United States · USD
What retirement savings by age reveal in 2026
The average can make an ordinary retirement balance look unusually small. The median tells a different story, and changes again when families without retirement accounts are included. Here is the comparison, using the Federal Reserve release published in October 2026.
2026 edition · 2025 survey and dollars · U.S. families · Not a retirement recommendation.
Explore my monthly savings planThe age comparison, with the missing zeros included.
About 54.9% of U.S. families hold a retirement account. Including the others changes the middle balance substantially. Compare the same age group and the same population before drawing a conclusion.
- Median · all families
- $5,220 Includes zero balances · all ages
- Median · account holders
- $106,240 Positive balances only · all ages
- Mean · account holders
- $451,089 Higher balances pull the average up
| Age of reference person | Median, all families | Median, account holders | Mean, account holders | Families holding accounts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Under 35 | $0 | $20,640 | $48,441 | 48.8% |
| 35–44 | $6,820 | $61,800 | $182,430 | 59.6% |
| 45–54 | $35,800 | $131,380 | $415,766 | 63% |
| 55–64 | $43,920 | $238,590 | $670,212 | 63.1% |
| 65–74 | $0 | $257,560 | $767,417 | 49% |
| 75+ | $0 | $257,800 | $798,704 | 44.6% |
Scroll the table on a small screen. Account balances exclude Social Security and the value of defined-benefit pension income. A zero is a measured balance, not missing data. Methods and primary files are below.
Why two medians can both be right
The median for all families includes those with no retirement account balance. The median for account holders includes only positive balances. One describes the middle family overall and the other describes the middle family among account holders. Neither is a personal retirement target.
A zero in the first column does not mean every family in that age group has nothing for retirement. It means at least half have no balance in the account categories measured here. Social Security and the value of traditional defined benefit pension income are outside this account balance measure.
What these retirement savings include
This analysis uses RETQLIQ from the 2025 Survey of Consumer Finances summary extract. It covers IRAs, Keogh accounts and workplace retirement plans with account balances. It is not total net worth, cash in the bank, or the value of every future retirement income stream.
Age refers to the family reference person. The results describe U.S. families, not individual employees or customers of one retirement plan provider. Provider account statistics can be useful, but they should not be treated as the same population.
How five imputations represent one family
Deco calculated weighted inverse CDF medians separately for each of the five public data implicates, then averaged those estimates. Means and account ownership shares were calculated the same way. The public extract contains 4,360 families represented by 21,800 imputed records. Those records are not independent families.
Amounts are in 2025 U.S. dollars. The survey describes 2025 finances. October 2026 is its release date. Values shown are rounded public file estimates, not official published table cells. They can differ slightly from Federal Reserve internal file estimates and rounding. We have not estimated confidence intervals. Do not interpret small age group differences as statistically established.
Use a benchmark without turning it into a deadline
An account holder median is a description, not the amount you must have saved at a birthday. Your expenses, debts, other retirement income and time horizon matter. First make your own accounts and liabilities visible. Then choose a contribution your budget can sustain.
For a monthly savings illustration, use the goal calculator with your own starting balance and an explicitly hypothetical rate. A smooth projection is not a forecast of investment returns.
Explore my monthly savings plan
Compare a target, current savings and an affordable monthly contribution. Keep assumed growth separate from guaranteed income.
Explore my monthly savings planSources and reproducibility
Federal Reserve, 2025 Survey of Consumer Finances
Current survey index and public data documentation. Release dated October 9, 2026.
Federal Reserve public summary extract (CSV ZIP)
Source of the weighted RETQLIQ age group estimates shown above, expressed in 2025 U.S. dollars.
Federal Reserve, summary variable definitions
Account definitions and the distinction between account balances and pension income.
Deco · Analysis checked:
