Here is a list of the most interesting and important statistics about retirement plans in the US. Click on any of the links below if you’d like to jump forward.

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Table of contents

The State of Retirement Plans in the United States

  • In the first quarter of 2025, retirement assets totaled $43.4 trillion. [ICI]
  • Retirement assets accounted for 34% of all household financial assets in the US at the end of March 2025. [ICI]
  • Gallup’s 2025 survey shows retirees report an average actual retirement age of 62, while non-retirees expect to retire at 66. [Gallup]
  • 88% of workers in the US believe that retirement savings should be a top financial priority. [Aegon]
  • 30% of US workers say they will never be able to retire. [Federal Reserve]
  • 39% of US households are at risk of not being able to maintain their standard of living in retirement. [Center for Retirement Research]

Retirement Plan Savings Stats

  • Tens of millions of U.S. working households have little or no retirement savings. A June 2025 Bipartisan Policy Center report summarizes recent evidence showing that between about one-quarter and one-half of workers lack access to a workplace retirement plan and that the “typical working family” holds only a few thousand dollars in retirement savings, well short of what they’ll need for retirement. [Bipartisan Policy Center]
  • Vanguard’s How America Saves 2025 reports an average participant balance of $148,153 at year-end 2024 (data published 2025). [Vanguard]
  • The median retirement account balance for US households is $65,000. [Federal Reserve]
  • The average retirement savings for Americans aged 32 to 37 is $31,644. [EPI]
  • The median retirement savings for workers in their 40s is $63,000. [Fidelity]
  • The median retirement savings for workers in their 50s is $117,000. [Fidelity]
  • The median retirement savings for Americans aged 56 to 61 is $21,000, according to the Economic Policy Institute. [EPI]
  • 31% of US workers have no retirement savings. [Federal Reserve]
  • 72% of US workers report that they have saved less than $250,000 for retirement. [NIRS]
  • 37% of US workers report that they have less than $50,000 in retirement savings. [Northwest]
  • About 7% of workers report having no retirement savings; 20% of Baby Boomer workers have less than $50,000 in retirement savings, and the median total household retirement-account balance for Baby Boomer workers is about $270,000. [Transamerica]
  • About 70% of American workers are classified as financially unhealthy on the Financial Health Network’s FinHealth Score—indicating widespread difficulty managing day-to-day finances, debt, and savings. [Financial Health Network]
  • The average combined employee and employer 401k saving rate reached 12% of pay. [Fidelity]

Retirement plan contribution stats

  • 14% of US plan participants contribute the maximum amount to their 401k plan. [Vanguard]
  • In 2024, the average 401k contribution rate for those under age 25 was 5.5%. [Vanguard]
  • In 2024, both women and men deferred 7.7 % of pay on average [Vanguard]
  • The average employer 401k contribution rate is 4.8% of employee pay. [Fidelity]
  • The average IRA contribution is $3,990. [IRS]
  • The average contribution rate to a traditional or Roth IRA in the US is 6.2% of income. [Charles Schwab]
  • The average contribution rate to a SEP IRA in the US is 11.7% of income. [Fidelity]
  • The average contribution rate to a SIMPLE IRA in the US is 3.8% of income. [Charles Schwab]
  • The average total 401k contribution (employee and employer) is 12% of employee pay. [Vanguard]
  • For those under 25, the average total 401k contribution (employee and employer) is 9.3%, compared to 13.8% for those aged 55-64. [Vanguard]
  • The average total 401k contribution (employee and employer) for men is 10.3%, compared to 9.8% for women. [Vanguard]

Retirement Confidence

  • Only 24% of US workers are very confident in their ability to retire comfortably. [Transamerica Institute]
  • 36% of workers expect to retire at age 70 or later, or never retire at all. [Transamerica Institute]
  • 53% of US workers plan to work part-time in retirement. [Transamerica Institute]
  • 45% of Americans have no idea how much money they need to save for retirement. [Allianz Center]
  • 59% of Americans say they worry about not having enough for retirement. [Gallup]
  • 67% of workers are confident, and 25% are very confident that they will retire comfortably. [EBRI]
  • About 67% of workers said they are confident they will have enough money to live comfortably throughout retirement. [EBRI]
  • About one-third of Baby Boomers and Gen Xers will not have enough retirement income to cover basic expenses and uninsured health care costs. [PEW]
  • Only 18% of Americans are very confident that they will have enough money to retire when they want to. [Bankrate]

Retirement Age and Income Stats

  • The average retirement age in the United States is 62, while non-retirees expect to retire at 66. Women tend to retire earlier than men, while college-educated workers tend to retire later. [Gallup]
  • The median retirement income for people aged 65 and older is $54,710, and the median net worth is $409,900. However, these figures vary widely by education level and race. [Census] [Fidelity]
  • 47% of workers expect to retire after 65 or never retire; 52% plan to work part-time in retirement, primarily for income and to stay active. [Transamerica Institute]
  • The average retirement age for teachers in the US is 59. [Merril Lynch]

Social Security

  • The average Social Security benefit for retired workers in 2025 is $1,976 per month. [SSA]
  • Nearly 58% of retirees rely on Social Security as their primary source of income in retirement. [Transamerica Institute]
  • 39% of men and 44% of women aged 65+ receive 50% or more of their income from Social Security. [SSA]
  • With the 2025 retired-worker average of $1,976, a two-benefit couple now receives about $47,424 per year on average. [SSA]

Retirement Plan Withdrawals and Loans Statistics

  • 37% of workers have already tapped retirement savings, including 31% who have taken out a loan and 21% who have made an early or hardship withdrawal. [Transamerica Institute]
  • Vanguard’s 2025 data show the average outstanding 401k loan is about $11,000. [Vanguard]
  • 35% of hardship withdrawals were taken to avoid home foreclosure or eviction—the single most common emergency reason. [Vanguard]
  • 29% of workers who withdrew funds from their retirement accounts did so to pay off debt. [TCRS]
  • 59% of workers who have taken a 401k loan say it has had a negative impact on their retirement savings. [Alight]
  • 22% of workers who have taken a 401k loan say they did so to pay for a major expense. [Schroders]
  • 25% of workers used a 401k loan to pay off credit card debt. [TCRS]
  • 15% of workers borrowed from their 401k to purchase a home. [Schroders]
  • Hardship-withdrawal activity reached a record high in 2024; 4.8% of participants took a hardship withdrawal, up from 3.6% in 2023. [Vanguard]
  • Fidelity’s Q1 2025 analysis shows only 4.9% of participants decreased their contribution rate. [Fidelity]

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