NetTrack Blog

Category: Personal Finance

  • Best YNAB Alternatives in 2026

    Best YNAB Alternatives in 2026

    YNAB has the most committed user base in personal finance, and for good reason: zero-based budgeting genuinely changes behavior. But two things send people looking for alternatives — the ~$109/year price, and the realization that YNAB is a budgeting app first, with net worth and investment tracking as afterthoughts.

    The right replacement depends on which of those pushed you out. Here's how to choose.

    The best YNAB alternatives at a glance

    App Best for Price Free tier
    NetTrack Net worth + investments, with budgeting Paid for unlimited accounts Yes
    Actual Budget Free, self-hosted zero-based budgeting Free (self-hosted) Yes
    Monarch Money All-in-one budgeting + households ~$100/year No
    EveryDollar Simple envelope budgeting Free tier; ~$80/year premium Yes
    Copilot Money Design-first Apple users ~$95/year No

    1. NetTrack — best if you outgrew budgeting

    There's a stage most YNAB users reach: the categories are dialed in, spending is under control, and the daily budgeting ritual stops earning its time. What you want now is to watch net worth climb and know whether your investments are actually performing.

    That's NetTrack. It connects your bank, brokerage, retirement, and credit accounts and tracks net worth with full history — plus month-over-month attribution explaining why it changed. It still budgets, envelope-style, so you don't lose the discipline; it just isn't the whole app.

    On investments it goes well beyond anything YNAB attempts: flow-adjusted returns separate market performance from your own contributions, so a month where you deposited $2,000 doesn't masquerade as a gain. Dividend tracking, portfolio analytics, real estate values, and goals with projections round it out, on web, iOS, and Android.

    • Best for: people whose budget is working and whose question is now "am I building wealth?"
    • Pricing: free tier (limited connections); paid plan for unlimited accounts

    2. Actual Budget — best free YNAB clone

    Actual is open-source, local-first, and deliberately modeled on YNAB's envelope method. If you love the methodology and object only to the subscription, this is the closest thing to a drop-in replacement — and it costs nothing if you self-host.

    The trade-off is real: you're running your own sync server, and bank connections take setup. It's the enthusiast option.

    • Best for: technical users who want YNAB's method for free
    • Pricing: free self-hosted; small fee for managed hosting

    3. Monarch Money — best all-in-one

    Monarch does budgeting, goals, investments, and net worth in one polished app with strong household sharing. Its budgeting is flexible rather than strict — closer to guardrails than YNAB's give-every-dollar-a-job discipline, which is either the appeal or the dealbreaker.

    At roughly the same price as YNAB, you're trading methodological rigor for breadth.

    • Best for: couples who want one app for everything
    • Pricing: ~$100/year

    4. EveryDollar — best simple envelope budget

    Ramsey's app implements a straightforward zero-based budget with a much gentler learning curve than YNAB. The free tier requires manual entry; the paid tier adds bank connections. No meaningful investment or net worth tracking.

    • Best for: budgeting beginners who found YNAB overwhelming
    • Pricing: free tier; ~$80/year for connected accounts

    5. Copilot Money — best design on Apple platforms

    Copilot has the best interface in the category and excellent automatic categorization, with solid spending and investment views. It's Apple-only, so mixed-platform households should look elsewhere.

    • Best for: iPhone/Mac users focused on spending insights
    • Pricing: ~$95/year

    How to pick

    Answer one question: what stopped working?

    • The price → Actual Budget, or NetTrack's free tier
    • The daily maintenance → NetTrack or Monarch — automated tracking with lighter-touch budgeting
    • The missing net worth and investment picture → NetTrack
    • The complexity → EveryDollar
    • Your partner won't use it → Monarch or NetTrack, both with household support

    Don't lose the habit

    Whatever you switch to, the reason YNAB works is that it forces a regular check-in with your money. Losing the tool is fine; losing the habit is what causes the backslide.

