Average Retiree Income and Savings. How do you compare?

After investing from my salary of 350k for 4 years, I've only made about 8% total, or 2% per year, which my friends say is very low. My employer 401k of $220K returns about 4%. What would you advice to do with my portfolio for improved returns?

As a dual income high earning household as well as frugal in a very low cost state, I can imagine individuals like us really skew these average net worth calculations based on what we see on YouTube and read on Reddit.

Yeah, I was in the above average half of employees while working and now I am above average net worth, go figure, was never the best but I always strived to be in the above average half throughout my career and everything worked out OK.

I’ve been diligently working, saving and contributing towards early retirement and financial independence, but since covid outbreak, I've been unable to underperform the market, do I keep contributing to my 401k or look at alternative sectors to meet my goals?

Thanks, interesting thoughts. But I like it when you say, "Lets go for a walk."

Average means nothing. Median means everything.

Read the note at the bottom of the chart a 9:24. These numbers are total of defined contribution plans, IRAs, and Keoghs. It does not include things that many people have their money in like stocks, Mutual Funds, etc. Not including these leads to a very misleading picture of people's assets.

Always invest, be consistent and it will pay off in the long run.

It's sad, I'm not doing well at all, but I'm doing better than about 30-40 of other people in the country.

Does anyone know if the incomes quoted were in "take home" or pre-tax?

Thanks for the video. I’ve been paying into SS for over 40 years (over 300k between me and my employer so far) and hope to retire in about 3 years. Solving SS shouldn’t be too hard - 1) only allow people who paid into SS should be allowed to withdraw from SS, 2) increase the employee and employers by 1/2 to 1 percent, and 3) increase the upper limit for SS to 500k. I’m just making numbers up but you get the picture. Working for a good company helps - I work for a great company and they are really generous with retirement contributions so I’m working for about 3 years or so more. Also I plan on working PT after retirement so I’m sure that will help. Anyway, thanks for the video.

Honestly, who cares how other people are doing? Income is irrelevant. It's where you live, how you live, debt, and needy kids or parents

Brother Jeff....always bragging and driving a sports car. I think he was adopted but mom is not saying anything.

Retirement is now more difficult than it was in the past. I've been saving for a long time instead of investing, and right now I only have about $400K. considering all the inflation, i'm thinking of investing in stocks, i dont just have idea on market strategies.

Usually your net income is 75% of what the gross income is. When I was working I took home about 66% of my gross because of contributions to the TSP PLUS UNION dues.

"Great video! Amazing insights on average retiree income and savings. Did you know 1 in 3 retirees save less than expected? How do your numbers stack up?"

Having your retirement funds at risk in the market means that the “amount you have saved” changes continually. This sounds like a trivial point, but it isn’t. The DOW and the S&P have both tanked in consecutive days. My retirement savings amount is probably going to be about $15K less tomorrow than it was four days ago.

These numbers seem very low. I am in a group of 70-something retirees in the NYC area, and we all have considerable wealth. If you had a good job in this area, or owned real estate, you should have at least $100K in income and $2 million in net worth. The same thing is probably true in California. Of course, there were some guys who made a lot of money and didn't save - we know a few of them.

Net worth is kind of meaningless as far as retirement goes as you have to live in your primary residence and more than likely won’t generate income from it. I guess you could do a reverse mortgage or rent out a room if worst comes to worst.

@Azul Do you have a paid call in option.