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.
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.