Retirement account ownership peaks in midlife, but balances keep rising into the 70s.
Credit: Getty Images / Mint Images Key Takeaways
Less than 2 in 3 households headed by someone in their 40s or 50s have a retirement account, and fewer than half in their 20s have one.
Among account holders, the median balance climbs from $12,600 in the 20s to $250,000 in the 60s and 70s.
Households headed by someone in their 30s were the only age group in which retirement account ownership fell since 2022.
How much you have saved for retirement often depends on age. Someone just entering the workforce has had less time to save than someone in their peak earning years. And in turn, you’d expect that person to be behind someone on the cusp of retiring.
The Federal Reserve’s newly released 2025 Survey of Consumer Finances (SCF), the go-to source for data on U.S. household finances, shows how retirement account ownership and balances compare across age groups—and how those figures have changed since 2022.
How Many Americans Your Age Have a Retirement Account?
Before comparing balances, it helps to look at how many households have a retirement account at all. It’s easy to assume everyone who works has one, but that’s not the case.
In 2025, more than 45% of households headed by someone in their 20s had a retirement account, such as an IRA or 401(k), according to the SCF. The share then climbs above 53% in the 30s, to 63% in the 40s, and then a smidge higher in the 50s.
After that, ownership slips. Among households headed by someone in their 60s, the share of households with an account falls below 58%. And not quite 48% of households headed by someone in their 70s have one.
Several factors may help explain these differences. As people age, their earnings tend to rise, potentially giving them more room to save. They may also gain access to workplace retirement plans like 401(k)s. Older adults, meanwhile, are more likely to have traditional pensions, which were common in the past and aren’t counted as retirement accounts in the Fed’s survey, or may have already spent down their account balances.
How does the data compare to 2022, the previous survey year? Ownership among households headed by someone in their 30s was down almost 7 percentage points from 60.3% in 2022. Every other age group shown held steady or improved.
Why This Matters
Knowing what’s typical for your age can be a useful yardstick for your own savings. But typical isn’t necessarily enough. Your expected expenses, retirement timeline, and other income sources are better guides to how much you’ll need.
How Much Do Americans Your Age Have Saved for Retirement?
Story Continues
Among households that have a retirement account, median balances are higher in each successive age group, with the largest balances among those in their 60s and 70s.
The biggest percentage differences appear between the younger age groups. The typical balance for households in their 30s is about 3.5 times that of those in their 20s, and the figure more than doubles among those in their 40s.
The gap is smaller between the 40s and 50s, then widens again. Households in their 60s have a median balance of $250,000—79% more than those in their 50s and the largest dollar gap between age groups. That’s likely partly a catch-up effect: Savers 50 and older can make extra contributions, and the approach of retirement can add urgency.
After that, growth stalls. The median balance rises only about 1.7% from the 60s to the 70s, as retirees stop contributing and many begin drawing money down.
Why We Focus on the Median
The median is the midpoint, meaning half of account holders in each group have more and half have less. It provides a more accurate view of the typical household’s situation than the average, which can be pulled up significantly by a small number of large savers.
How Retirement Balances Have Changed Since 2022
Are balances higher than in 2022? In most cases, yes. Among all households with retirement accounts, the median balance rose 11% between 2022 and 2025, to $106,000.
The largest percentage gains were recorded for households in their 30s, 40s, and 60s, where median balances rose 22% to $44,000, 25% to $100,000, and 31% to $250,000, respectively. But that doesn’t necessarily mean they were putting away more. Higher balances don’t only reflect new contributions, as investment returns can also play a big role.
There were two exceptions. Account holders in their 50s saw their median fall 21% to $140,000, and the median for those in their 20s slipped 13% to $12,600. One potential explanation stems from both of these groups seeing an increased share of account owners compared to 2022. If newer account holders had smaller balances, that could help explain the lower medians.
Changes for a single age group from one survey to the next can also be influenced by who happens to be sampled. The SCF surveys thousands of U.S. families and weights the results to represent the broader population.
Many Households Have No Retirement Account at All
One of the biggest takeaways from the Fed’s SCF is the large share of households without a retirement account. Even among those headed by someone in their 40s and 50s—a time when ownership peaks—roughly 37% have no account. And among those headed by someone in their 60s, when many people retire, about 42% have no 401(k)-type plan or IRA.
Of course, not having a retirement account doesn’t necessarily mean having no income to rely on when leaving the workforce. Some people have pensions or may be able to tap home equity to support themselves, and most older Americans receive a monthly Social Security payment. These income sources aren’t included in the Fed’s definition of a retirement account.
Still, they may not be enough on their own to support a stable retirement. Social Security, for example, replaces only part of most workers’ pre-retirement earnings.
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