Don’t leave free money on the table. Make sure you’re, at the very least, contributing to the company match in your 401(k). This is the only free lunch in retirement investing. Pass it on.
Your Survival Guy used to work in the 401(k) division at Fidelity Investments, then referred to as FIRSCO (Fidelity Institutional Retirement Services Company). If you have a 401(k) at Fidelity, are near retirement, or are in retirement and want assistance doing an IRA rollover, I can help. At The Wall Street Journal, Gunjan Banerji explains the growing number of “moderate millionaires” who have been putting their 401(k)s to good use. Banerji writes:
The 401(k) millionaire club is growing.
Steady saving by many Americans and a third consecutive year of big gains for U.S. stocks have swollen account balances. As 2025 comes to a close, many individual investors are finding holiday cheer in statements showing they have crossed the $1 million milestone.
As of the third quarter, there were 654,000 401(k) millionaires at the brokerage Fidelity, the highest level in records going back to the early 2000s. Around 3.2% of more than three million accounts tracked by benefits provider Alight had balances above $1 million as of the third quarter, double the figure at the end of 2022. At T. Rowe Price, roughly 2.6% of participants had balances above $1 million, up from 1.3% at the end of 2022.
For the first time, half of private-sector workers are saving in 401(k)s, which allow workers to invest money directly from their paychecks without subtracting income taxes upfront. Many of those accounts are also more tied to the stock market than ever before, with workers in their late 30s allocating roughly 88% to equities last year, up from 82% a decade earlier, according to a Vanguard Group examination of the millions of plans it administers.
While about 40% of U.S. households are still at risk of being unable to maintain their standard of living in retirement, according to the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College, many of those using 401(k)s are doing better than ever.
Action Line: The hardworking 401(k) owners are saving til it hurts, and putting tomorrow ahead of today. They’re fairly wealthy, and it’s time to develop good investing habits. When you want to talk about an IRA rollover and developing those good investing habits, email me at ejsmith@yoursurvivalguy.com. And click here to subscribe to my free monthly Survive & Thrive letter.
