You're Considered A 'Super Saver' If You Put Away This Much Of Your Income

If you put away more than 10% of your paycheck into a retirement plan like the 401(k), you may now be considered a "super saver," according to a 2024 Transamerica Retirement Survey of Workers. Per the survey, 44% of workers who participate in a 401(k) or a similar workplace plan cleared that mark, with 29% putting away more than 15% of their pay. Just as importantly, the median salary deferral rate among plan participants was 10%, which means the super-saver line starts just above what many workers are already aiming for. Crucially, the survey shows that 91% of workers offered a workplace plan are saving for retirement, versus 51% of those without one. Therefore, access to an employer 401(k) also plays a big role in whether or not people are saving at all.

A Fidelity report helps put the 10% super-saver benchmark in perspective. It reveals that the total average 401(k) savings rate was 14.1% in the fourth quarter of 2024, with 9.4% coming from employee and 4.7% from employer contributions. So, if you are personally contributing more than 10% of your wages, you are already doing better than a lot of workers on the employee side alone, even before a company match is added.

Still, being a "super saver" does not mean you're making the most of your monthly contributions. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) limits the 2026 elective deferral for 401(k) plans to $24,500, so a worker earning $60,000 — around the average salary of workers in their 30s — who saves 10% would put away $6,000 a year, or $500 a month, and still have plenty of room below the cap. 

Putting away 10% of your income for retirement shows strong discipline and generally sets you up well, but it may not be enough to ensure a comfortable retirement. Fidelity says 15% of annual income, including any employer match, is a solid long-term target for workers who start at 25 and retire at 67. A late starter who begins saving for retirement at 30 may need to save 18%, while a 35-year-old starting from zero may need to put aside 23%.

So, while contributing 10% of your pay technically makes you a "super saver," your savings rate needs to synergize with age, current balance, and retirement timeline. T. Rowe Price recommends that a 25-year-old worker should aim to have one to one-and-a-half times their annual income saved by 35, and much as 11 times put aside by the age of 60. Higher income earners may also need a higher saving rate, since Social Security benefits replace a much larger share of pre-retirement income for lower earners than they do for their higher-earning counterparts.

If you feel like you didn't start saving early enough or you've not contributed enough, you're not alone. According to a Bankrate survey, many Americans are behind on their retirement savings, with over a fifth of respondents not making any contributions in 2024 or 2025. At the same time, a Transamerica survey from 2025 also found that 69% of workers believe they could work until retirement and still not save enough. But with some aggressive and diligent saving strategies, along with expert help, you should still be able to catch up on retirement savings and build a decent nest egg for the golden years.