--- title: Here's What the Average 401(k) Is Worth After Dropping 20% Last Year description: The average 401(k) and IRA balance dropped by 20% as the stock market plunged in 2022. Here's how much they're worth now. authors: - name: Adam Hardy role: Lead Data Reporter url: https://money.com/author/adam-hardy/ bio: Adam Hardy is a lead data journalist at Money, where he frequently reports on financial barriers that affect low-income Americans. Adam’s work has also appeared in Business Insider, Forbes, Nasdaq, The Penny Hoarder, Yahoo! Finance and more than a dozen local and regional newspapers. education: University of South Florida, BA, Magazine Journalism at_money_since: 2021 articles: 498 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 - Pets - Professional Services - Shopping - Taxes - Technology also_seen_in: - The Penny Hoarder - Forbes Advisor - Creative Loafing - The New York Times - The Washington Post - Bloomberg - Harvard Law School - The Federal Register - National Consumer Law Center - CBS News - Becker's Hospital Review - Business Insider - Mother Jones - The Week - Fortune - The Philadelphia Inquirer - National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (NAFSAA) - Education Advisory Board (EAB) - The Institute for College Access & Success (TICAS) - This Morning with Gordon Deal - Empower - Reddit social: - https://www.x.com/hardyjournalism - https://www.linkedin.com/in/hardyjournalism/ 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: '2023-02-24T19:21:50.000Z' modified: '2024-04-17T13:04:28.000Z' section: Retirement tags: - 401(k) - IRA - News word_count: 399 canonical: https://money.com/average-401k-balance-2022-stock-market/ 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/). ![Miniture woman looking at oversized electronic grocery scale with the the numbers 4, 0, 1 and the letter k on top](https://img.money.com/2023/02/News-Average-401k-IRA-Worth.jpg) Retirement account balances plummeted in 2022 — the [stock market's worst year since 2008](https://money.com/investor-tips-after-stocks-worst-year/). According to an [analysis](https://newsroom.fidelity.com/pressreleases/fidelity--2022-retirement-analysis--in-the-midst-of-inflation-and-uncertainty--retirement-account-ba/s/095bb4a8-cf3a-484e-a911-bc0c61c460ff) released Thursday by the asset management firm Fidelity Investments, average [401(k) retirement account](https://money.com/what-is-a-401k-rollover/) balances tanked more than 20% in 2022. Balances for other retirement accounts, like IRAs and 403(b)s, saw stark declines across the board as well. ## Average 401(k) and IRA balance Here are average retirement account balances from the fourth quarter of 2021 to the fourth quarter of 2022: - 401(k) balances fell from an average of $130,700 in 2021 to $103,900 in 2022. - Balances for [403(b) accounts](https://money.com/collection-post/difference-between-401k-and-403b-plan/), which are popular among workers at public schools and charities, dropped more than 19% from $115,100 to $92,683, on average. - [Individual retirement account (IRA)](https://money.com/what-is-an-ira/) balances saw the steepest decline of 23%, tumbling from an average of $135,600 to $104,000. The results are based on an analysis of more than 43 million retirement accounts managed by Fidelity. Similarly, an analysis released early this month from Vanguard, an investment management firm, found that the balances of the retirement accounts it manages [also fell 20% in 2022](https://institutional.vanguard.com/insights-and-research/perspective/a-preview-of-how-america-saves-2023.html). ## On the other hand While retirement account balances plunged overall last year, Fidelity’s report indicates that they are starting to recover. - Between the third and fourth quarters of 2022, average 401(k) balances went up 7% — from $97,200 to $103,900. - IRA and 403(b) plan balances also increased by 2% and 6%, respectively. Gen Z savers saw their 401(k) balances jump 23% during that same period of time. And Fidelity notes that Gen Z is the only age group to see positive growth in its account balances last year — which were up 14% from the end of 2021. ## It’s no wonder Last year was a particularly rough one for U.S. stocks as [inflation](https://money.com/rising-rent-home-costs-high-inflation/) reached four-decade highs, and the Federal Reserve moved aggressively to tamp it down, sending [interest rates soaring](https://money.com/fed-interest-rate-hike-february-2023/) and [stoking fears of a recession](https://money.com/what-recession-would-mean-for-stock-market/). By the year’s end, [the S&P 500](https://money.com/what-is-the-sp-500-index/) — the benchmark stock market index — tumbled more than 19% while the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell almost 9% and the tech-heavy Nasdaq plunged 33%. Since many Americans have their retirement savings in private-sector accounts that are tied to stock performance, millions saw their nest eggs dwindle. ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "@id": "https://money.com/average-401k-balance-2022-stock-market/#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": "Here's What the Average 401(k) Is Worth After Dropping 20% Last Year" } ] }, { "@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/average-401k-balance-2022-stock-market/#webpage", "url": "https://money.com/average-401k-balance-2022-stock-market/", "name": "Here's What the Average 401(k) Is Worth After Dropping 20% Last Year", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://money.com/#website" }, "datePublished": "2023-02-24T19:21:50.000Z", "mainEntity": { "@id": "https://money.com/average-401k-balance-2022-stock-market/" }, "inLanguage": "en-US", "breadcrumb": { "@id": "https://money.com/average-401k-balance-2022-stock-market/#breadcrumb" }, "dateModified": "2024-04-17T13:04:28.000Z" }, { "@type": "NewsArticle", "headline": "Here's What the Average 401(k) Is Worth After Dropping 20% Last Year", "articleSection": "Retirement", "image": [ { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://img.money.com/2023/02/News-Average-401k-IRA-Worth.jpg", "width": 2880, "height": 1920, "caption": "News-Average-401k-IRA-Worth" } ], "author": [ { "@type": "Person", "name": "Adam Hardy", "url": "https://money.com/author/adam-hardy/", "@id": "https://money.com/author/adam-hardy/#author", "description": "Adam Hardy is a lead data journalist at Money, where he frequently reports on financial barriers that affect low-income Americans. 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