US workers have saved a shockingly low amount for retirement: $955. Here are some tips to help you catch up

A shocking new stat is making waves: the median American has just $955 saved for retirement.

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There’s a new number causing waves for Americans thinking about their financial future: $955.

It’s the median amount workers have saved for retirement — those with no savings included — and it comes directly from a new report by the National Institute on Retirement Security (NIRS) (1).

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When you look at workers with savings, the median balance rises to $40,000. Breaking it down further, for those nearing retirement (ages 55 to 64), the median is about $30,000.

No matter which number you use, experts say it’s not nearly enough to support a retirement that could last 20 to 30 years, especially with rising health care and long-term care costs.

“Today, too many households are forced to choose between paying their bills and saving for tomorrow,” Dan Doonan, executive director of NIRS, noted in the report.

But there is still hope. Here’s what Americans can do to play catch-up.

Why retirement feels harder than ever

In comments to MarketWatch, Doonan pointed to a major shift in how Americans prepare for retirement (2).

Decades ago, many workers had guaranteed pensions, he said. Today, most are on their own with 401(k)s, IRAs or nothing at all.

At the same time, workers are being squeezed by financial pressures, including housing costs, child care expenses, student loan debt, supporting aging parents and trying to save for retirement. People are being asked to save more, earlier, while paying more for everything else.

There’s another challenge with Social Security being under strain. According to the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), the Old-Age and Survivors Insurance trust fund is projected to run short of funds by 2032, at which point benefits could be cut by 24% unless Congress changes course (3).

While the data can seem alarming, some economists suggest the $955 headline number is misleading. Andrew Biggs, a senior fellow at AEI, argues that not all Americans need to be saving for retirement.

In his view:

Very low-income workers will rely on Social Security.

Young people often have debt coupled with a low income.

Public-sector workers often have pensions.

Others save through businesses or real estate investments, not formal accounts.

“Whatever NIRS may say, retirement savings have never been higher,” Biggs told MarketWatch. “And since we indisputably don’t have a retirement crisis today, there’s very little reason to think we’ll have one in the future.”

Part of the confusion comes from the different data sources. Research from the Transamerica Institute shows that households earning under $50,000 have a median retirement savings of $2,000, those with $50,000 to $99,000 have $33,000, those with $100,000 to $199,000 have $147,000, and those with $200,000 and above have $565,000 (4).

Meanwhile, Fidelity Investments reports the average 401(k) balance is $146,400 (5). In that case, the number only reflects people who have 401(k)s.

What you can do to save more

Regardless, many Americans need to save more earlier. Here are some practical strategies to boost your retirement outlook in 2026.

Max out your retirement accounts

If your job offers a 401(k) match, contribute the full amount. Otherwise, you’re leaving free money on the table.

For 2026, the 401(k) contribution limit is $24,500, with an additional $8,000 catch-up allowed for workers aged 50 and over, bringing the total annual contribution to $32,500. And for IRAs, the annual contribution limit is $7,500, with a $1,100 catch-up contribution for those aged 50 and over (6).

If your employer doesn’t offer a retirement plan or if you want to save more on top of it, opening a traditional or Roth IRA is a good start. Contributions to traditional IRAs may be tax-deductible now, so you’ll pay taxes in retirement. Contributions to Roth IRAs are after-tax, so withdrawals in retirement are tax-free.

In addition, if you have a high-deductible health plan, a health savings account (HSA) can function as a stealthy retirement strategy. HSAs offer a triple tax advantage: Contributions are pre-tax, investments grow tax-free and withdrawals for medical expenses are tax-free. For 2026, the contribution limits are $4,400 for self-only coverage and $8,750 for family coverage, plus a $1,000 catch-up contribution for those 55 and older (7).

Another appealing option? Opening a gold IRA with the help of Priority Gold.

Gold IRAs allow investors to hold physical gold or gold-related assets within a retirement account, which combines the tax advantages of an IRA with the protective benefits of investing in gold.

Long viewed as the ultimate safe haven, gold isn’t tied to any single country, currency or economy. It can’t be printed out of thin air like fiat money, and in times of economic turmoil or geopolitical uncertainty, investors tend to pile in — driving up its value. That makes gold IRAs an attractive option for those looking to potentially hedge their retirement funds against economic uncertainty.

To learn more, you can get a free information guide that includes details on how to get up to $10,000 in free silver on qualifying purchases.

