what is the average balance in 401k plans,workers 55 and over?

Answer 1

in http://www.ebri.org/surveys/rcs/2006/ (click on "saving for retirement" and go to page 2). There is a table is for all savings by age and amount for 2006. It is probably a more valid chart because people often roll over their 401k’s to IRA’s and also contribute to ROTH IRA’s .




I believe the following figures are 2005 figures

the following is important because it shows that the average 401k amount does not represent an accurate look at individuals balances.

“The bottom line is that most people do not have the ability to contribute significant amounts of their income to a 401k plan. The IRS allows people to contribute about $14,000 /year into a 401k plan but only a small number of workers, professionals generally making over $200,000/year, can do so. Most everyone else contributes far less. A telling statistic is that the average 401k plan has about $67,000 in it. If you retire at 65 and have a life expectancy of 20 more years, $67,000 will not take you very far. But the problem with this statistic is that it is an average; the more revealing statistic is that the median amount (ie the middle point)of 401k plan balances is $17,000. When you have this large discrepancy between the average and the median, you do not get a nice bell-shaped statistical graph but something more like an inverted bell-shape as the values skewed higher at the exterminies of the values. In plain language, there are many people with high balances and many with very low balances and not too many in between.”

The above is from http://brianleon.com/notes/?p=567

Answer 2

I read in an article that at the end of 2000, the average balance was 49 000. It's probably higher now.

Answer 3

Avg. is about 88K .. in US. .. don't ask me how i know .. i read it some where