    If you're moving from budgeting to balance-sheet thinking, how to calculate net worth is the right starting point, and net worth percentile by age will tell you where you currently stand.

    Ready for the bigger picture? Try NetTrack free — connect your accounts and see your true net worth and investment returns in minutes.

  • What Percentage of Americans Are Millionaires? (2026 Data)

    What Percentage of Americans Are Millionaires? (2026 Data)

    About 24.5 million Americans have a net worth of $1 million or more — roughly 8.8% of adults, or one in eleven. That's more millionaires than any other country on earth; the US accounts for over 40% of the global total.

    But the headline number is less interesting than what's behind it. Here's who these households actually are, and why crossing $1 million means something different than it did a generation ago.

    The numbers

    Statistic Figure
    US millionaires (net worth ≥ $1M) ~24.5 million
    Share of US adults ~8.8%
    Roughly 1 in 11
    Share of global millionaires who are American >40%
    Combined wealth held >$90 trillion

    Note that "millionaire" here means net worth, not income — total assets minus total debts, including home equity and retirement accounts. It does not mean $1 million in a bank account, and it never has.

    That distinction explains most of the surprise people feel at the 8.8% figure. A 58-year-old with $400,000 in home equity, $520,000 across two 401(k)s, and $90,000 in a brokerage account is a millionaire. They probably don't feel like one, and they'd be the last person you'd guess.

    Where $1 million falls on the percentile scale

    Against the Federal Reserve's household net worth distribution:

    Percentile Household net worth
    50th (median) ~$192,700
    75th ~$659,000
    90th ~$1.94 million
    99th ~$13.7 million

    A $1 million net worth sits between the 75th and 90th percentiles — comfortably top quarter, but not top ten. To reach the top 10% you need roughly $1.94 million, and the top 1% starts around $13.7 million.

    Age matters enormously here. For a 30-year-old, $1 million is extraordinary — the top 10% threshold for under-35 households is about $390,000. For a 68-year-old it's ordinary-to-good, given that cohort's top 10% starts near $3.2 million. The full breakdown is in net worth percentile by age.

    Most millionaires are ordinary and old

    The stereotype is wrong in three consistent ways:

    They're not young. The median millionaire is in their late fifties or sixties. Wealth is heavily a function of compounding time, and there is no substitute for decades.

    They're mostly not business owners or heirs. The largest single occupational group among American millionaires is people with long careers in ordinary professional jobs — engineers, teachers, accountants, nurses, managers — who contributed consistently to retirement accounts for thirty years.

    Their wealth is concentrated in two assets. Home equity and retirement accounts account for the bulk of it. Most of these households never picked a winning stock; they bought a house, paid it off, and maxed a 401(k).

    $1 million isn't the finish line it used to be

    Inflation has done real damage to the milestone. And under the 4% rule, a $1 million portfolio supports about $40,000 a year in sustainable withdrawals — a modest income, and one that most people would need to supplement with Social Security.

    Here's what different portfolios actually fund:

    Portfolio Sustainable annual income (4%)
    $1 million $40,000
    $1.5 million $60,000
    $2 million $80,000
    $2.5 million $100,000

    Which is why Americans now say it takes about $2.3 million to be considered wealthy — see what net worth is considered rich. "Millionaire" is now a solid retirement, not a life of leisure.

    How people actually get there

    The arithmetic is unglamorous. Investing $1,000 a month at a 7% real return reaches $1 million in roughly 28 years. At $1,500 a month, about 24 years. At $2,000, about 21.

    Three factors dominate, in this order:

    1. Time in the market. The last decade of a 30-year run produces more growth than the first two combined. Starting early beats optimizing anything.
    2. Savings rate. The percentage of income you convert into assets — the one variable fully under your control.
    3. Not interrupting it. Cashing out a 401(k) at a job change, or selling in a downturn, resets the clock on the compounding that does the heavy lifting.

    Notably absent: picking investments well. It matters far less than the three above.

