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How Big Is Your 401K Balance?
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It’s not really bragging when you talk about the value of your 401K because no one really truly cares how much money you’ve saved away and can tap into forty years down the road. While it does say something about the person saving, it’s not really all that bad if you’ve only put the minimum matching amount into your 401K because anything more is merely gravy. In fact, some would say that having too big of a 401K balance would be bad because you’re emphasizing the future and not the present. Anyway, if you’re a blogger and recently wrote a 401K balance related post (include how long you’ve been contributing), let me know (email is best) and I’ll post you with the crew I’ve found below (link in name is to the post I found the information on):
- Mapgirl: $20k+, 2 years
- Flexo: ~$40k, 5+ years
- Hazzard: Almost $100k, 6 years
- 2million: ~$118k, ~5 years
- ME: ~71k, 4 years
- bostonmichelle (of GEICO fraudulent claim fame): $152k, 12 years
- broknowrchlatr: $31k, 3.5 years
- burn: $8k, 1 year
- English Major: $10k, ? years
- Dong: $210k, 7 years
- Nick: $20k, 1.5 years
- Mike: $6k, ~1.5 years
- Tired of working: $1.1M, 25 years
- andyaluba: $9.3K, 9 months
- Tim: $26k, 1 year
- Shadox: $38k, 2 years
(I’m not going to update this anymore, it’s getting to be a bit of a bear, but feel free to leave your values in the comments… sorry folks!)
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oh oh. you should include English Major. She just broke the $10K mark. She said so in her comment on my post.
$31,191.22 over 3.5 years at current employer. I rolled over previous emplores to IRS totalling $59k
I’m not a blogger, but mine is ate $8k in 1 year (my first year out of college). I also set up a Roth IRA this year and put in the maximum contribution of $4k without cutting down on my monthly 401k contribution.
210k over 7 years. Company match and a good stock market can do wonders. The 1st 2 years at my 1st 401k employer, I actually contributed closes to 12k and ended up with 6k at the end of it. But it’s been a nice climb over the last 5.
$20k in 18 months contributing only up to the company match, thanks mostly to the company stock soaring about 50% in one year.
Punny, you should be careful not to include too much of your 401k in your company’s stock – it’s like putting all your eggs in one basket. If you lose your job & your company goes downill – you lose twice.
Over the last 9 years:
my contributions have grown to $130K
employer contributions have grown to $70K
my wife’s contributions have grown to $136K
employer contributions for her have grown to $90K
$6k, 16 months, lol.
I should add though, both wife and I just out of college with a kid and only 1 income!
$1.1M, over 25 years.
im so small at only $1.4
9 months, 9.3K (just out of school)
$26k 1yr me
$26k 1yr spouse
$38K – 24 months.
Weekly Roundup – 06/01/07
Another week, another weekly roundup… But before we jump into the links, I just wanted to let you a heads up about something… In case you haven’t noticed, FiveCentNickel has been loading somewhat slowly recently. This is primarily due…
NetworthIQ.com has probably hundreds of people submitting their 401K info within the “retirement” category of assets. While they do not split out 401k (as opposed to 403b, Roth IRA, IRA, Roth 401K, other pension) they do provide the age range of the users of NetworthIQ.com
…and what I think may be the coolest part:There’s also people who enter their data from other countries. (so I suppose one day someone can do the research and determine which country saves the most towards their retirement)
$289k 8y (others in other forms of retirement assets)
Mike, you should be proud. You obviously have some good discipline. Most people I know in a similar personal situation (and even a couple years more removed from college) haven’t saved a dime (they don’t even take the company match – gasp!).
I love my 401k and do everything possible to max out…. I’m at
$258K in 10years, age 38y.
I’m at 71K with about 8 years in the working world – 2 of which I was unemployed for.
I’ve never revealed any numbers before but this sure is interesting! Here are mine:
$50K in 3 years.
Okay I see numbers and years – what about ages and salaries?
Someone having 30k in two years when they are 24 and making 30k a year is much more impressive than a 40 year old making half a mill.
Rebuilding my 401(k) from $0 after the layoff:
$26K in 4 years. Building slow, my money’s been going to debt repayment.
link
106k, just celebrated 6 years last week.
Unfortunately, my employer puts a limit on what we can contribute that is way less than the federal max.
49200 approx 5 1/2 yrs
I don’t have a 401k. My family owns a small family business and our retirement program is a profit-sharing plan (that I don’t wholly understand). Employees make no contributions. Instead, we decide as officers to contribute between 0% and 15% of each employee’s salary every year (all percentages must be the same for every employee each year). Usually, we choose 10%, though I always lobby for 15%.
