A 55-year-old couple with $400,000 saved for retirement might feel they are doing fine, or falling behind, depending on which benchmark they use. The Federal Reserve’s 2022 Survey of Consumer Finances offers the most reliable answer available, and the numbers it reports are sobering for many households. Median net worth for families headed by someone aged 55 to 64 was $364,500. For those 65 to 74, it was $409,900. These figures include everything a family owns minus everything it owes: homes, retirement accounts, vehicles, and debts.
Those medians, though, mask enormous variation. Mean net worth for the 55-to-64 group was $1.57 million, and for the 65-to-74 group it was $1.79 million. The gulf between median and mean reflects a concentration of wealth at the top that skews averages far above what a typical family actually holds. Understanding where you fall relative to the median, not the mean, gives a far more honest picture of retirement readiness.
Net worth benchmarks by age group
The SCF breaks households into age bands based on the age of the family head. Here is what the 2022 data show:
- Under 35: Median net worth of $39,000; mean of $183,500.
- 35 to 44: Median of $135,600; mean of $549,600.
- 45 to 54: Median of $247,200; mean of $975,800.
- 55 to 64: Median of $364,500; mean of $1.57 million.
- 65 to 74: Median of $409,900; mean of $1.79 million.
- 75 and older: Median of $335,600; mean of $1.62 million.
These figures come from the Fed’s interactive SCF data tables, which cover survey waves from 1989 through 2022 and allow users to pull medians and means for net worth and its components without processing raw microdata. The 2022 wave captured a period shaped by pandemic-era stimulus payments, sharp gains in home values, and a volatile stock market, all of which influenced the distribution.
One pattern stands out: net worth peaks in the 65-to-74 bracket and then declines. That drop among the oldest households reflects drawdowns in retirement, but it also reflects generational differences in lifetime earnings, pension coverage, and homeownership rates. Comparing yourself only to your own age cohort gives the most useful signal.
Why the median-mean gap matters
The Fed’s bulletin on changes in family finances from 2019 to 2022 stresses that means are pulled sharply upward by a small number of very wealthy households. When a news headline reports that the “average” American family has over $1 million in net worth, it is almost certainly citing the mean. That figure describes the arithmetic center of a lopsided distribution, not the experience of a typical household.
For retirement planning, medians are the more grounded reference. They mark the point where half of families have more and half have less. If your net worth sits near the median for your age group, you are in the middle of the pack. That does not automatically mean you are on track, but it does tell you where you stand relative to peers.
Social Security as a baseline
Net worth benchmarks do not capture the full retirement picture because they exclude future income streams. For most retirees, Social Security provides a critical floor. According to the Social Security Administration’s statistical data, the average monthly retirement benefit as of early 2025 was roughly $1,976, or about $23,700 per year. Married couples with two earners typically receive more, but benefit levels vary widely based on lifetime earnings and claiming age.
Social Security was never designed to replace a full paycheck. The program’s own literature describes it as replacing roughly 40% of pre-retirement earnings for a median earner. That leaves a significant gap that private savings, pensions, or continued work must fill. Households comparing their net worth to SCF benchmarks should treat Social Security as a crucial but partial piece of the puzzle, not a fixed offset that eliminates the need for personal savings.
There is also an open question about the program’s long-term financing. The Social Security trustees have projected that the combined trust funds face depletion in the mid-2030s, after which incoming payroll taxes would cover only a portion of scheduled benefits. Any future changes to benefit formulas, claiming ages, or taxation of benefits would shift how much weight private savings need to carry.
2026 contribution limits give savers more room
For workers still building their nest eggs, 2026 brings modestly higher ceilings for tax-advantaged retirement accounts. The IRS confirmed in its November 2025 announcement that the elective deferral limit for 401(k), 403(b), and most 457 plans will rise to $24,500, up from $23,500 in 2025. The annual IRA contribution cap increases to $7,500, up from $7,000.
Workers aged 50 and older can still make standard catch-up contributions of $7,500 to a 401(k), bringing their total possible deferral to $32,000. But a provision from the SECURE 2.0 Act adds a further boost for those aged 60 through 63: their catch-up limit rises to $11,250 for 2026, allowing a total 401(k) deferral of up to $35,750. That window is narrow, covering just four years of eligibility, but it offers a meaningful opportunity for late-career savers trying to close a gap.
These limits define how much income workers can shield from current taxation in qualified accounts. They do not, by themselves, predict how much people will actually save. Research consistently shows that participation and contribution rates are highest among higher earners and those with employer matches. For moderate-income workers, the limits matter less than whether they have access to a workplace plan at all.
What the benchmarks do not capture
The SCF’s net worth figures are comprehensive in scope, covering financial assets, real estate, business equity, vehicles, and all forms of debt. But they are a snapshot, not a forecast. The 2022 data are now several years old, and the next survey wave, based on 2025 interviews, will not be published until roughly 2027. In the interim, the Fed’s quarterly Distributional Financial Accounts offer more current estimates of household balance sheets by age and wealth group, but they rely on different methods and lack the SCF’s household-level detail.
Inflation also complicates direct comparisons. A median net worth of $364,500 in 2022 dollars has less purchasing power in 2026. The Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Consumer Price Index shows cumulative inflation of roughly 10% to 12% between mid-2022 and early 2026, depending on the measure used. That means a household would need approximately $400,000 to $410,000 today to match the 2022 median in real terms for the 55-to-64 age group.
Analytical models add another layer. The Center for Retirement Research at Boston College uses the SCF to update its National Retirement Risk Index, which estimates the share of working-age households likely to fall short of their pre-retirement living standard. The most recent update, drawing on 2022 data, found that roughly half of households were at risk. That figure depends on assumptions about investment returns, housing wealth, Social Security benefits, and longevity. When those assumptions shift, so does the estimate. It is a useful framework, not a precise prediction.
Putting the numbers to work
For someone trying to gauge whether their savings are on track, the practical approach starts with the SCF medians for their age group as a reference point. Sitting at or above the median means you have more than half of American families in your cohort, but it does not guarantee a comfortable retirement. The adequacy of any net worth figure depends on expected Social Security income, pension coverage, housing costs, health expenses, and how long retirement lasts.
Financial planners often use a rule of thumb: aim for roughly 10 to 12 times your pre-retirement income saved by age 67. That target, popularized by firms like Fidelity, is a simplification, but it provides a second lens alongside the SCF data. Someone earning $80,000 a year would target $800,000 to $960,000 in savings, a figure well above the median net worth for the 65-to-74 age group. The gap between what planners recommend and what typical households actually hold is one of the starkest takeaways from the data.
The 2026 contribution increases, including the enhanced catch-up for workers aged 60 to 63, offer a concrete lever. A worker who maxes out a 401(k) at $35,750 per year for four years would add $143,000 in pre-tax contributions alone, not counting investment growth or employer matches. That will not close every gap, but for households within striking distance of their targets, it can make a material difference.
What the numbers ultimately show is that retirement readiness in the United States is deeply uneven. The tools for saving exist, the official benchmarks are publicly available, and the contribution limits keep rising. Whether those advantages translate into security depends on access, income, and decisions made years or decades before retirement arrives.