    Know your own number first

    Most people underestimate their net worth because they never total it — forgetting home equity, old 401(k)s from previous employers, and vehicle values. Others overestimate it by counting gross assets and ignoring debt.

    If you've never added it up properly, our guide to calculating net worth covers what to include and how to value it.

    NetTrack connects your accounts and tracks your net worth automatically, so you'll know the moment you cross any milestone you care about. Start free.

  • What Should Your Net Worth Be? The Net Worth-to-Income Ratio Explained

    What Should Your Net Worth Be? The Net Worth-to-Income Ratio Explained

    The best-known benchmark for "what should my net worth be" comes from The Millionaire Next Door:

    Expected net worth = (your age × your pre-tax annual income) ÷ 10

    A 40-year-old earning $100,000 should therefore have a net worth of $400,000. Hit twice that number and the book calls you a prodigious accumulator of wealth; land at half or less and you're an under accumulator.

    It's a genuinely useful sanity check — and it's wrong in a few specific, predictable ways. Here's how to use it well.

    Expected net worth by age and income

    Income Age 30 Age 40 Age 50 Age 60
    $50,000 $150,000 $200,000 $250,000 $300,000
    $75,000 $225,000 $300,000 $375,000 $450,000
    $100,000 $300,000 $400,000 $500,000 $600,000
    $150,000 $450,000 $600,000 $750,000 $900,000
    $200,000 $600,000 $800,000 $1,000,000 $1,200,000

    Compare those to reality: the median US household net worth is about $192,700, and the median 35–44-year-old has $135,300. By this formula, the typical American household is an under accumulator — which tells you the benchmark is aspirational, not descriptive.

    What the ratio actually measures

    The formula's real insight isn't the number — it's the ratio. It measures how much of your income you've converted into ownership rather than consumption.

    Two people earning $150,000 can have wildly different net worths at 45. The difference isn't luck or returns; it's what share of each paycheck stopped being spending and became assets. That's why the formula scales with income: earning more doesn't lower the bar, it raises it.

    This is the same trap covered in net worth vs income — a high salary is a tool for building net worth, not a substitute for having built it.

    Where the formula breaks

    It punishes people early in their careers. A 25-year-old earning $80,000 is "supposed" to have $200,000 — after roughly three years of work and likely a student loan balance. Nearly every 25-year-old fails this test, including plenty who are doing everything right. Below about age 30, ignore it.

    It punishes people who just got a big raise. Double your income and your target doubles overnight, even though your balance sheet hasn't had time to catch up. The formula assumes you've always earned what you earn now.

    It ignores pensions and Social Security. A teacher with a pension worth $700,000 in today's dollars shows up as an under accumulator because that asset never appears on a balance sheet.

    It gets harsh in retirement. At 70, still earning $100,000 in part-time and portfolio income, the formula demands $700,000. Meanwhile the median 65–74-year-old household has $409,900 — and is doing fine.

    The sweet spot for this benchmark is roughly ages 30 to 60, at a stable income.

    Two better ratios

    Savings rate. What percentage of gross income becomes assets — retirement contributions, brokerage deposits, principal paid on your mortgage. This is the lever you actually control. Under 10% is thin; 15–20% is solid; above 25% buys real optionality. It's also the fastest of these numbers to respond when you change behavior.

    Years of spending covered. Your invested assets divided by your annual spending. Not income — spending. At 25× you're financially independent under the 4% rule. This ratio is the only one that answers the question people are really asking, and it correctly rewards a modest lifestyle instead of penalizing it.

    Assets ÷ annual spending What it means
    0.5× Six-month emergency fund
    5× Meaningful cushion; a job loss is survivable
    10× Serious flexibility; work becomes optional-ish
    25× Financial independence under the 4% rule

    Use the age-adjusted percentiles instead

    If you want a benchmark grounded in actual data rather than a formula, compare against your age cohort directly — net worth percentile by age shows the median and top-10% thresholds for every bracket.

