--- title: New Study Suggests Gen Zers Could End Up Richer in Retirement Than Boomers description: Gen Z workers are starting retirement savings about 10 years earlier than baby boomers, a new Bank of America survey finds. 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: 501 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: Katherine Peach role: Associate Editor url: https://money.com/author/katherine-peach/ bio: Katherine Peach is an associate editor with a focus on news and email at Money. She didn’t always intend to write about money. She’s a classically trained pianist who dreamed of becoming an archaeologist. However, in 2007 Katherine began working in financial publishing as an editor for Agora Inc. (Apparently, unearthing ideas about improving your personal finances isn’t such a bad career alternative!) Katherine’s writing and editing work has been featured in Investing Daily, Clever, Investor Junkie, The Palm Beach Letter, Truth & Plenty, Independence Monthly, NICHE, AmericanStyle, AntiqueWeek, Millennial Money, Money Done Right, TheStreet, Sure Dividend and many others. Katherine holds a Bachelor of Arts in Ancient Studies with concentrations in Archaeology and Ancient Languages and a minor in Literature from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. She is a member of Phi Beta Kappa. education: University of Maryland, Baltimore County at_money_since: 2025 articles: 14 covers: - Retirement - Banking - Career Advice - Credit - Credit Cards - Debt - Economy and Politics - Education - Federal Reserve Rate Cuts - Health and Wellness - Housing - Identity Theft - Insurance - Investing - Lifestyle - Loans - Mortgages - Personal Finance - Professional Services - Shopping - Taxes published: '2026-07-21T17:49:22.000Z' modified: '2026-07-21T17:49:22.000Z' section: Retirement tags: - News - Retirement word_count: 485 canonical: https://money.com/gen-z-retirement-savings/ 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/). ![Genz man sitting on stacks of coin](https://img.money.com/2026/07/News-Genz-retirement.jpg) Despite being early in their careers, Gen Zers are doing surprisingly well already when it comes to saving for retirement. Compared to older generations, Gen Z workers are starting to build their nest eggs much sooner, according to an annual Bank of America [survey](https://newsroom.bankofamerica.com/content/newsroom/press-releases/2026/07/bofa-report--financial-wellbeing-of-employees-at-u-s--companies-.html) released Tuesday. “The youngest generation in the workforce is starting to save for retirement a full decade earlier than their older peers,” Kai Walker, managing director of workplace benefits research at Bank of America, said in the report. The study found Gen Zers — whom it defines as anyone born after 2000 — are beginning to save in a 401(k) at an average age of 24, compared to baby boomers who started at 34. Similarly, Gen Zers are outpacing boomers in terms of how prepared they currently [feel about retirement](https://money.com/retirement-confidence-survey-2026/) as well, with 84% of Gen Z reporting they are confident that they’re on track for retirement, versus 79% of boomers who said the same. The results are based on a survey of 941 full-time U.S. workers who participate in 401(k) plans and 806 employers who offer [401(k) plans](https://money.com/401k-match-hidden-value/). ## Saving for retirement? Sooner is better When should you start saving for retirement? The Bank of America survey suggests that Gen Zers have the right idea: right now. Separate research shows that sooner is almost always better when it comes to building up meaningful savings for retirement. The key is compound growth — that’s the long-term effect of what happens when you save and invest your money over long periods of time. Your earnings start making earnings. Saving early isn’t the only factor, however. A recent [J.P. Morgan analysis](https://am.jpmorgan.com/content/dam/jpm-am-aem/global/en/insights/retirement-insights/guide-to-retirement-us.pdf) demonstrated *how* you save is just as important by simulating account balances of various saving and investing strategies of people between the ages of 25 and 65 based on a $250-a-month contribution. For instance, a consistent saver earning an average return of 3.1% by keeping the money in a savings account for 40 years had a [retirement account balance](https://money.com/average-401k-balance-by-generation-2025/) of $238,600. While the saver started early, they missed out on huge gains by not investing those funds. By investing the money and earning 7.25% returns, the account balance after 40 years based on the same $250 monthly contribution could have reached $685,200. The analysis also factored in a scenario in which the saver invested $250 a month from the age of 25 to 35 and let the money grow without additional contributions for 30 more years. By the time the saver reached the age of 65, the account balance for this strategy — $367,300 — dwarfed that of the consistent saver who didn’t invest. Thanks to [auto-enrollment features gaining traction](https://money.com/this-401k-change-afford-retirement/) in workplace retirement plans, younger workers are increasingly getting access to employer-sponsored retirement accounts, and their contributions are being invested. According to the [Federal Reserve](https://www.federalreserve.gov/publications/2026-economic-well-being-of-us-households-in-2025-savings-investments.htm), 29% of workers aged 18 to 24 now have a retirement account, up from 26% the previous year. ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "@id": "https://money.com/gen-z-retirement-savings/#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": "Retirement Planning", "item": "https://money.com/retirement-planning/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "New Study Suggests Gen Zers Could End Up Richer in Retirement Than Boomers" } ] }, { "@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/gen-z-retirement-savings/#webpage", "url": "https://money.com/gen-z-retirement-savings/", "name": "New Study Suggests Gen Zers Could End Up Richer in Retirement Than Boomers", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://money.com/#website" }, "datePublished": "2026-07-21T17:49:22.000Z", "mainEntity": { "@id": "https://money.com/gen-z-retirement-savings/" }, "inLanguage": "en-US", "breadcrumb": { "@id": "https://money.com/gen-z-retirement-savings/#breadcrumb" }, "dateModified": "2026-07-21T17:49:22.000Z" }, { "@type": "NewsArticle", "headline": "New Study Suggests Gen Zers Could End Up Richer in Retirement Than Boomers", "articleSection": "Retirement", "image": [ { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://img.money.com/2026/07/News-Genz-retirement.jpg", "width": 2880, "height": 1920, "caption": "News-Genz-retirement" } ], "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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