Saved my first $5k at 26 pls clap 🥹

[u/k1ranell]

I also have some $820 in acorns and <$1500 in a rollover IRA I have yet to move to a ROTH but putting it off for tax/wuss reasons. However, I have $772 in CC debt. But a win is a win, I can pay it off with time 😁

Gonna try to save $10k next year

[u/resarfc]

The median savings balance for Americans was $8,000 (2022) according to the Federal Reserve's Survey of Consumer Finances. The average was $62,410 - but as you say the difference between the median and average savings is because of massive wealth inequality.

Basically $8,000 is the point at which half of Americans have more savings and half have less.

[u/CanAlwaysBeBetter → u/resarfc]

That's the median account balance checking/saving/CDs

It does not include retirement savings which are $87k for the median family 

[u/resarfc → u/CanAlwaysBeBetter]

As far as I understand it, the retirement accounts median value only reflects those families with the specific types of retirement accounts included in their definition (IRA and Keogh, 401(k), Thrift, and defined contribution). i.e. it is the median value of retirement holdings for households that actually have those retirement accounts - and it is more like $55,000 not $87k.

https://www.federalreserve.gov/econres/scf/dataviz/scf/chart/#series:Retirement_Accounts;demographic:all;population:1;units:median;range:1989,2003

It doesn't, for example, account for families who rely solely on Social Security, or those with no retirement savings at all. If you look at the Percent Holding you can see this is 50% of all households. i.e. half of Americans have no retirement accounts at all.

Moreover it's crucial to view retirement savings it in conjunction with debt levels, which actually does have median value of about $87k.

https://www.federalreserve.gov/econres/scf/dataviz/scf/chart/#series:Debt;demographic:all;population:1;units:median;range:1989,2003

To understand the real picture you have to look at both sides of the equation, total assets (including retirement savings) and total liabilities (all debt).

[u/RaceHard → u/resarfc]

wasn't there a poll recently showing that most Americans don't even have more than 400 in savings and that an unexpected 2000 bill would put them in dire financial stress for a year or longer?

[u/The_Lonely_Posadist → u/RaceHard]

not all savings can be pulled out immediately

[u/CantHitachiSpot → u/The_Lonely_Posadist]

Then it's not savings. That's just assets. You shouldn't count your house, vehicle equity or retirement accounts as part of your savings. 

[u/Necessary-Depth9158 → u/resarfc]

This is the correct answer on how much 'most people' would have in their account 'on average'.

It doesn't factor in the very rich and the very poor to get the "median" which is the technical term for what most people would call "average" and is more accurate.

[u/Firm-Contract-5940 → u/Necessary-Depth9158]

the average american isn’t the average of americans

[u/Reaper_Messiah → u/resarfc]

Is that across demographics or within a specific age range?

[u/resarfc → u/Reaper_Messiah]

Well it is generally families or households across the entire country - using a reference person who is generally/basically "the richest person or couple in a household" often called the primary economic unit.

The definition of “family” used throughout this report differs from that typically used in other government studies. In the SCF, a household unit is divided into a primary economic unit (PEU)—the family—and everyone else in the household. The PEU is intended to be the economically dominant single person or couple (whether married or living together as partners) and all other persons in the household who are financially interdependent with that economically dominant person or couple.

This report also designates a reference person within the PEU, not to convey a judgment about how an individual family is structured but as a means of organizing the data consistently. For example, the age and educational classifications ascribed to families throughout this report describe the age and education of the reference person. If a couple is economically dominant in the PEU, the reference person is the male in a mixed-sex couple or the older person in a same-sex couple. If a single person is economically dominant, that person is designated as the family reference person in this report. Note that the term “reference person” is a new descriptor as of the 2019 survey, replacing the outdated “household head” terminology used in previous surveys.

You can read the definitions here,

https://www.federalreserve.gov/publications/files/scf23.pdf

And see breakdowns by demographics here - for example median debt by age.

https://www.federalreserve.gov/econres/scf/dataviz/scf/chart/#series:Debt;demographic:agecl;population:all;units:median;range:1989,2003