    And whichever benchmark you pick, it only works if the input is right. If you've never added it up properly, start with our guide to calculating net worth.

    The comparison that matters most

    All of these ratios compare you to someone else — a formula, a cohort, a survey. The comparison that actually predicts your outcome is you, twelve months ago.

    Your trend line is the only benchmark that accounts for your income, your city, your obligations, and your starting point. Steadily rising beats favorably ranked.

    NetTrack tracks your net worth automatically and shows exactly what moved it each month — so you can watch the one ratio that matters. Start free.

  • The Average Retirement Savings by Age in 2026 (Median vs. Average)

    The Average Retirement Savings by Age in 2026 (Median vs. Average)

    The average American family has $333,940 saved in retirement accounts. The median family has $87,000 — less than a third as much. Both figures come from the same Federal Reserve survey, and the gap between them is the single most useful thing in this article: a minority of very large accounts drags the average far above what a typical household actually has.

    Here are the real numbers by age, and how to judge yours.

    Average and median retirement savings by age

    Age group Median balance Average balance
    Under 35 $18,880 $49,130
    35–44 $45,000 $141,520
    45–54 $115,000 $313,220
    55–64 $185,000 $537,560
    65–74 $200,000 $609,230
    75+ $130,000 $462,410
    All families $87,000 $333,940

    Source: Federal Reserve Survey of Consumer Finances (2022, the latest published survey). Figures cover families who have a retirement account — 401(k)s, IRAs, and similar — so households with nothing saved aren't dragging these down.

    Two patterns worth reading closely:

    The average runs 2.5–3× the median at every single age. That ratio is remarkably stable, and it means comparing yourself to any "average retirement savings" headline will make you feel behind when you may not be. Use the median column.

    Balances peak at 65–74, then fall. That drop isn't a failure — it's the plan working. Retirees spend down what they built, and required minimum distributions force withdrawals starting at 73.

    Why these numbers look higher than 401(k)-only stats

    You'll see lower figures elsewhere — Vanguard puts the median 401(k) balance around $44,000. That's not a contradiction. The Fed counts every retirement account a household owns: both spouses' 401(k)s, old plans from previous employers, rollover IRAs, Roth IRAs, the works. A single-plan statistic only sees one slice.

    If you're benchmarking, the Fed's household-level figures are the fairer comparison — because your retirement will be funded by all of your accounts, not one of them. See average 401(k) balance by age for the plan-level view.

    What you should actually have saved

    Averages describe the crowd. Targets describe the goal — and the crowd is not on track. The standard benchmark, from Fidelity, is a multiple of your salary:

    Age Target Median household reality
    30 1× salary Well short
    40 3× salary Well short
    50 6× salary Well short
    60 8× salary Well short
    67 10× salary Well short

    At a $75,000 salary that means $75,000 by 30, $225,000 by 40, and $450,000 by 50. Compare that to the medians above and the conclusion is uncomfortable but clear: the typical American is roughly half of where the guidelines say they should be.

    Our full breakdown of the targets — including dollar figures at several salary levels — is in how much should you have saved by age.

    If you're behind

    Being behind the benchmark at 45 is recoverable; being behind at 62 is harder. The levers, in order of impact:

    1. Capture the full employer match. An instant 50–100% return. Nothing else competes.
    2. Raise your contribution rate by 1% a year. Painless in practice, and compounding does the rest. The combined employee-plus-employer savings rate hit a record 14.4% recently — close to the 15% that's typically recommended.
    3. Use catch-up contributions at 50+. The IRS deliberately lets older savers put in more.
    4. Postpone Social Security. Delaying from 62 to 70 raises your benefit by roughly 75% — the cheapest longevity insurance available.
    5. Cut the retirement number itself. Spending $60,000 a year instead of $80,000 lowers the target portfolio by $500,000 under the 4% rule. Reducing the goal counts as progress.

