Average retirement savings by age: how do you stack up?

Mature, smiling couple sitting on the couch and putting coins into a piggybank

Everyone's eventual retirement situation — and current savings capability — is different

(Image credit: LordHenriVoton / Getty Images)

When retirement is still a hazy plan somewhere far in the future, it can feel tough to pinpoint whether or not you are saving appropriately. Are you tucking enough aside to eventually quit working? Or are you going overboard with saving and missing out on opportunities in the here and now?

One way to assess your savings efforts thus far: see how you stack up to your peers. While this will not give you all the answers on how much to save, being aware of other's progress can provide a helpful benchmark — and perhaps some motivation.

What is the typical retirement savings by age?

According to data compiled by the Survey of Consumer Finances, these are average retirement account balances by age:

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Under 35: $49,130

35-44: $141,520

45-54: $313,220

55-64: $537,560

65-74: $609,230

75 and older: $462,410

When looking at these figures, it is important to keep in mind that "averages can be heavily skewed by the outlier of over- and underachievers in each group," said NerdWallet. The median — or the midpoint number — can "provide a more representative number than the average," and in this case, those figures "are quite a bit lower than the averages," said NerdWallet, as you can see below:

Under 35: $18,880

35-44: $45,000

45-54: $115,000

55-64: $185,000

65-74: $200,000

75 and older: $130,000

What factors besides age should influence your retirement savings goal?

Comparing yourself to others can only provide so much insight. After all, everyone's eventual retirement situation — and current savings capability — is different.

When determining how much you will need in retirement, it is also important to consider factors such as:

The expenses you will have in retirement
The age you plan to retire (and your anticipated life expectancy)
The lifestyle you want in retirement
The other sources of funding you will have during retirement, such as Social Security, annuities or long-term care insurance

How can you catch up if you are behind on savings for retirement?

A challenge many people face when saving for retirement is their current cash flow not aligning with their target savings number. This can lead to a retirement account balance that lags behind where it ideally should be.

In that situation, one of the best things you can do, if you have a workplace retirement account, is to "at least contribute the amount needed to enable the matching employer contributions that can boost your savings," said Investopedia.

You might also reevaluate your budget to trim spending and ramp up savings, as well as commit any windfalls, such as your tax refund, to your retirement account. If you are having a hard time finding extra money to put toward retirement, it is also worth exploring ways to increase your income, or potentially reevaluating your retirement plan.

Becca Stanek has worked as an editor and writer in the personal finance space since 2017. She previously served as a deputy editor and later a managing editor overseeing investing and savings content at LendingTree and as an editor at the financial startup SmartAsset, where she focused on retirement- and financial-adviser-related content. Before that, Becca was a staff writer at The Week, primarily contributing to Speed Reads.