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This Was the Average 401(k) Balance Last Year, According to a Recent Vanguard Report. Do Your Savings Stack Up?

Investing in 401 (K) is an incredibly powerful way to save for retirement.
Although everyone’s savings goals are different, it may be useful to see how your account balance is compared with the average.
If you fall behind, there is a simple way to increase your savings hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Social security bonus of $ 23,760, most of the pensions

If you have access to 401 (K) and contribute regularly, you are already in front of the game when it comes to retirement planning. 401 (K) is one of the most powerful retirement tools there and can help strengthen your savings.

Everyone’s journey will be different when planning retirement. Your savings goals will depend on many factors such as the cost of living in your region, the number of years you expect to spend in retirement and the type of lifestyle you want to enjoy. Your savings may look crazy different from your age, and it’s okay.

However, it may be useful to see what an average American hides in retirement funds. In addition to what Vanguard’s latest data shows, it is a simple way to increase your savings.

Image Source: Getty Images.

Every year, Vanguard published the report “How to save America”, which details the savings habits among the participants of Vanguard 401 (K). These figures can only be useful to get an idea of where many Americans are standing in savings when explaining Vanguard account holders – not only the general population.

The latest report, published in 2025 and based on last year’s data, reveals that the average balance of 401 (K) among all the leading participants is $ 148,153. The media is only $ 38,176. Since extremely high profitable contradictory values can be curved, the median is often a more accurate representation of the typical person.

However, the average and median figures, which are fragmented according to the age range, are significantly different from the general average:

Age range	Average 401 (K) balance	Median 401 (K) balance
Under 25	$ 6,899	$ 1.948
25 to 34	$ 42.640	$ 16.255
35 to 44	$ 103.552	$ 39.958
45 to 54	$ 188.643	$ 67.796
55 to 64	$ 271.320	$ 95.642
65 years and over	$ 299.442	$ 95.425

Data Source: Vanguard.

Again, your individual saving goals will depend on your situation. Therefore, if your 401 (K) balance does not match the average Americans, this does not necessarily mean that you are on the road.

Instead of relying to compare your balance only with average, talk to a pension planning specialist or a pension calculator for a savings estimation. These tools can give you a rough idea of how much you should save according to your unique situation.

401 (K) is one of the best ways to save more, employer matchIf your plan offers one. According to the report, 86% of Vanguard 401 (K) plans offer some kind of matching contribution.

For example, according to the Bureau of Statistics, the average annual income between US workers in 2024 was approximately 60,000 dollars per year. Let’s say you earn $ 60,000 a year and your employer will match 100% of your contributions to 3% of your salary or $ 1,800 a year.

Let’s say, you are now able to contribute only $ 1,500 a year while earning the same amount in the matches. If you get an average annual return for your investments, how much more you can earn by increasing your savings to $ 1,800 a year and winning a full match:

Number of Years	Total savings: $ 1,500 per year + $ 1,500 company match match	Total savings: $ 1,800 per year + $ 1,800 company match match
20	137,000 dollars	165,000 dollars
25	219,000 dollars	263,000 dollars
30	$ 340,000	$ 408,000
35	$ 517,000	620,000 dollars
40	777.000 dollars	$ 933,000

Data Source: Author’s calculations via investor.gov.

In other words, to contribute only $ 300 more a year to win the full employer match – to increase your total savings more than $ 150,000 during a career. The company’s match is actually free money, and to fully benefit from it can transform your pension savings.

401 (K) is one of the most effective ways of saving for retirement, and just as your balance is compared with others, small steps can come a long way. By contributing consistently and using advantages such as the company match, you can increase your savings over hundreds of thousands of dollars over time.

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According to a recent pioneer report, it was an average of 401 (K) balance last year. Are your savings heap? initially published by Motley Fool