    Retirement savings aren't your whole picture

    Your retirement accounts are one asset class on a larger balance sheet. Home equity, taxable brokerage accounts, cash, and debts all belong in the same view — that's your net worth, and it's what actually determines when you can stop working.

    A household with $150,000 in a 401(k) and $250,000 in home equity is in a very different position than one with $150,000 and a mortgage underwater — even though the retirement column reads identically.

    Want every account — retirement, brokerage, cash, and property — in one running total? NetTrack tracks it automatically and shows exactly what changed each month. Start free.

  • What Net Worth Is Considered Rich in 2026?

    What Net Worth Is Considered Rich in 2026?

    Americans say it takes a net worth of $2.3 million to be considered wealthy, according to Charles Schwab's Modern Wealth Survey. The actual statistical thresholds are different in both directions: $1.94 million already puts you in the top 10% of US households, while the top 1% doesn't start until about $13.7 million.

    So "rich" has two answers — what people believe, and what the data says. Here's both.

    What Americans think it takes

    Generation Net worth to be "wealthy"
    Gen Z $1.7 million
    Millennials ~$2.1 million
    Gen X ~$2.1 million
    Baby Boomers $2.8 million
    All Americans $2.3 million

    Source: Charles Schwab Modern Wealth Survey.

    The same survey puts "financially comfortable" — a far more attainable bar — at around $800,000. Note the generational spread: Boomers set the wealthy line a full $1.1 million higher than Gen Z does, largely because they're pricing in a 30-year retirement they can see from where they stand.

    Worth noting too: the $2.3 million figure came down from $2.5 million the prior year. Expectations recalibrate.

    What the data actually says

    The Federal Reserve's Survey of Consumer Finances gives the real thresholds:

    Percentile Household net worth What it means
    50th ~$192,700 Median US household
    75th ~$659,000 Top quarter
    90th ~$1.94 million Top 10%
    95th ~$3.8 million Top 5%
    99th ~$13.7 million Top 1%

    Here's the striking part: the number Americans call "wealthy" — $2.3 million — lands somewhere around the 92nd percentile. People are, roughly speaking, using "top 10%" as their working definition of rich. That's a reasonable instinct, and the data backs it up.

    Rich is age-adjusted

    A $1 million net worth means something very different at 32 than at 62. The top 10% threshold by age group:

    Age group Median net worth Top 10% threshold
    Under 35 $39,040 ~$390,000
    35–44 $135,300 ~$980,000
    45–54 $246,700 ~$1.76 million
    55–64 $364,270 ~$2.6 million
    65–74 $409,900 ~$3.2 million

    A 33-year-old with $500,000 is comfortably in their cohort's top 10% and on a trajectory toward the top few percent nationally. A 63-year-old with the same $500,000 is barely above their cohort's median with a decade of runway left. Same number, opposite situations.

    For the full percentile picture, see our detailed breakdown of net worth percentile by age.

    The better definition: how long can you not work?

    Statistical percentiles tell you where you rank. They don't tell you whether you're free — and freedom is what most people actually mean by "rich."

    The more useful test is your portfolio-to-spending ratio. Using the standard 4% withdrawal rule:

    Annual spending Portfolio for financial independence (25×)
    $50,000 $1.25 million
    $75,000 $1.875 million
    $100,000 $2.5 million
    $150,000 $3.75 million

    This reframes the whole question. Someone spending $50,000 a year with $1.3 million invested is done working — while someone spending $250,000 a year with $3 million is still very much employed, despite ranking higher on every percentile chart.

    Rich isn't a number. It's a ratio between what you have and what your life costs.

    What counts toward your net worth

    If you're checking yourself against these figures, use the same definition the Fed does: everything you own minus everything you owe. Home equity counts. Retirement accounts count. Vehicles count at resale value. Your income does not.

    That last point trips up more people than any other — see net worth vs income for why high earners so often rank lower than they expect. If you're not sure how to add it all up, our guide to calculating net worth walks through it line by line.

    Want to see where you actually land? NetTrack connects your accounts and tracks your real net worth over time — no spreadsheets. Start free.

