings and an average of $537,560, according to the Federal Reserve’s most recent Survey of Consumer Finances. Inside 401(k) plans specifically, Vanguard reports an average balance of $167,970 and a median of $44,115 as of year-end 2025 — both record highs. Financial planners commonly recommend 1x your salary saved by age 30, 3x by 40, 6x by 50, 8x by 60, and 10x by age 67.

Retirement planning can feel overwhelming when you’re trying to figure out how much you should have saved. Understanding the average retirement savings by age gives you a useful benchmark to gauge your progress and adjust your strategy while you still have time to change the outcome.

In this article we’ll walk through average and median retirement savings across every age group in the United States, cover the 2026 contribution limits and the new rules that took effect in January, and show you what the numbers actually mean for your retirement income. We’ll also explain how annuities and indexed universal life insurance can help close a savings gap without market risk.

Average Retirement Savings by Age in the U.S.

Here’s the breakdown by age group, based on the Federal Reserve’s Survey of Consumer Finances — the most comprehensive household-level data available on American retirement savings.

Ages 35-44:
Median Retirement Savings: $45,000
Average Retirement Savings: $141,520

Many households in this bracket are balancing multiple financial obligations at once — mortgage payments, student loans, childcare. It’s also the stretch where compounding does the most work, which makes it the most expensive decade to under-save.

Ages 45-54:
Median Retirement Savings: $115,000
Average Retirement Savings: $313,220

Peak earning years for most households, and the last realistic window to make up meaningful ground through contributions alone. Catch-up contributions become available at 50.

Ages 55-64:
Median Retirement Savings: $185,000
Average Retirement Savings: $537,560

With retirement in sight, the question shifts from accumulation to whether the balance will actually produce enough income — and for how long.

Ages 65-74:
Median Retirement Savings: $200,000
Average Retirement Savings: $609,230

Most households here are drawing down rather than adding. The planning focus moves to withdrawal sequencing, tax efficiency, and making the money last.

Retirement Savings by Age Chart

Here is the full picture across every age group. We’ve put the median first, because it’s the more useful number for benchmarking yourself — more on why in a moment.

Source: Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, 2022 Survey of Consumer Finances (released October 2023) — the most recent survey available. Figures reflect households holding retirement accounts. The 2025 Survey of Consumer Finances is expected to be released in late 2026. Table reviewed August 2026.

Notice the drop after age 74. That isn’t a savings failure — it’s drawdown. Those households are spending what they spent forty years accumulating, which is exactly what the money was for.

The more revealing pattern is the widening spread between median and average from age 45 onward. That gap is the sound of a small number of very large balances pulling the average away from what a typical household actually has.

Average Retirement Savings for Married Couples by Age

The Federal Reserve’s data is measured at the household level, which means the figures above already reflect married couples wherever the household is married. What the table can’t show you is the structural advantage couples have — or the specific risk they carry.

Where couples get ahead

A married couple where both spouses work has access to two complete sets of contribution limits. In 2026 that means:

• Two 401(k) elective deferrals: $24,500 each, or $49,000 combined
• Two IRA contributions: $7,500 each, or $15,000 combined
• If both are 50 or older, catch-ups add $8,000 each to the 401(k) and $1,100 each to the IRA — pushing the combined ceiling to $83,200

Even in a single-income household, a spousal IRA lets the non-working spouse contribute the full $7,500 as long as the couple files jointly and earned income covers both contributions. It’s one of the most under-used provisions in the tax code, and it quietly doubles a single-earner household’s IRA capacity.

Where couples get exposed

Two people retiring on one portfolio need that portfolio to last through two lifespans, not one. The odds that at least one spouse lives past 90 are meaningfully higher than the odds for either individually, and healthcare costs compound the problem.

Then there’s the survivor problem, which most couples don’t model until it happens. When one spouse dies, the household keeps the larger of the two Social Security benefits and loses the smaller one entirely. A couple collecting $2,071 and $1,400 a month drops from $3,471 to $2,071 — a 40% income cut — while property taxes, insurance, and nearly every fixed household cost stay exactly where they were. The surviving spouse also files as single, which usually means a higher effective tax rate on the same withdrawals.

This is the specific scenario where a guaranteed income layer earns its keep. A joint-and-survivor income annuity, or a fixed index annuity with a joint lifetime withdrawal benefit, is designed to keep paying the survivor for as long as they live — regardless of market conditions or how long that turns out to be.

