The Average American Starts Saving For Retirement At This Age

Most Americans will retire at some point, usually after the age of 65 and years of saving up. While this general process isn't likely to change anytime soon, what is changing is the age people actually start saving for their golden years. A Stanford survey from 2022 revealed that the average person doesn't start saving for retirement until age 32, with serious planning not actually beginning until age 50. This information was largely on par with previous surveys, including one from Wells Fargo in 2015 that showed most people started saving between the ages of 31 and 37. However, the annual Transamerica Retirement Survey released in 2025 shows that younger generations may be lowering the average starting age even further. According to the report, the average Millennial (those born between 1981 and 1996) started saving for their future retirement at age 26, while Generation Z (born between 1997 and 2012) is starting even earlier at age 20.

Previous generations held fairly steady at starting to save for retirement in their 30s, so why the drop in starting age for Millennials and Gen Z? It's no secret that younger generations are facing significant financial hurdles, with student debt, housing costs, and inflation all making for a more difficult economic environment than those seen by older generations around today. While this has resulted in a degree of money phobia in younger generations, being forced to face these challenges may have also contributed to getting an earlier jump on saving plans. Today, the ages at which Millennials and Gen Z are beginning to save up actually aligns more closely with the recommended age to start saving for retirement.

Younger generations' retirement-saving behavior may also just be on the tail end of a long, gradual downward shift. Many Baby Boomers (born between 1946 and 1964), were mid-career when defined retirement benefit plans like pensions were starting to vanish, which also happened to be when Generation X (born between 1965 and 1980) was entering the workforce. These significant changes to retirement funding expectations likely played a big role in these generations starting to save up later in their lifetimes than their younger counterparts. At the same time, the Transamerica Retirement Survey points out that, thanks to changing workplace compensation standards, Gen Z has had access to 401K plans and other retirement saving accounts at an earlier age than previous generations.

Basically, however much you think you'll need in retirement, the reality is that you'll probably wind up needing more. Not only is there inflation to consider, but there have been big changes to social security over the years as well as Medicare. How much you actually need is also highly individualistic, depending on your lifestyle, where you live, and other factors like investments, inheritances, social security, pension eligibility, and, of course, when you actually retire. That said, a 2025 analysis by Northwestern Mutual shows that most Americans believe they'll need $1.26 million to retire comfortably at age 65, with over half of Americans believing they'll realistically run out of savings during their retirement. Interestingly, however, Baby Boomers were the only exception to this belief, with only 40% thinking they'll live out their retirement savings. For comparison, 56% of Gen X, 57% of Millennials, and 51% of Gen Z think this.

It should nevertheless be emphasized that there is no one-size-fits-all retirement amount. Most financial planners recommend saving up between 10 to 12 times your annual income to be safe, though of course this can fluctuate over time. If you're looking to retire earlier, you'll also need to save up more. Nobody knows exactly how long their lifespan will be, but a good rule of thumb is to estimate living until at least your mid-90s. This means taking extra steps to save up what you need to retire by age 62 or before.