  • The Average American Debt by Age in 2026

    The Average American Debt by Age in 2026

    The average American carries $104,755 in total debt, according to Experian's most recent consumer debt study. But that single figure hides a life-cycle pattern that matters far more than the average: debt climbs steeply through your thirties, peaks in your late forties and fifties, then falls by roughly half by retirement.

    Here's how much debt each age group actually carries, what it's made of, and how to tell whether yours is a problem.

    Average total debt by generation

    Generation Age range Average total debt
    Generation Z 18–28 $34,328
    Millennials 29–44 $132,280
    Generation X 45–60 $158,105
    Baby Boomers 61–79 $92,619
    Silent Generation 80+ $38,460
    All consumers — $104,755

    Source: Experian consumer debt study (2025 data, most recent release).

    Gen X carries the heaviest load — nearly 5× what Gen Z owes. That's not recklessness; it's timing. Gen X is the generation most likely to be simultaneously paying a mortgage near its peak balance, financing cars for a household of drivers, carrying leftover student loans, and in many cases co-signing for their kids.

    Average debt by type and generation

    Total debt is mostly one thing — a mortgage — so the type-level breakdown is where the useful detail lives:

    Debt type Gen Z Millennials Gen X Boomers Silent
    Mortgage $262,004 $320,027 $286,574 $196,227 $148,514
    Student loan $21,670 $32,911 $38,426 $39,870 $31,153
    Auto loan $20,893 $25,307 $27,836 $22,583 $17,180
    Personal loan $9,466 $16,882 $21,910 $21,972 $17,786
    Credit card $3,493 $6,961 $9,600 $6,795 $3,445

    Three things stand out:

    Millennials have the largest mortgages at $320,027 on average. They're buying at today's prices with today's rates, so their balances start higher than any generation before them — even though Gen X owns more home equity.

    Student loan balances go up with age. Boomers average $39,870, more than Gen Z's $21,670. Interest capitalization, income-driven repayment plans that don't cover accruing interest, and parent PLUS loans mean this debt often grows rather than shrinks.

    Credit card debt peaks with Gen X at $9,600. This is the number to watch. Unlike a mortgage, credit card debt buys no asset — at typical rates above 20%, a $9,600 balance costs roughly $2,000 a year just to carry.

    Not all debt is the same

    The headline number treats a $300,000 mortgage and a $9,000 credit card balance as the same thing. They aren't:

    • Debt that buys an appreciating asset — a mortgage on a home you can afford, a student loan that raised your earning power. These show up on both sides of your balance sheet.
    • Debt that buys a depreciating asset — an auto loan. Neutral at best, and easy to overdo.
    • Debt that buys nothing — credit card balances, personal loans used for consumption. Pure drag.

    This is exactly why net worth, not debt, is the right scoreboard. A household with a $400,000 mortgage against a $600,000 house is in better shape than one with $15,000 in credit card debt and no assets — even though the first has 26× more debt.

    How to tell if your debt is a problem

    Two ratios do most of the work:

    Debt-to-income (DTI). Total monthly debt payments divided by gross monthly income. Under 36% is healthy; lenders start balking above 43%.

    Non-mortgage debt to income. Add up everything except your mortgage. If it exceeds 20% of gross income, it's crowding out saving.

    If you're above either line, the standard playbook still works: cover minimums everywhere, then throw everything extra at the highest-rate balance — almost always a credit card — until it's gone.

    The number that actually matters

    Debt totals are only half of a balance sheet. Paying down $10,000 of a credit card improves your net worth by exactly as much as saving $10,000 — and at 22% interest, it's a far better guaranteed return than you'll get anywhere else.

    Curious how the other half looks? See net worth percentile by age for where households actually land once assets and debts are netted out.

    Want to watch debt fall and net worth rise on the same chart? NetTrack connects your loans, cards, and accounts and tracks the whole picture automatically. Start free.

