--- title: '401(k) Gender Gap: Men’s Retirement Account Balances Are 50% Higher Than Women’s' description: A new report from Bank of America shows that men's average 401(k) balances are 50% higher than women's, but the gender gap is closing. authors: - name: Pete Grieve role: Lead News Reporter url: https://money.com/author/pete-grieve/ bio: Pete Grieve is a personal finance reporter. In his time at Money, Pete has covered everything from car buying to credit cards to the housing market. education: University of Chicago, BA Political Science at_money_since: 2022 articles: 603 covers: - Retirement - Banking - Business - Career Advice - Credit - Credit Cards - Debt - Economy and Politics - Education - Health and Wellness - Housing - Identity Theft - Insurance - Investing - Lifestyle - Loans - Mortgages - Personal Finance - Professional Services - Shopping - Taxes social: - https://twitter.com/pete_grieve - https://linkedin.com/in/pete-grieve-b5aa02138 - https://www.facebook.com/petegrieve4 editors: - name: Brad Tuttle role: Senior Editor url: https://money.com/author/brad-tuttle/ bio: Brad Tuttle is a former senior editor at Money with over 10 years’ experience covering a vast number of personal finance topics, including careers, cars, travel, budgeting, investing, insurance, credit cards, consumer psychology, real estate, banking, and shopping and deals. education: Columbia University School of Journalism, MS at_money_since: 2014 articles: 366 covers: - Retirement - Banking - Business - Career Advice - Credit - Credit Cards - Economy and Politics - Education - Health and Wellness - Housing - Identity Theft - Insurance - Investing - Lifestyle - Loans - Mortgages - Personal Finance - Pets - Professional Services - Shopping - Taxes - Technology social: - https://twitter.com/bradrtuttle - https://linkedin.com/in/brad-tuttle-834b225 former_staff: true published: '2023-06-28T19:43:58.000Z' modified: '2024-04-17T13:13:28.000Z' section: Retirement tags: - News word_count: 364 canonical: https://money.com/401k-balance-gender-gap-closing/ type: NewsArticle source: structured-blocks --- > **Disclosure:** We research all brands listed and may earn a fee from our partners. Research and financial considerations may influence how brands are displayed. Not all brands are included. [Learn more](https://money.com/page/disclaimer/). ![Conceptual illustration depicting the gender gap in 401k earnings](https://img.money.com/2023/06/News-Mens-401k-much-higher-than-womens-gap-closing.jpg?crop=0px%2C180px%2C2880px%2C1620px&quality=85) Men’s [401(k)](https://money.com/what-is-a-401k-rollover/) balances tend to be larger than women’s, but the gap is closing with each new generation, a new report shows. For men, the average overall account balance among 401(k) participants is $89,000, which is 50% higher than the average balance for women ($59,000), according to a [new Bank of America report](https://newsroom.bankofamerica.com/content/dam/newsroom/docs/2023/2023%20BofA%20Impact%20Reports.pdf). The difference in 401(k) balances is largely a product of the [gender pay gap](https://money.com/gender-pay-gap-close-2056/) in America, according to a [similar analysis by Vanguard](https://institutional.vanguard.com/content/dam/inst/iig-transformation/has/2023/pdf/has-insights/how-america-saves-report-2023.pdf) earlier this month, which found that men’s 401(k) balances are 43% higher than women’s. The traditional 401(k) account is a retirement savings plan commonly offered by employers: You contribute pre-tax dollars from your paycheck, the money is invested in funds and then it’s not taxed until [you take withdrawals](https://money.com/401k-early-withdrawal-costs/) — ideally when you’re older than 59 ½ to avoid a penalty. Given that you typically contribute a percentage of your wages, it’s easy to see why income differences between men and women spill over into 401(k) balances. But the gender pay gap has gradually closed over the course of decades, and it appears that younger generations of women aren’t as far behind on 401(k) savings. The gap in 401(k) balances between men and women is largest among baby boomers: For this demographic, men’s 401(k) balances are 87% larger than women’s on average, and men have about $84,000 more in their accounts than women, according to Bank of America. But when you look at younger generations, there’s some evidence that the gap is closing: - Millennial men still have larger balances than millennial women, but the difference is only 23%. In dollars, the average 401(k) balance for men in the 28-to-42 age group is $29,218, versus $23,715 for women, which is a gap of about $5,500. - Overall, it's still the case that a higher percentage of men contribute to a 401(k) than women. Among eligible employees, 61% of men are participating in a 401(k) plan compared to 52% of women. [7 Best Roth IRA Accounts of 2023](https://money.com/best-roth-ira/) [Here's How Much Money Americans Think They Need to Retire Comfortably](https://money.com/how-much-money-retire-comfortably/) [The Best CD Rate We’ve Seen in Years Just Arrived: It Pays Over 6% APY](https://money.com/bank-cd-rate-over-6-apy/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "@id": "https://money.com/401k-balance-gender-gap-closing/#breadcrumb", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://money.com" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Retirement", "item": "https://money.com/retirement/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "401(k)", "item": "https://money.com/401k/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "401(k) Gender Gap: Men’s Retirement Account Balances Are 50% Higher Than Women’s" } ] }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://money.com/#website", "url": "https://money.com", "name": "Money", "publisher": { "@id": "https://money.com/#organization" } }, { "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://money.com/401k-balance-gender-gap-closing/#webpage", "url": "https://money.com/401k-balance-gender-gap-closing/", "name": "401(k) Gender Gap: Men’s Retirement Account Balances Are 50% Higher Than Women’s", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://money.com/#website" }, "datePublished": "2023-06-28T19:43:58.000Z", "mainEntity": { "@id": "https://money.com/401k-balance-gender-gap-closing/" }, "inLanguage": "en-US", "breadcrumb": { "@id": "https://money.com/401k-balance-gender-gap-closing/#breadcrumb" }, "dateModified": "2024-04-17T13:13:28.000Z" }, { "@type": "NewsArticle", "headline": "401(k) Gender Gap: Men’s Retirement Account Balances Are 50% Higher Than Women’s", "articleSection": "Retirement", "image": [ { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://img.money.com/2023/06/News-Mens-401k-much-higher-than-womens-gap-closing.jpg?crop=0px%2C180px%2C2880px%2C1620px&quality=85", "width": 1012, "height": 569, "caption": "News-Mens-401k-much-higher-than-womens-gap-closing" } ], "author": [ { "@type": "Person", "name": "Pete Grieve", "url": "https://money.com/author/pete-grieve/", "@id": "https://money.com/author/pete-grieve/#author", "description": "Pete Grieve is a personal finance reporter. 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