InvestNot yet confirmed elsewhere1 publisher2 min readPublished
Fidelity's average 401(k) millionaire has paid in for 25 years and saves at least 15%
Fidelity counted a record 769,000 401(k) millionaires in the second quarter, up 19% on the quarter and 30% on the year. They are 3% of the savers in its plans, and a 19% jump in one quarter points to balances crossing $1 million as much as to saving.
The Investor · Invest desk
Key figures: a record 769,000 401(k) millionaires in Fidelity-managed plans in the second quarter, against 646,000 in the previous quarter. Millionaires are 3% of all Fidelity savers.
| Figure | Value | Note | Claim |
|---|---|---|---|
| 401(k) millionaires in Fidelity plans, second quarter | 769,000 millionaires | 1 | |
| Previous quarter's count | 646,000 millionaires | 2 | |
| Share of Fidelity savers | 3% | 6 |
What happened
- Fidelity says its seven-figure savers put away at or above its recommended 15% of pretax income, a rate that can combine their own contributions and any employer match.
- The average saver in Fidelity plans put away a record 9.6% of income, and a 4.8% employer match took the total to a record 14.4%.
- The Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies found nearly half of US renters cost-burdened in 2024, meaning more than 30% of their income went to housing.
- The Employee Benefit Research Institute estimates that missed employer matches leave about $10 billion in free company money unclaimed every year.
Why it matters
- constraint The 769,000 counts only plans Fidelity manages, so other administrators' millionaires sit outside it and the 25-year, 15% profile describes one book of savers.
- exposure The column says the 2020 crash and the inflation after it knocked some savers out of the millionaire club, so a count built on balances can fall as well as rise.
- cost Median rent on a new apartment is $22,800 a year, 13.5 times the latte bill, and the renters paying it are the savers a 15% target has to come out of.
Start with the savings rate, since it is the half of the story a number can test. The millionaires' 15% floor and the average saver's total rate differ by 0.6 points at minimum [12]. That leaves most of the distance between the two groups to something else, and we think the something is the 25 years [3]. The column gives tenure only for the millionaires, so the other savers' average cannot be checked here. If savers with 25 years behind them at the average rate turn out to hold far less than $1 million, the weight moves to starting balances and pay, and tenure drops out of the explanation.
Tenure explains little of the quarter. We'd expect balances crossing the $1 million line to account for most of it, since a count of crossings moves with asset prices as well as with saving. Another quarter adds 0.25 years to a 25-year record, a 1% move [23], while the count rose by 123,000 accounts, or 19% [13].
Michelle Singletary, whose column is the source for all of this, argues that the latte is the wrong target. "Blaming anyone's daily latte misses the point." she wrote [20]. The numbers bear her out with one qualification. Over the 25 years the average millionaire has been contributing, a latte every workday at her price comes to $42,250 in deposits [14], or 4.2% of $1 million [15], and compounding would lift that, so the figure is a floor. A 15% savings rate on the $53,700 median renter household income, counting any match, would be $8,055 a year [16]. Eliminating the latte entirely would cover about a fifth of it [17].
What to watch
- Fidelity's next quarterly count: a fall in a down market, with tenure unchanged, would confirm that the figure tracks balances.
- Whether the average saver's total rate, a record for two quarters running, reaches Fidelity's recommended level.
Clarity's read
What the record supports and how the coverage leans. The claims behind it follow.
Reality
- Evidence55
- Adoption
- Insufficient
- Hype gap+12
- Incentives
- Insufficient
- Confidence60
Claim ledger
Ranked by verification strength, evidence, and original report placement.
- [1]
Fidelity Investments reported that the number of 401(k) millionaires in the funds it manages reached a record 769,000 in the second quarter of this year.
ReportedSupportedSource: Fidelity Investments, via Michelle Singletary's TNS columnView cited source - [2]
The 769,000 count is a 19 percent increase from 646,000 in the previous quarter and a 30 percent jump year-over-year.
ReportedSupportedSource: Fidelity Investments, via Michelle Singletary's TNS columnView cited source - [3]
The average 401(k) millionaire has contributed to their plan for 25 years, benefiting from compounding growth.
ReportedSupportedSource: Fidelity Investments data as reported in Michelle Singletary's TNS columnView cited source - [4]
Workers with seven-figure balances save at or above the 15 percent savings rate of pretax income recommended by Fidelity; the rate can be a combination of their own contributions and any matching employer contributions.
ReportedSupportedSource: Fidelity Investments, via Michelle Singletary's TNS columnView cited source - [5]
The average 401(k) savings rate stayed at a record level for the second consecutive quarter: workers put away a record 9.6 percent of income on average, and with a 4.8 percent employer match overall savings reached a record 14.4 percent.
ReportedSupportedSource: Fidelity Investments, via Michelle Singletary's TNS columnView cited source - [6]
401(k) millionaires represent just 3 percent of all Fidelity savers.
- [7]
A grande pumpkin spice latte at Starbucks costs about $6.50, and buying one every workday, not factoring in holidays or vacation time, would add up to about $1,690 a year.
- [8]
According to the Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies, nearly half of U.S. renters in 2024 qualified as cost-burdened, meaning they spent more than 30 percent of their income on housing.
ReportedSupportedSource: Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies, via Michelle Singletary's TNS columnView cited source - [9]
Renter households in 2024 had a median income of $53,700.
ReportedSupportedSource: Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies, via Michelle Singletary's TNS columnView cited source - [10]
The median rent for new apartments is $1,900 a month.
ReportedSupportedSource: Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies analysis, via Michelle Singletary's TNS columnView cited source - [11]
The Fidelity figures reflect only plans managed by Fidelity, one of the nation's largest 401(k) administrators.
- [12]
The gap between the millionaires' savings-rate floor (15%) and the average saver's total rate (14.4%) is at least 0.6 percentage points.
- [13]
The quarterly rise in 401(k) millionaires was 123,000 accounts, or 19%.
- [14]
A daily workday latte at $1,690 a year totals $42,250 over 25 years, before any investment growth.
- [15]
$42,250 of latte spending over 25 years is 4.2% of $1 million.
- [16]
A 15% savings rate on the $53,700 median renter household income is $8,055 a year.
- [17]
The $1,690 annual latte bill is about 21% of the $8,055 a year a 15% savings rate on median renter income would require.
- [18]
Median new-apartment rent of $1,900 a month is $22,800 a year.
- [19]
A year of median new-apartment rent ($22,800) is about 13.5 times the annual latte bill ($1,690).
- [20]
Michelle Singletary wrote: "Blaming anyone's daily latte misses the point."
- [21]
The missed employer match leaves an estimated $10 billion in free company money on the table every year.
ReportedInsufficientSource: Employee Benefit Research Institute research, via Michelle Singletary's TNS columnView cited source - [22]
The 2020 pandemic crash, which triggered high inflation and supply chain shocks, led to market swings that knocked some savers out of the 401(k) millionaire's club.
- [23]
One more quarter of contributing adds about 1% to a 25-year tenure.
Derived
Sources
1 independent publisher whose own reporting we read for this story.
- cpapracticeadvisor.comHow to Join the 401(k) Millionaire Club
1 article · October 13, 2026
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