Key Points
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Data shows that older savers don’t have such large 401(k) balances.
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It’s important to accumulate a decent-sized nest egg to maintain your standard of living.
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The right investments could help your 401(k) grow.
You’ll often hear that if you want to be able to maintain your standard of living in retirement, you’ll need income outside of Social Security. That’s because those monthly benefits might only replace about 40% of your wages if you earn a typical salary.
It’s common to need roughly twice that much income to cover basic retirement expenses and have enough left over for things like leisure and travel. A good way to supplement your Social Security checks is to save for retirement consistently. If you have access to a 401(k) plan through your job, it could make the process smoother.
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That’s because 401(k) contributions are deducted from your paychecks automatically. If you sign up to contribute $8,000 a year toward retirement, that’ll happen behind the scenes, making it easier to stay on track.
If you’re in your 20s or 30s, you may not have the largest 401(k) balance right now. But over time, that balance could grow nicely.
Recent data from Fidelity shows that the typical 401(k) balance among Americans 70 and older actually isn’t all that large. You may want to use that as a wakeup call to boost your savings efforts.
What the average 401(k) balance for Americans 70+ looks like
As of June 2026, the average 401(k) balance for savers 70 and older was $264,500, says Fidelity. In contrast, savers ages 20 to 24 had just $7,700 saved on average.
While $264,500 is a nice amount of money, it’s actually not that much in the course of what could be a 20-year retirement or longer. At a withdrawal rate of 4% per year, that balance only provides an annual income of about $10,600. Even when Social Security is added in, it’s not a ton of spending power.
Of course, that $264,500 figure encompasses all retirees 70 and older. It’s possible that many people in that category are in their 80s or 90s. That means they may have already spent a lot of their retirement savings.
Still, it’s important to recognize that if you’re looking to maintain your lifestyle in retirement, you may need a lot more savings than what the typical American 70 or older has today.
A good way to boost your savings
If you’re funding your 401(k) consistently and boosting your savings rate each year as your pay goes up, you deserve credit. But it still may not be enough. The final piece of the puzzle comes in the form of investing wisely.
If your 401(k) is in a target date fund, your money may not be growing as aggressively as it could, and you could be losing money to fees. You may want to choose a broad market or S&P 500 index fund to fuel your 401(k)’s growth while keeping your fees to a minimum.
While Americans 70 and older don’t have negligible 401(k) balances, they don’t have the most savings, either. Part of that might be due to having spent some of their funds already. But if you’d like to retire with more money, make an effort to not only steadily increase your savings rate as your income rises, but also choose the right investments.
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