--- title: The Retirement Savings Habit Americans Wish They Started Earlier description: A Nationwide survey finds Gen Xers and boomers wish they’d started saving for retirement earlier — and what younger workers get right. 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: 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: '2026-02-27T14:54:44.000Z' modified: '2026-03-10T20:04:57.000Z' section: Retirement tags: - News word_count: 479 canonical: https://money.com/retirement-savings-regret-earlier/ 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/). ![Two people of different generations looking over finances](https://img.money.com/2026/01/News-Generational-Savings-Retirement.jpg) As popular New Year’s resolutions spur Americans to take stock of their finances, you may be feeling regret when it comes to your retirement savings. Don't worry; you're far from alone. An [analysis](https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/new-year-new-savings-young-savers-are-avoiding-the-mistakes-older-savers-regret--you-can-too-302653935.html) released Tuesday by insurance firm Nationwide highlights that Gen Xers and baby boomers, in particular, wish they had started saving for retirement at an earlier age. Some 85% of respondents 45 or older wish they had contributed to a retirement plan sooner, according to a Nationwide survey in August. It’s one advantage younger folks today have over their older counterparts. The typical age at which Gen Xers and boomers began saving for retirement was 35, Nationwide says, whereas Gen Zers and millennials started saving younger — usually between ages 24 to 30. "A new year is a natural point to reset your financial habits," Cathy Marasco, head of protected retirement at Nationwide, said in a news release Tuesday. "Workplace retirement plans are evolving to include many of the tools and protections needed to build long-term security." Many of these perks have been ushered in by [SECURE 2.0](https://money.com/retirement-changes-2025-secure-act/), a sweeping law that made several changes to 401(k)s, individual retirement accounts and similar retirement savings plans. Thanks to that legislation, automatic 401(k) enrollment is becoming the norm — and is part of the reason why younger Americans are starting to save so early these days. ***Pet Protection: [See How Healthy Paws Pet Insurance Can Help Your Dog or Cat](https://money.com/pr/d3007ea468a5?data-trk-company=healthy-paws-review&data-trk-imp=true&data-trk-pcu-type=direct_link&data-trk-pcu-uuid=d3007ea468a5&encoded_id=)*** ## Retirement savings by generation While younger Americans have time — and compounding returns — on their side, retirement account balances for boomers still dwarf the balances of other age groups. | | Average 401(k) account balance | Average IRA account balance | | --- | --- | --- | | Gen Z (1997-2012) | $17,000 | $8,019 | | Millennial (1981-1996) | $80,700 | $29,410 | | Gen X (1965-1980) | $217,500 | $12,0273 | | Boomer (1946-1964) | $267,900 | $287,640 | The figures above reflect average account balances as of September 2025, according to an [analysis](https://about.fidelity.com/data-and-insights/q3-2025-retirement-analysis) of 52 million retirement accounts at Fidelity Investments. They’re not a savings goal per se — but rather a gut check to see how you stack up with your peers. ***Gold Investor Kit Offer: [Sign up with American Hartford Gold today and get a free investor kit, plus receive up to $25,000 in free silver on qualifying purchases](https://money.com/pr/u3ef79664b8e)*** Overall, retirement advisors largely recommend saving about 15% of your paycheck each month for retirement (including company contribution matching). Experts advise that by your 30s, you should aim to have the equivalent of one year of your annual salary saved. As you get older, it snowballs: - In your 40s, save three times your annual salary. - In your 50s, save six times your salary. - In your 60s, save eight times your salary, all the way up to 10 times as you approach retirement age. "Building the habit early — even with modest contributions — sets the foundation for decades,” Eric Ludwig, director of the Center for Retirement Income at The American College, remarked in the Nationwide news release. "The lesson is simple,” he said. “Don't wait for the perfect moment or the perfect amount to start saving." ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "@id": "https://money.com/retirement-savings-regret-earlier/#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": "The Retirement Savings Habit Americans Wish They Started Earlier" } ] }, { "@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/retirement-savings-regret-earlier/#webpage", "url": "https://money.com/retirement-savings-regret-earlier/", "name": "The Retirement Savings Habit Americans Wish They Started Earlier", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://money.com/#website" }, "datePublished": "2026-02-27T14:54:44.000Z", "mainEntity": { "@id": "https://money.com/retirement-savings-regret-earlier/" }, "inLanguage": "en-US", "breadcrumb": { "@id": "https://money.com/retirement-savings-regret-earlier/#breadcrumb" }, "dateModified": "2026-03-10T20:04:57.000Z" }, { "@type": "NewsArticle", "headline": "The Retirement Savings Habit Americans Wish They Started Earlier", "articleSection": "Retirement", "image": [ { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://img.money.com/2026/01/News-Generational-Savings-Retirement.jpg", "width": 2880, "height": 1920, "caption": "News-Generational-Savings-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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