✨ Get to know Boldin’s AI Planner Assistant
The Boldin Financial Planner Take control of your plans. Retire earlier, with more security and find financial confidence.
Get expert support Make sure your plan is set up correctly with a coach. Or, talk to a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER® from Boldin Advisors for even more guidance and support.
Resources Fuel your financial planning know-how
Blog Your guide to financial planning and retirement
November 27, 2024 • 6 minutes
Before we look at average net worth by age, let me start by saying that there are pros and cons to even tracking your own. And, while understanding where you stand as compared to averages can be a useful benchmark, it can also be a futile exercise that focuses you are the wrong thing.
Benchmarking your net worth against averages can provide helpful context for understanding your financial position. It allows you to gauge whether you’re generally on track compared to others in your age group. This perspective can motivate you to set realistic goals, adjust your financial habits, or celebrate progress toward milestones.
However, relying too heavily on benchmarks has pitfalls. Averages don’t account for individual circumstances, such as cost of living, career paths, or unique financial goals. They may make you feel unnecessarily discouraged if you’re below average, or overly confident if you’re above, even if your financial habits need improvement. (NOTE: Too often people with a lot of money, spend a lot of money and are not truly building wealth.)
So many retirement articles suggest that you need $1 million to retire. But, it just isn’t true for the majority of people. If you have low expenses and reliable income, then much less savings are needed and a lower net worth is perfectly fine.
TIP: Instead of comparing yourself to others, it’s often better to focus on your personal progress and how your worth aligns with your goals and life situation. (Use the Boldin Planner to manage a holistic financial plan for the life you want.)
Now that you have perspective on benchmarking yourself, let’s take a look at the numbers. According to the most recent Survey of Consumer Finances (SCF) from the Federal Reserve:
Yes. There is a big difference between the average and the median. As a reminder:
The mean can be skewed by really big or small numbers, but the median shows the center of the data more reliably when there are outliers.
It shouldn’t be surprising that median is low at this age. However, the more young people can save, the more they can benefit from the magic of compound interest.
Age range 20-24
Age range 25-29
As people in their 30s begin to buy homes and increase earnings, the median begins to really grow.
Age range 30-34
Age range 35-39
It is interesting to note that the median actually drops from $141,200 for 35-39 year olds to that for 40-44 year olds. It could be due to the competing priorities of mid life.
Age range 40-44
Age range 45-49
Your fifties is the time to get serious about your future and determine if your current financial situation is optimized for retirement. As you can see the median net worth of people at this age is pretty far off the mark for what most “experts” say is needed for a secure future.
Age range 50-54
Age range 55-59
As you can see, there is decent growth in the median from the 50s into the 60s, although it is much less than what you might think. This doesn’t mean that the majority of people are retiring into poverty, although retiring on Social Security alone is a thing.
Age range 60-64
Age range 65-69
People are often surprised to learn that retirement is not necessarily a time of diminishing worth. It is not uncommon to see it grow, especially in early retirement. (See how to increase wealth after retirement.)
However, healthcare costs become more of a factor as you age and will play a big part of net worth for people in their seventies and beyond.
Age range 70-74
Age range 75-80
The average for aBoldin subscriber is just over $3 million.
It should be no surprise that Boldin subscribers are in the top 5%. It isn’t just saving and investing that grows net worth. Building and maintaining a financial plan enables you to make better financial decisions and focus on your goals. Measuring what matters and improving performance is a tactic that works.
When you build and maintain a holistic financial plan with the Boldin Retirement Planner you can track a range of financial wellness metrics, develop positive financial habits, make stronger financial decisions, and stay on track to the future you want.
Tracking: The Boldin Retirement Planner is enhancing our net worth tracking. What makes our approach unique is that we focus on your net worth over time, not just today. This long-term perspective can help you make better decisions.
Financial Wellness Score: More important than your net worth may be your Financial Wellness Score, an assessment of how you are doing against 15+ important metrics related to your money. This score paints a more personalized picture of how you are doing and includes your Chance of Retirement Success, next month’s cash flow, and more.
Dozens of Other Insights: The software is full of charts, coach alerts, explorers, and other features to help you see where you stand. And, more importantly, assess what you need to do to live the life you want.
Take financial wellness into your own hands and do it yourself retirement planning: easy, comprehensive, reliable.
Average retirement spending for those over 65 is $48,872 a year. See average spending in specific categories and how to project your own needs.
The average retirement age is… Find out and discover how to determine when you can securely retire… Age 50? 62? 75?
Learn about average home equity and how it impacts your wealth, especially if you are in the lower or middle classes.
