Comments on: Compare Our 401k Balances With Others In America

By: Dan

Dan — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 19:47:06 +0000

Here’s something else nobody is talking about: this doesn’t count the IRA balances people have! How much average IRA balance does an average person have?

By: Patrick

Patrick — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 21:19:07 +0000

I would disagree that employees should distribute contributions to their 401(k) to company stock, but there’s a catch. If the employees can get a discount on stock, or if they get preferred shares, or if their company offers healthy (3.5% or higher) dividends, then go for it. If however the company already gives stock to their employees as a benefit of working there, or if they do not offer the incentives I listed, then I would consider to plow the 60% of equities to the other funds available in the 401k that invest in stocks. An additional 15% of their distributions should be to international stock funds or indices, and then the rest in GICs and bonds.

Of course this advice are only for those who still have 30-40 years of investing left, and are aggressive growth. For those who are more conservative but have a similar timeline, 50% goes to large cap stock, 35% goes to bonds and GICs, and the rest to small-cap stock and international.

By: ricky

ricky — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 21:41:27 +0000

And then came 2009………………………………………………………

By: Promotional Companies

Promotional Companies — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 12:14:10 +0000

Interesting article and some good replies to it to continue the debate….We are going through scary times!!

By: Buy XOM

Buy XOM — Fri, 02 May 2008 18:11:48 +0000

Folks / Moneyning,

I am living proof of the greatness of 401k plans. Niethe rof my parents graduated from HIGH SCHOOL and neither ever owned stocks or funds until very late in life.

1) It’s not hard to imagine a person in their 20s earning $20-$40k per year having MORE than $6,700 in their plan. I saved about 10% of my salary (usually around $30k per year) in my 401k and was matched with 7% by ExxonMobil. By the time I was 30 (in 1994), my account was valued at $53,000!

2) My account hit $100k in 1997 (I was earning around $35k per year).

3) My account today (5/03/2008) is 4,993 shares at $89.68 per share is worth $447,772.24! I also have other ROTH IRAs worth about $60,000. So at age 44, I am at over $500,000 in investments!

4) Using the “rule of 72″, where one’s money doubles when years are divided by return percentage; If I get 12% average return, my money will double every 6 years (72/12=6), so in 18 years (2026) when I am 62 and can get to my 401k, my $500k should have turned into $4,000,000! I will then withdraw 10% per year ($400k) and even with inflation and taxes factored in , I will be living quite well.

5) Do NOT believe politicians and DEMAND to privatize Social Security, which is the biggest impedement to you and your family’s financial freedom!

By: Frugal MoneyMan

Frugal MoneyMan — Sat, 05 Apr 2008 01:34:48 +0000

The article is quite useless. A well written article would have considered the current worth of all retirement accounts (401k, IRA, Roth, 403b, etc.) And even if the article had been based on total retirement savings, does comparing oneself to others really matter? What matters is whether your current balance and future contributions will grow to allow you to have the lifestyle you want when you retire. If you’re not saving enough, you either need to save more or change your expectations.

By: Mark @ TheLocoMono

Mark @ TheLocoMono — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 19:58:36 +0000

CNN has a similar calculator where you can compare your assets and income with your age group. I tried it out and the stats were kind of hard to believe either. For one, it was based on age range like 25 to 35 and those who made 30k or less only had a few thousand dollars. I have triple the amount but I am closer to 35. When I was 25 I had a car loan so my net was a negative so that’s a pretty broad range to average out by.

I think the stats would be more accurate if it was broken down into 5 year ranges instead of 10 year ranges.

In other words, someone at the bottom of the age range saving 1K a year would have 1K where as someone at the top who saved 1K a year for ten years would have 10K but if you divide the total, 11K by 2 people you would have an average of 5.5K for both people regardless of their age in a ten year range.

By: thehungrydollar.com

thehungrydollar.com — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 03:42:59 +0000

Wow… I too was surprised to see how much the average American in their 20s has saved in their 401(K) account. If you had asked me prior to reading this article, I would have guessed someone in their 20s making 20 – 40k might have 2k saved. I guess people really are starting to think about their financial future earlier in life.

By: Benjamin Devey

Benjamin Devey — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 22:42:24 +0000

What this survey doesn’t take into account is that someone who has changed jobs may (and should!) rollover his 401(k) into a self-directed IRA account.

So, even though he is starting over on a 401(k) balance, possibly even contributing to the allowable limit of 20%, his balance, after starting over at the new job might be only $14,000 after a couple years. But combined with an IRA balance of $72,000, the combined total reflects “retirement savings” of about $86,000.

Like you, I want to get out of the rat race and be independent of salary stress. It takes a long time, but eventually, your investment earnings will exceed your allocations. That’s when time pays off.

By: MoneyNing

MoneyNing — Mon, 17 Sep 2007 02:09:04 +0000

warmylove: Thank you for subscribing!

Even though $300k is not enough to retire on, it is a good sized nest egg depending on where you live.

You are doing the right thing with adding to your nest egg and letting the account grow for another 10 years which will make your best egg that much bigger.