Understanding Retirement Savings Percentiles

Knowing the average is less useful than knowing where you actually sit in the distribution. Vanguard’s 2026 data gives the clearest available picture of how 401(k) balances are spread across participants:

• 1 in 4 participants has less than $10,000
• 35% have more than $100,000
• 18% have $250,000 or more
• The $167,970 average sits at roughly the 75th percentile — meaning about three out of four participants have less than the “average”

That last point deserves a second read. When you measure yourself against the average 401(k) balance, you’re measuring yourself against someone in the top quarter of savers. It’s a benchmark almost designed to make people feel behind.

The household picture is wider still. Congressional Research Service analysis of the 2022 Survey of Consumer Finances found that only about 54% of U.S. households have any retirement account at all, and fewer than 10% of households in any age group hold more than $1 million in retirement assets.

Practically speaking: if your balance is below the average but above the median for your age, you’re ahead of more than half your peers. And if you have anything saved at all, you’re ahead of nearly half the country.

Recommended Retirement Savings by Age

Benchmarks tell you where you stand. Targets tell you where you’re going. The most widely used framework comes from Fidelity, which suggests having the following multiples of your annual salary saved:

Source: Fidelity retirement savings guidelines.

Set those targets against the medians from the chart above and a pattern emerges: the typical American household falls short of the guideline at every single age. A 40-year-old earning $75,000 is supposed to have $225,000 saved. The median household in that bracket has $45,000.

That gap is worth understanding, not panicking about. These multiples assume you’ll want to replace roughly 70-80% of your pre-retirement income and that Social Security will cover part of it. Your actual number depends on when you plan to stop working, what you plan to spend, whether you’ll carry a mortgage into retirement, and what other income you’ll have.

A useful general rule: aim to save at least 15% of your income annually, including any employer match. Vanguard’s own guidance targets a combined employee-plus-employer contribution rate of 12% to 15%. In 2025, only about half of Vanguard participants hit that mark.

2026 Retirement Contribution Limits: How Much You Can Actually Save

Benchmarks only help if you can act on them. Here’s what the IRS allows you to contribute in 2026, including two changes that took effect January 1 and caught a lot of savers off guard.

Source: IRS Notice 2025-67. Verified August 2026.

The 60-63 window is a four-year opportunity most people miss

If you turn 60, 61, 62, or 63 at any point during 2026, your catch-up jumps from $8,000 to $11,250 — a total personal deferral of $35,750. The moment you turn 64, it drops back to $8,000. This window is narrow and it does not repeat.

Vanguard’s data shows how badly it’s being underused. Among eligible participants aged 60 to 63, only 19% made any catch-up contribution at all, and just 9% hit the full $11,250. If you’re in that age band and behind on savings, this is the largest single lever available to you — and it’s on a timer.

New for 2026: high earners must make catch-up contributions as Roth

This is a genuine rule change, effective January 1, 2026 under the SECURE 2.0 Act. If your FICA wages from the employer sponsoring your plan exceeded $150,000 in the prior year, any catch-up contribution you make must go in as Roth (after-tax). The pre-tax catch-up is no longer available to you.

Three things follow from that:

1. You lose the immediate deduction. Your taxable income will be higher than it was in 2025 for the same contribution. Adjust your withholding accordingly.
2. If your plan has no Roth option, you may lose catch-up eligibility entirely. Check with your plan administrator before assuming the money is going in.
3. The threshold is tested per employer. If you changed jobs, you have no prior-year wages from the new employer, so the rule doesn’t apply to you in year one.

The requirement applies only to employer plans. IRA catch-up contributions are unaffected.

What happens when you hit the ceiling

Every number in that table is a cap. For high earners and late-career savers, that’s the binding constraint — even maxing out a 401(k) and an IRA together, a 55-year-old starting from $185,000 has a limited number of years and a hard annual limit to work with.

Annuities carry no IRS contribution limit. A fixed index annuity or a multi-year guaranteed annuity can accept a lump sum well beyond what any qualified plan will hold, grows tax-deferred, and depending on the contract can be converted into income you cannot outlive. For savers who are maxing out everything else and still projecting a shortfall, that’s usually the next conversation.

