Retirement savers experienced their third consecutive quarter of growth in Q2 2024, with Gen X savers showing strong gains in individual retirement arrangements (IRAs), a sign of progress considering that cohort’s prior struggles with saving for life after work.
This is according to a report released by Fidelity Investments, based on 401(k) and 403(b) data derived from 26,100 corporate defined contribution plans and roughly 32 million total participants as of June 30, 2024.
“Average account balances rose for the third straight quarter to reach the third-highest average on record,” the report said. “Average 401(k) and 403(b) balances increased 13% and 12%, respectively, since Q2 of last year. Total savings rates remained fairly flat from last quarter but are still up slightly from a year ago.”
401(k) balances for women also rose 13.2% over levels from Q2 2023, compared to a 12.5% increase for men in the same period. Gen Z women saw a stark increase of 51% year over year.
Average balances are naturally higher for older generations. For baby boomers, the average retirement savings balance stood at $242,000 in Q2, followed by Gen X ($182,000), millennials ($62,000) and Gen Z ($12,000).
“Fidelity’s analysis indicates that Millennials and Gen Z workers are more likely to have all their savings in a target date fund, while less than 15% of Boomers have a loan outstanding,” the report said.
Much has been said about Gen X’s struggles with establishing retirement savings, but the report indicates that the cohort is steadily working at building up a retirement nest egg.
“Gen X made strong gains with their retirement savings,” the report said. “Gen X had a 30% increase in total IRA contributions over the last year, with current contributions the highest they’ve been in the last five years.”
The report operates off of Pew Research Center’s definitions of the various generations: baby boomers are those born between 1946-1964, Gen X were born between 1965-1980, Millennials between 1981-1996 and Gen Z between 1997-2012.
A study conducted earlier this year by Allianz Life found that 62% of Gen Xers “feel confident about being able to financially support all the things they want to do in life,” compared with 82% of baby boomers and 77% of millennials. But more than half of Gen X respondents (55%) also said they “wish that they would have saved more money for retirement,” a feeling that is more severe among Hispanic (63%) and Black (56%) members of the cohort.
But despite those challenges, and perhaps in an indication of forward thinking, the generation also demonstrates interest now about finding housing that is suitable for aging in place.
Gen X members are already taking proactive steps by thinking “about where they will live in their 70s, 80s and even 90s,” according to reporting earlier this year by the New York Times based on 2021 data from the Harvard University Joint Center for Housing Studies.