U.S. job openings post biggest drop in more than four years

Re:U.S. job openings post biggest drop in more than four years by brewdad on Friday January 17, 2020 @12:37PM (#22076979)

The median 401k balance for 40-49 year olds is $36,000 [0]. These are adults who, for the most part, have never had access to pensions, only to 401k plans. They are about midway between entering the workforce and retirement. They, as a group, are nowhere near prepared to retire. Ever.

A booming stock market is irrelevant to most Americans.

[0]: https://www.nerdwallet.com/article/investing/the-average-401...

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Re:U.S. job openings post biggest drop in more than four years by kevstev on Friday January 17, 2020 @01:21PM (#22077500)

This gets thrown around a bunch in personal finance forums as well, but its a bit dishonest IMHO- it saying that the avg balance for a 401k account is 36k, not that the average balance across all 401ks account for an individual is 36k. Considering the typical tenure these days is around 2-3 years, this makes sense. Most people it seems don't really consolidate their 401ks.

That article also says that the average isn't a useful measure, but I feel it likely is more useful than stated as everyone has a capped contribution amount. There are some outlying scenarios where you can contribute more, but those are far from typical.

It seems there are a bunch of ways to fudge these numbers- I have a roth and a standard 401k- these are likely counted as 2 separate accounts, thus painting a much bleaker picture of my overall financial health.

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