401(k) Retirement Savings by Age Chart

For most Americans the 401(k) is the primary retirement vehicle. Vanguard’s How America Saves 2026 report covers 4.6 million participant accounts through year-end 2025 and is the most thorough annual benchmark publicly available.

Source: Vanguard, How America Saves 2026. Data as of December 31, 2025.

Two things are worth flagging before you compare yourself to these numbers.

First, these are 401(k) balances only — no IRAs, no pensions, no home equity, no Social Security. Most households hold retirement money in more than one place, so a 401(k) balance understates total savings for anyone who has rolled over an old plan or contributed to an IRA.

Second, 2025 was a strong market year. The average participant return was 19.3%, and roughly 94% of participants saw their balance rise. A balance is a snapshot of where the market happened to close on December 31 — not a measure of whether a plan is working. Contributing consistently and staying invested is the part you control.

The Number Most People Skip: Your Retirement Income Gap

Benchmarks are measured in balances. Retirement is lived in monthly income. Translating one into the other is where most people discover the real problem.

Start with Social Security. After the 2.8% cost-of-living adjustment that took effect in January, the average monthly benefit for a retired worker is $2,071 in 2026 — about $24,852 a year. The maximum benefit for someone retiring at full retirement age is $4,152 a month, but that requires 35 years of earnings at or above the taxable wage cap, which describes very few people. Medicare Part B premiums of $202.90 a month come out of that check before it reaches you.

Now add the portfolio. Take the median household aged 55-64 with $185,000 saved. At a 4% withdrawal rate, that produces roughly $7,400 a year.

Combined: about $32,250 a year, before taxes.

Set that against what retirement actually costs. Research from the Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies found that middle-class households plan for a median of 26 years in retirement, based on a median expected lifespan of 89 — while the median actual retirement age among middle-class retirees in their 60s is 62. People are retiring earlier than they planned, usually because of health or job loss rather than choice, and then funding a longer retirement than they budgeted for.

Two conclusions fall out of that math.

One: Social Security is carrying roughly three-quarters of the income for a median household. That isn’t a supplement. It’s the foundation — and it’s the only piece indexed for inflation and guaranteed for life.

Two: the portfolio piece is exposed to two risks a balance statement never shows. Sequence-of-returns risk means a bad market in the first few years of retirement does permanent damage to a withdrawal plan, because you’re selling more shares to produce the same dollar of income and those shares never come back. Longevity risk is simply the possibility that you live longer than the money.

Neither risk is solved by saving more. They’re solved by changing what kind of money you’re retiring on.

What to Do About the Gap: Two Paths by Time Horizon

The right response to a savings shortfall depends far less on your age than on one number: how many years you have before you need the money. Someone who is 57 and plans to work until 70 has a fundamentally different set of options than someone who is 57 and getting pushed out next spring.

Find the path that matches your timeline, not your birthday.

If you’re 10 to 15 years from retirement

You still have runway, but the math has changed. At this stage the constraint isn’t willpower — it’s arithmetic. Even maxing out a 401(k) at $24,500 plus an $8,000 catch-up, a saver starting from the median $115,000 at age 50 is unlikely to reach a 6x or 8x salary multiple through contributions alone. Compounding needs decades, and you have one.

Two things become more valuable than they were in your thirties.

Protecting what you’ve already accumulated. A 30% drawdown at 35 is an inconvenience — you have twenty-five years to recover and you’re buying shares cheaply the whole way down. The same drawdown at 58 can permanently change your retirement date.

Locking in future income while you’re still young enough for it to be priced favorably. A deferred annuity purchased in your fifties has years of accumulation ahead of it before income begins, and income guarantees are priced off your age at purchase.

Three products commonly used at this stage:

Multi-Year Guaranteed Annuity (MYGA). The simplest instrument in the category — a fixed rate guaranteed for a set term, tax-deferred. Functionally a CD that doesn’t generate a 1099 every year. Useful for the portion of savings you want insulated from market risk with a known outcome. See traditional fixed annuities for how these work.

Fixed Index Annuity (FIA). Credits interest based on the performance of a market index, subject to a cap or participation rate, with a floor — typically 0% — so a negative index year doesn’t produce a negative credit. You give up some upside in exchange for not participating in the downside. Details on the fixed index annuity page.