Aim to replace 70% to 90% of income

Trying to figure out how much you’ll need in retirement? A common rule of thumb is that between Social Security and savings, you should aim to replace 70% to 90% of your preretirement income (8).

That advice assumes you’ll no longer be saving for retirement, have lower work-related costs and have no housing payments. It also doesn’t factor in health care, long-term care and inflation.

Creating a passive income source could help bridge the gap between where you are now and where you want to be.

Rental properties have long been a proven source of steady, passive income for high-net-worth investors, so it’s no wonder that real estate accounts for nearly 25% of the typical family office portfolio (9).

But the time, effort and costs involved in managing and maintaining multiple properties can prevent many from investing. So unless you’re a hedge fund titan or an oil baron, you might feel shut out of this corner of the market.

That’s where mogul comes in. This real estate investment platform offers fractional ownership in blue-chip rental properties, which gives investors monthly rental income, real-time appreciation and tax benefits — without the need for a hefty down payment or 3 a.m. tenant calls.

Founded by former Goldman Sachs real estate investors, the mogul team handpicks the top 1% of single-family rental homes nationwide for you. Simply put, you can invest in institutional quality offerings for a fraction of the usual cost.

Each property undergoes a vetting process, requiring a minimum 12% return even in downside scenarios. Across the board, the platform features an average annual IRR of 18.8%. Their cash-on-cash yields, meanwhile, average between 10% to 12% annually. Offerings often sell out in under three hours, with investments typically ranging between $15,000 and $40,000 per property.

Every investment is secured by real assets, not dependent on the platform’s viability. Each property is held in a standalone Propco LLC, so investors own the property — not the platform. Blockchain-based fractionalization adds a layer of safety, ensuring a permanent, verifiable record of each stake.

Getting started is a quick and easy process. You can sign up for an account and then browse available properties. Once you verify your information with their team, you can invest like a mogul in just a few clicks.

And if you’re more interested in the long-term earning potential of short-term stays, you can get into this market for $100 via Arrived, which offers access to shares of SEC-qualified investments in rental homes and vacation rentals.

Backed by world-class investors like Jeff Bezos, Arrived makes it easy to fit these properties into your investment portfolio regardless of your income level.

Their flexible investment amounts and simplified process allow accredited and non-accredited investors to take advantage of this inflation-hedging asset class without any extra work on your part.

View their full list of vetted properties selected for their income-generating and appreciation potential to start investing today.

Review your budget

You may not have to overhaul your lifestyle, but even the smallest tweaks can make a difference, including canceling any unused subscriptions, renegotiating your phone, insurance and internet bills, investing raises or bonuses directly into retirement and setting up automatic contribution increases each year.

Monarch Money can simplify this process by putting all your finances under one roof, from your banking statements to your investments. You can also add separate or joint accounts to your dashboard, which can be great for tracking grocery runs for couples and seeing exactly where your money is going.

The app is also well reviewed. Both Forbes and the Wall Street Journal ranked Monarch Money as their best budgeting app of 2025.

Test it out with their seven-day free trial to see if it’s right for you. If you like what you see, snag 50% off your first year with code WISE50.

Check your investments

If retirement is decades away, being too risk-averse could cost you. Younger investors typically benefit from heavier exposure to stocks, while those nearing retirement may want to shift toward stability.

Wondering which investments may pay off over the long haul?

Moby offers expert research and recommendations to help you identify strong, long-term investments backed by advice from former hedge fund analysts.

In four years, and across almost 400 stock picks, their recommendations have beaten the S&P 500 by almost 12% on average. They also offer a 30-day money-back guarantee.

Moby’s team spends hundreds of hours sifting through financial news and data to provide you with stock and crypto reports delivered straight to you. Their research keeps you up-to-the-minute on market shifts, and can help you reduce the guesswork behind choosing stocks and ETFs.

Plus, their reports are easy to understand for beginners, so you can become a smarter investor in just five minutes.

The bottom line

At the end of the day, $955 might be an arbitrary number, but it does raise the alarm that Americans are struggling to balance today’s bills with tomorrow’s needs.

While the exact number may be debatable, Doonan pointed to realism in a comment to MarketWatch: “I don’t think there’s a disagreement about which way the wind is blowing. Just saying a number’s not perfect — so we just ignore it — doesn’t make sense.”

Wherever you fall on the retirement savings spectrum, it’s never too late to make choices today that can improve your retirement tomorrow.

US workers have saved a shockingly low amount for retirement: $955. Here are some tips to help you catch up

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