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But most 401ks have ridiculously low balances, with the median for people 50-59 at 150k: https://www.financialsamurai.com/median401k-retirement-balance-by-age-i

• toomuchtodo 7y ago
  48 percent of American households over the age of 55 still have no retirement savings. [1] [2] None. Zero. 401ks were a legislative hack for high income earners [3], and were used to con the middle class out of their additional pension comp. Those funds instead ended up in shareholder pockets, with a small amount provided as 401k matches. [1] https://www.cnbc.com/2019/04/05/these-people-are-on-the-verge-of-retiring-and-they-have-nothing-saved.html https://www.cnbc.com/2019/04/05/these-people-are-on-the-verg... [2] https://www.gao.gov/assets/680/670153.pdf https://www.gao.gov/assets/680/670153.pdf (GAO report) [3] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21827154 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21827154
• ipython 7y ago
  Those surveys are misleading though. I have a relatively small amount in my 401k because I have not been in my current job for long. Every time I change jobs I roll over the 401k balances into an IRA. So... unless someone's been in their job for 5+ years, their 401k balance may be very low.