FIA with a guaranteed lifetime withdrawal benefit (GLWB). An optional rider, purchased for an annual fee, that guarantees a withdrawal amount for life regardless of what the underlying account value does. This is the product that most directly answers “I need to know what my income will be” while you’re still a decade out from needing it.

What you’re trading away. Every one of these carries a surrender charge schedule — commonly 5 to 10 years — during which withdrawals above the free amount (often 10% annually) incur a penalty. Annuity money is not emergency-fund money and shouldn’t be treated as such. Rider fees reduce your credited return. Caps and participation rates limit your share of index gains, and carriers can adjust them on most contracts after the first year. These are real costs, and any advisor who doesn’t lead with them isn’t doing the job.

If you’re at or already in retirement

The question flips. It’s no longer “how much can I accumulate” but “how do I convert what I have into income that lasts as long as I do.” Those are different problems requiring different tools, and this is where the 65-74 cohort in the chart above is actually living.

Single Premium Immediate Annuity (SPIA). A lump sum converted into income that begins within about a year and continues for life. The most direct available answer to longevity risk, and the most transparent — no accumulation value to track, no cap, no participation rate. You know the payment.

Joint-and-survivor income. Structured so payments continue to the surviving spouse for as long as they live. This addresses the survivor-benefit cliff described earlier, where the household loses the smaller Social Security check entirely while fixed expenses stay put.

The income floor approach. The framework most planners use, and worth understanding even if you never buy a product. Total your genuinely fixed expenses — housing, utilities, insurance, food, healthcare premiums. Cover that number with guaranteed income sources: Social Security first, then any pension, then guaranteed annuity income for whatever remains. Everything above that floor stays invested and stays liquid.

The point isn’t to annuitize your portfolio. It’s to make sure a bad market year can never threaten the lights, the mortgage, or the prescriptions. Once those are covered by income that doesn’t care what the S&P did, the remaining portfolio can absorb volatility without forcing decisions you’d rather not make.

The QLAC: longevity insurance that also reduces your RMDs

One option deserves its own mention, because it does something no other annuity can do.

A Qualified Longevity Annuity Contract (QLAC) is a deferred income annuity purchased inside a traditional IRA or qualified employer plan. You commit a lump sum now; guaranteed income begins at a future date you select, as late as age 85. What makes it unique is the tax treatment: the premium is excluded from the account balance used to calculate your required minimum distributions for as long as the contract remains in deferral.

Source: IRS Notice 2025-67. The dollar limit is inflation-indexed — verify the current figure before funding.

Because the cap is per person rather than per household, a married couple where both spouses fund separately can direct up to $420,000 into QLACs.

Required minimum distributions begin at 73 for most retirees born between 1951 and 1959, and at 75 for those born in 1960 or later. They’re fully taxable and they arrive whether you need the money or not. The part most people miss is that forced income doesn’t just raise your tax bill — it raises your modified adjusted gross income, which can push more of your Social Security benefit into taxable territory and trigger IRMAA surcharges on your Medicare premiums. A QLAC pulls dollars out of the RMD calculation during exactly the years when that pressure is highest.

The honest limitation. A QLAC is longevity insurance first and a tax strategy second. Once funded, the money is gone — no emergency access, no changing your mind. Depending on your funding age and income start date, you may not recover your premium until your mid-to-late eighties. And $210,000 carved out of a $2 million IRA shelters only about 10% of the balance, so it won’t solve a large-account RMD problem. Buy a QLAC because you want guaranteed income in your eighties and nineties that cannot be outlived. If RMD reduction is the main appeal, Roth conversions and qualified charitable distributions are usually the better tools.

We’ve covered the mechanics, the drawbacks, and how to evaluate carriers in depth in our full guide: What Is a QLAC? 2026 Rules, Limits & Benefits Explained.

Why Consider an Indexed Universal Life (IUL) Policy for Retirement Savings?

If you’re earlier in your career — more than fifteen years out, with a genuine need for life insurance and a long runway for cash value to build — an Indexed Universal Life (IUL) policy can serve as a supplemental retirement vehicle alongside a 401(k) and IRA. A properly structured Life Insurance Retirement Plan (LIRP) combines a death benefit with tax-advantaged accumulation.

Tax-deferred growth potential

The cash value in an IUL policy is credited based on the performance of a stock market index such as the S&P 500, and that growth is tax-deferred. Over a long time horizon, deferral meaningfully affects the compounding math. Use an IUL calculator to model how this could work for your situation, or read more about max-funded IUL design.

