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Americans think it’ll take $1.26 million, on average, to retire comfortably, according to the 2025 Northwestern Mutual Planning and Progress Study (1). And reaching $1 million in retirement savings is a step in the right direction.
There’s good news from Fidelity in that regard. According to their Q3 2025 analysis, they found that the number of 401(k) millionaries is at a record high, reaching 654,000 indviduals (2).
Even with inflation and periods of market uncertainty, retirement savings is clearly still a priority.
Retirement savings rates have been consistently high, and market gains have helped lift savings. Employee and worker combined contributions to retirement savings also provided a boost, with a combined rate of 14.2% of an employees salary.
What’s more, average 401(k) balances was $144,400, up 9% from Q3 2024. Interestingly, millennials and Gen Zers are favoring Roth IRAs for their retirement savings, with 19% and 20% of members respecively contributing to these accounts.
Balances are also rising among long-term savers. Of the 401(k) millionaire set, boomers and Gen Xers who have been contributing and maintining accounts for 25 to 26 years figure most prominently.
Becoming a 401(k) millionaire may be more realistic than you think. The key is consistent saving and starting as soon as possible.
For example, if you invest $400 each month into a 401(k) with a 7% annual return for 41 years your total contribution of $197,000 could grow to over $1 million, thanks to compound interest. However, reducing that timeline to 31 years would only yield about $490,000 — illustrating the value of saving consistently and over the long term.
If $400 per month seems out of reach, try starting with a smaller amount and work up from there. One way that might help is by automatically investing your spare change with Acorns.
The app automatically rounds up your everyday purchases to the nearest dollar and invests the difference into a diversified portfolio. This means that every transaction — from your morning coffee to grocery shopping — contributes to building your savings.
Plus, if you sign up with a recurring monthly deposit, Acorns can give you a bonus $20 investment to get you started.
Alternatively, if you want to do more self-directed investing, you could work with SoFi.
This DIY approach allows you to invest with no commission fees, plus, for a limited time, you can get up to $1,000 in stock when you fund a new account.
Even better, SoFi is designed to help you learn investing as you go, with real-time investing news, curated content and the data you need to make smart decisions about the stocks that matter most to you.
Either way, it’s important to start saving as soon as possible to take advantage of the power of compound interest. After all, over half of the growth from that 7% annual return came from the final 10 out of 41 years.
Investing in real estate has traditionally been one way to build wealth. But if you aren’t ready to jump into home ownership — financially or otherwise — new investing platforms are making it easier than ever to tap into the market.
For accredited investors, Homeshares gives access to the $34.9 trillion U.S. home equity market, which has historically been the exclusive playground of institutional investors.
With a minimum investment of $25,000, investors can gain direct exposure to hundreds of owner-occupied homes in top U.S. cities through their U.S. Home Equity Fund — without the headaches of buying, owning or managing property.
Another option is Lightstone DIRECT, which offers accredited investors access to institutional-quality multifamily and industrial real estate — with a minimum investment of $100,000.
Founded in 1986 by David Lichtenstein, Lightstone Group is one of the largest privately held real estate investment firms in the U.S., with more than $12 billion in assets under management.
Over nearly-four decades, their team has delivered strong, risk-adjusted performance across multiple market cycles — including a 27.5% historical net IRR and a 2.49x historical net equity multiple on realized investments since 2004.
Here’s the kicker: Lightstone invests at least 20% of its own capital in every deal — roughly four times the industry average. With its skin in the game, the firm ensures its interests are directly aligned with those of its investors.
If you’re not an accredited investor, crowdfunding platforms like Arrived allow you to enter the real estate market for as little as $100.
Backed by world-class investors like Jeff Bezos, Arrived makes it easy to fit these properties into your investment portfolio regardless of your income level. Their flexible investment amounts and simplified process allows accredited and non-accredited investors to take advantage of this inflation-hedging asset class without any extra work on your part.
