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America Has a Record Number of 401(k) Millionaires

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By Vlad Ispas @ Adobe Stock

A study by Fidelity has found that there is a record number of Americans who have over $1 million saved in their 401(k)s. The Hill’s Taylor Giorno reports:

A record number of 401(k) accounts contained $1 million or more during the second quarter of 2024, according to an analysis from Fidelity Investments.

There were about 497,000 so-called 401(k) “millionaires” last quarter, a 2.5 percent increase from 485,000 during the first quarter, according to Fidelity’s analysis of 24 million 401(k) accounts across 26,000 employer-sponsored plans.

The number of individual retirement account (IRA) participants carrying balances of $1 million or more also hit a record high last quarter, jumping 6 percent from the first quarter to nearly 399,000.

The average retirement saver has seen their accounts swell in the last year.

The average retirement account balance grew for the third consecutive quarter, with the average 401(k) and IRA balance up 1 percent to $127,100 and $129,200 respectively.

The average 401(k) account balance is up 13 percent from a year ago, and the average IRA account balance is up 14 percent.

“Retirement savers in the second quarter of 2024 benefited from the continued upswing of the previous quarter, when contribution levels and average account balances reached record highs,” said Sharon Brovelli, president of workplace investing at Fidelity Investments.

Action Line: Your Survival Guy wants you to save til it hurts. The easiest way to ensure an unhappy retirement is to get to it with too little money saved. When you want help building a plan to save for your retirement, I’m here. In the meantime, click here to subscribe to my free monthly Survive & Thrive letter.

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E.J. Smith - Your Survival Guy

E.J. Smith is Founder of YourSurvivalGuy.com, Managing Director at Richard C. Young & Co., Ltd., a Managing Editor of Richardcyoung.com, and Editor-in-Chief of Youngresearch.com. His focus at all times is on preparing clients and readers for “Times Like These.” E.J. graduated from Babson College in Wellesley, Massachusetts, with a B.S. in finance and investments. In 1995, E.J. began his investment career at Fidelity Investments in Boston before joining Richard C. Young & Co., Ltd. in 1998. E.J. has trained at Sig Sauer Academy in Epping, NH. His first drum set was a 5-piece Slingerland with Zildjians. He grew-up worshiping Neil Peart (RIP) of the band Rush, and loves the song Tom Sawyer—the name of his family’s boat, a Grady-White Canyon 306. He grew up in Mattapoisett, MA, an idyllic small town on the water near Cape Cod. He spends time in Newport, RI and Bartlett, NH—both as far away from Wall Street as one could mentally get. The Newport office is on a quiet, tree lined street not far from the harbor and the log cabin in Bartlett, NH, the “Live Free or Die” state, sits on the edge of the White Mountain National Forest. He enjoys spending time in Key West (RIP JB) and Paris. Please get in touch with E.J. at ejsmith@yoursurvivalguy.com To sign up for my free monthly Survive & Thrive letter, click here.
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