Access to cash value in retirement

You can generally access accumulated cash value through policy loans and withdrawals on an income-tax-free basis, provided the policy is properly structured, is not classified as a Modified Endowment Contract, and remains in force. If a policy lapses or is surrendered with an outstanding loan balance, the gain may become taxable. This is why loan management matters across the life of the contract, and why an IUL should be reviewed periodically rather than bought and forgotten.

Downside protection, with limits

Many IUL policies include a floor — typically 0% — which means a negative index year does not produce a negative credit to your indexed account. Policy charges, including cost of insurance, continue to be deducted regardless of index performance, so cash value can still decline in a flat or negative year. Caps and participation rates also limit your share of index gains in strong years.

An IUL is a long-term commitment that requires consistent funding and periodic review. It works best for people with a long time horizon and an actual life insurance need — not as a substitute for a 401(k) match or as a short-term savings vehicle. If you’re within a decade of retirement, the guaranteed income options above are usually the more appropriate conversation.

Where to Start

If the numbers above showed you a gap, the useful next step isn’t picking a product. It’s getting a clear read on two figures: what your fixed expenses will actually be in retirement, and how much guaranteed income you’ll have from Social Security and any pension. The difference between those two is the only number that tells you what — if anything — you need to solve for.

Our free e-book, The New Rules of Retirement Savings, walks through that calculation step by step. No obligation and no phone call required.

If you’d rather talk it through, we work with retirees and pre-retirees across the country, and we’re independent — not captive to a single carrier. The recommendation follows the situation rather than the other way around.

Explore Your Annuity Options

Frequently Asked Questions

Key Takeaways

• Median retirement savings range from $18,880 for households under 35 to $185,000 for ages 55-64, according to the Federal Reserve’s most recent Survey of Consumer Finances.
• The average 401(k) balance reached a record $167,970 at year-end 2025, but the median was only $44,115 — the average sits at roughly the 75th percentile.
• The 2026 401(k) deferral limit is $24,500, with an $8,000 catch-up at 50 and an enhanced $11,250 catch-up for ages 60 through 63.
• New in 2026: catch-up contributions must be made as Roth if your prior-year FICA wages exceeded $150,000.
• Social Security provides an average of $2,071 a month in 2026, roughly three-quarters of projected income for a median household aged 55-64.
• Sequence-of-returns risk and longevity risk aren’t solved by saving more — they’re addressed by building a floor of guaranteed income beneath your fixed expenses.
• Aim to save at least 15% of your income annually, including any employer match.

Disclosure: This article is for educational purposes and is not tax, legal, or investment advice. Contribution limits, tax treatment, and eligibility depend on individual circumstances. Guarantees are backed solely by the claims-paying ability of the issuing insurance company. Annuities are long-term contracts intended for retirement purposes and typically include surrender charges, which may apply to withdrawals above the contract’s free-withdrawal amount during the surrender period. Withdrawals prior to age 59½ may be subject to a 10% federal tax penalty in addition to ordinary income tax. Product features, riders, rates, and availability vary by state and by carrier, and are subject to change. Fixed index annuities do not directly participate in any stock or equity investment. Caps and participation rates limit index-linked interest and may be adjusted by the carrier. Consult a qualified tax professional regarding your specific situation.

Doug Mitchell, CLU Independant Advisor

Doug Mitchell, CLU holds a BA degree in Finance from Auburn University as well as having obtained a Chartered Life Underwriter (CLU) designation from The American College in Bryn Mahr, PA. Doug has spent 30 years in the life insurance industry and has also held licenses to sell securities, long-term care insurance and home and auto insurance. Doug is a Top of the Table Million Dollar Round Table member (MDRT).  MDRT is a global, independent association of the world's leading life insurance advisors.  For two years, Doug served as President of the Auburn Opelika Association of Financial Advisors and has been a member of the Million Dollar Round Table. He obtained Life Millionaire status at Horace Mann Insurance Company and was awarded the Life Agent of the Year Award. Later in his career with New York Life he was an Executive Council Member. Doug currently serves as President of Ogletree Financial, a managing general agency serving life insurance agents and clients in all parts of the United States. Today, Doug’s main focus is servicing 1000s of policyholders.

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