  • The Average 401(k) Balance by Age in 2026 (And Why the Median Matters More)

    The Average 401(k) Balance by Age in 2026 (And Why the Median Matters More)

    The average American 401(k) balance is about $141,000 as of early 2026, according to Fidelity. Vanguard's numbers, covering 4.6 million accounts through year-end 2025, put the average at $167,970 — but the median is just $44,115. That gap is the most important fact in this article: the typical saver has far less than the "average" suggests, because a minority of large accounts pull the average up.

    Here's how balances break down by age and generation, and how to judge your own number.

    Average 401(k) balance by generation (Fidelity, Q1 2026)

    Generation Average 401(k) balance
    Baby Boomers $260,300
    Gen X $215,600
    Millennials $82,600
    Gen Z $18,000
    All savers $141,000

    Vanguard's How America Saves 2026 report adds the endpoints by age: workers under 25 average $7,259 (median $2,234), while those 65 and older average $330,186 (median $103,202). At every age, the median runs at roughly a quarter to a third of the average.

    One genuinely encouraging trend: the combined employee-plus-employer savings rate hit a record 14.4% in early 2026 — close to Fidelity's recommended 15%.

    Why the median is your benchmark

    Averages answer "how much money is in 401(k)s per person" — a fact about the system. Medians answer "how much does the typical person have" — a fact about people like you. When the average is $168,000 and the median is $44,000, comparing yourself to the average mostly measures how far you are from a small number of very large accounts.

    Am I on track? The salary-multiple test

    A better benchmark than other people's balances is your own salary. Fidelity's widely used guideline: 1× your salary saved by 30, 3× by 40, 6× by 50, 8× by 60, and 10× by 67 — across all retirement accounts, not just your current 401(k). We break this down with examples in How Much Should You Have Saved by 30, 40, and 50?

    Three things that move the number most

    1. Capture the full employer match. It's an immediate 50–100% return on those dollars; leaving it unclaimed is the most expensive common mistake.
    2. Raise your rate 1% per year. Going from 6% to 12% over six years is barely felt per paycheck but roughly doubles your lifetime contributions.
    3. Count every account. Old 401(k)s from previous jobs, IRAs, and HSAs are all part of the real picture — and orphaned accounts are where fees and forgotten cash-heavy allocations hide.

    That last one is where tracking tools earn their keep: your true retirement position is the sum of scattered accounts, which no single provider's dashboard shows you.

    Frequently asked questions

    What's a good 401(k) balance at 40?
    By Fidelity's guideline, about 3× your salary across retirement accounts — $240,000 for an $80,000 earner. The typical American at that age has meaningfully less, so "on the guideline" means comfortably ahead of the median.

    Why is my balance so far below the average for my age?
    Averages are inflated by high earners and long-tenured savers. Compare to the median, and more importantly, to the salary-multiple targets for your own income.

    Do these figures include IRAs?
    No — they're 401(k)-plan data from Fidelity and Vanguard. Your full retirement picture should add IRAs, HSAs, and old employer plans.

    Where does this data come from?
    Fidelity's quarterly retirement analysis (Q1 2026) and Vanguard's How America Saves 2026 report covering year-end 2025. Both update regularly, and we'll refresh this page as new quarters land.

    See all your retirement accounts — current 401(k), old ones, IRAs — in one place with NetTrack, including how they're actually performing. Start free.

  • Net Worth Percentile by Age: Top 50%, 25%, 10%, and 1% in 2026

    Net Worth Percentile by Age: Top 50%, 25%, 10%, and 1% in 2026

    A household net worth of about $1.9 million puts you in the top 10% of American households. The top 1% starts around $13.7 million, the top 25% at roughly $659,000 — and half of all US households sit below $192,700.

    But overall numbers only tell half the story: a 30-year-old with $400,000 is in a very different position than a 60-year-old with the same amount. Here are the percentile thresholds overall and by age, based on the Federal Reserve's Survey of Consumer Finances.

