Average retirement savings by age: how do you compare?

1. Why this question is so addictive

There’s something irresistible about comparing your savings to everyone else’s. It promises a simple verdict — ahead or behind — for a problem that otherwise feels bottomless. The trouble is that the comparison is usually done against the wrong number, in a way that either needlessly panics people or lulls them into false comfort.

So let’s do it properly. We’ll use the authoritative source — the Federal Reserve’s Survey of Consumer Finances — look at both the average and the median (they tell very different stories), and then translate it into a benchmark that’s actually useful for planning. By the end you’ll know where you stand and, more importantly, whether it matters.

2. The real numbers by age

Here are the actual balances Americans hold in retirement accounts, by age group, from the Federal Reserve’s most recent survey:

The first thing that should jump out is the gap between the two columns. At every age, the average is two to three times the median. That gap is the whole story — and the next section explains why it matters so much.

3. Median vs. average: which to trust

The average adds up everyone’s savings and divides by the number of households. The median is the household smack in the middle — half have more, half have less. They diverge because a small number of very wealthy households hold enormous balances that drag the average upward. Across all U.S. families, the average is about $334,000 while the median is just $87,000. Those aren’t describing the same country.

For answering “how do I compare to a typical person,” the median is the honest number. The average tells you mostly how skewed the distribution is, not what a normal family has. When a headline trumpets a six-figure “average,” it’s quietly including billionaires in the math. Anchor to the median, and a lot of needless anxiety — or false comfort — disappears.

4. The more useful benchmark: salary multiples

National medians tell you where you stand relative to others, but they don’t tell you whether you personally are on track — because that depends on your income and lifestyle, not the country’s. For that, the most useful yardstick is Fidelity’s salary-multiple framework:

So someone earning $80,000 would aim for about $80,000 saved by 30 and roughly $800,000 by 67. These are guidelines, not gates — they assume your spending scales with your income, which isn’t always true. But as a directional check, they’re far more personal than a national median. The calculator below shows both: where you stand against your peers and against your own salary benchmark.

5. How do you compare?

Enter your age and current retirement savings to see your age group’s median and average alongside your own balance. Add your income (optional) to check yourself against the Fidelity salary benchmark too.

6. The federal picture

If you’re a federal employee, the national numbers understate you twice over. First, the Thrift Savings Plan — with automatic enrollment, rock-bottom fees, and agency matching — tends to build stronger balances than the typical private-sector account, so feds often sit above these medians on the TSP balance alone. We compare federal balances specifically in how your TSP balance stacks up by age.

Second, and bigger: the national savings figures don’t count your FERS pension at all. A guaranteed lifetime, partly inflation-adjusted income stream is worth the equivalent of hundreds of thousands of dollars in savings — but it never appears as an account balance, so it’s invisible to every “average savings” chart. A federal employee with a merely average-looking TSP can be dramatically better positioned than the raw number implies, because the pension is doing work no savings figure reflects.

7. If you’re behind — and most are

Here’s the reassuring truth buried in the data: being behind the benchmark is the norm, not the exception. The Federal Reserve numbers show the majority of Americans fall short of the salary-multiple targets at every single age. The typical 30-year-old is about two-thirds below the 1x mark; the typical 50-year-old holds well under a quarter of the 6x target. If you feel behind, you have lots of company — and, more importantly, options.

What moves the needle isn’t your current balance; it’s your savings rate from here. Time in the market and consistent contributions can close startling gaps, and the catch-up rules let you accelerate hard in your 50s and early 60s. A late start is a smaller problem than a low savings rate sustained for decades. The number you have today is just a starting point, not a verdict.

8. What the numbers leave out

Finally, treat every “savings by age” chart with healthy skepticism, because they measure only one slice of retirement wealth. They typically capture money in retirement accounts — and miss three of the biggest pillars of actual retirement security:

Add those back and the picture for a typical near-retiree — especially a federal one — is meaningfully brighter than the bare account balance suggests. Use the medians as a gut check, not a scoreboard, and judge your readiness by whether your total income plan covers your spending. That’s the question that actually matters.

9. Frequently asked questions