Last year we considered moving to a 401k so that employees could make contributions, but I was the only one in favor of it. My brother didn’t want it because he wants the cash *now*. My cousin didn’t want it because he doesn’t expect to live long enough to take advantage of it. They argued that the employees wouldn’t want it either. So: no 401k.
In the 11-1/2 years since we started our non-401k retirement plan, my balance has grown to $79,623.26. That’s not very much.
I have $223k after 12 years with current employer, wife has $170k after 11 years with current employer. Also have another $30k in IRA.
$286k in 12 years, age 35. Started maxing out at age 23 on a $31k salary. Here’s my 401k story.
Wife and I are both 56 years old and both retired last year. I have 1.9 million in tax deferred retirement accounts, 1.5 million in liquid accounts, wife has approx 980k in her 401k. We have been saving for about 30 years. I have approx $3 million in commercial real esate investments. I was a pharmacist, wife was an architect. We inherited $9.2 million from my father’s estate last year. (He was a plastic surgeon for 30 years in Beverly Hills) We summer in the Adirondacks and winter in the Carribean. We own a beach house in the Cayman Islands. We are relocating to there at the end of 2007 as we love to Scuba dive. We have no children, allowing us to accelerate our retiremnt savings. We were given a house as a wedding present from my dad, and so we never had to pay a mortgage.
rolled over 49k in 2005, worth 93k today,
I have $37 million put away for retirement (won the Lottery last year)
6500 in 401k, 4000 in roth ira. 25 years old and have been contributing for 18 months.
wife and I have $6.4 million in 401k and IRA combined. I am 57, she is 56. Also have $7.4 million in liquid accounts. Own antique autos valued at $900k. I am a Pathologist, wife is a Radiologist. I will retire in 3 years, wife to retire at end of 2007.
I have 968k in my 401k. I’m 55. I am an investment banker. I just inherited $14 million from my mothers’s estate. She was an attorney. I own properties on both the East and West Coast, as well as a villa in Rome Italy. I own half of a Major Leagure baseball team. My wife is a physician (dermatolgist). She is 50, she has $4.3 million in retirement accounts. I will be retiring this year. Wife wants to keep working, she earns $750k per year. (We have twin sons, both in Medical school. One is going to be a Dermatologist, the other a Pediatrician.)
Quite frankly I don’t know how the people who have posted on this site will make it with their meager amounts saved for retirement. Even with what my wife and I have set aside, I’m still concered about our lifestyle post retirement. We may have to sell the Villa in Rome. I guess we all have to make sacrifices.
I have 30 soda cans to return for deposit. That combined with my savings account gives me about $149 put away for my Golden years. I am 63 years old. Needless to say, I will work until I die.
how do I check my current 401k balance
is there an online facility where I can regularly check my current 401k balance. I left US 7 years back and want to withdraw my 401k money
I have a 1 cent stamp and an old potatoe that resembles Richard Nixon that I’m trying to sell on e-bay. These are my retirement assets. My wife is a crack whore and brings in about $65 a week hooking at the local gas station. Fill ‘er up for $5. Our son works as a barker in a traveling carnival. He’s in line for a promotion to ticket seller for the Tilt-a-whirl next spring. Daughter has 6 fingers on her left hand and has a lip fingus. She sells maps to movie star’s homes and on weekends helps Mom at her gas station post.
Our future looks almost as bright as Louis, Jack and Alex who posted here.
I have an apple core that Elvis threw in the trash just before he died. Also, I used to have a job at Yankee Stadium cleaning toilets in the clubhouse. I have one of Roger Clemens’ old jockstraps. I will be selling these items and investing the proceeds for my retirement. I also have $21.49 set aside in my Roth IRA. I’m quite a catch ladies…..
I peddle my sorry, sagging ass to crack addicts on the UES of Manhatten, and I’m setting this cash asside for my retirement. Also, I am thinking of bidding on Barney’s Nixon potatoe (see above post). That investment will certainly do better than any 401k with today’s stock market.
Well this article and bloggers seem to be a bunch of boaster loosers at a quick glance but I could be judging incorrectly!
It’s great that people are saving but don’t fixate of the balance. The reason I bring this up is point is that preople in this blog have frazes like ‘my balance is $x so I dropped my contribution rate so I could ???? spend more/leave employment/false taxable investment and I’m only X years old.
Just before you say I’m bitter and old, you cannot be more wrong in age or savings status however I know what retirement is and how long it will be.
Just remember the younger the savings the better, as any finacial advisor will tell you, you will be; However being googled eyed about your 401K balance should wait until you are closer to retirement
I see that you cens, uh, removed my informative statement.
It’s no wonder that liberal constituents never learn and people like me turn them green with envy and jealousy.
So much for tolerant liberals. C’est la vie…
okay. how do you know what is in your 401k? I feel like an idiot!