    US net worth percentiles (all households)

    Percentile Household net worth
    25th (bottom quartile) ~$27,000
    50th (median) ~$192,700
    75th (top 25%) ~$659,000
    90th (top 10%) ~$1.94 million
    95th (top 5%) ~$3.8 million
    99th (top 1%) ~$13.7 million

    Source: Federal Reserve Survey of Consumer Finances (2022, the latest published survey; figures in 2022 dollars).

    Top 10% threshold by age

    Because wealth compounds over a career, the bar for the top 10% rises steeply with age:

    Age group Median net worth Top 10% (90th percentile)
    Under 35 $39,040 ~$390,000
    35–44 $135,300 ~$980,000
    45–54 $246,700 ~$1.76 million
    55–64 $364,270 ~$2.6 million
    65–74 $409,900 ~$3.2 million
    75+ $334,700 ~$2.75 million

    A useful way to read this: a 32-year-old with $400,000 is already in their age group's top 10%, while a 55-year-old with the same amount is only modestly above their cohort's median. Age-adjusted comparison is the honest one.

    What these thresholds actually mean

    • Net worth is household, not individual. A couple's combined assets count as one household, so single-person comparisons should mentally adjust down.
    • The median is the anchor. Half of American households have less than ~$193,000 — if headlines about "average" millionaires make you feel behind, remember the average is distorted by a small number of extremely wealthy households.
    • Percentiles are a snapshot; trajectory is the signal. Moving from the 40th to the 60th percentile over five years matters more than where you happen to stand today.

    For what drives the differences between age groups — compounding, home equity, debt payoff — see our companion piece on the average net worth by age.

    How to find your own percentile

    1. Calculate your net worth — all assets minus all liabilities.
    2. Find your age bracket in the table above and compare against the median first, then the 90th percentile.
    3. Recheck yearly. The interesting question isn't "where am I?" but "which direction am I moving, and how fast?"

    Frequently asked questions

    What net worth is considered rich?
    There's no official line, but the top 10% threshold ($1.9 million per household) is a common benchmark for "wealthy," and the top 1% ($13.7 million) for "rich" in the popular sense.

    Does net worth include home equity?
    Yes — these figures count your home's market value as an asset and the mortgage as a liability. For many households, home equity is the single largest component.

    Where does this data come from?
    The Federal Reserve's Survey of Consumer Finances, conducted every three years. The 2022 survey (published October 2023) is the latest; results from the 2025 survey are expected in late 2026, and we'll update this page when they're released.

    Curious where you actually stand? NetTrack connects your accounts and calculates your real net worth in minutes — then tracks the trend that matters. Start free.

  • How Much Should You Have Saved by 30, 40, and 50? (2026 Benchmarks)

    How Much Should You Have Saved by 30, 40, and 50? (2026 Benchmarks)

    The most widely used benchmark, from Fidelity, is simple: you should have 1× your annual salary saved by age 30, 3× by 40, 6× by 50, 8× by 60, and 10× by 67 — counting all retirement and investment accounts together.

    For someone earning $80,000, that means roughly $80,000 saved by 30, $240,000 by 40, and $480,000 by 50. Here's the full breakdown, why the targets accelerate, and what to do if you're behind.

    Savings targets by age

    Age Target (× salary) At $60k salary At $80k salary At $100k salary
    30 1× $60,000 $80,000 $100,000
    35 2× $120,000 $160,000 $200,000
    40 3× $180,000 $240,000 $300,000
    45 4× $240,000 $320,000 $400,000
    50 6× $360,000 $480,000 $600,000
    55 7× $420,000 $560,000 $700,000
    60 8× $480,000 $640,000 $800,000
    67 10× $600,000 $800,000 $1,000,000

    Based on Fidelity's retirement savings guidelines, which assume retiring at 67 and maintaining your pre-retirement lifestyle.

    Two clarifications people often miss:

    • "Saved" means invested, not in a savings account. These targets assume market growth doing much of the work — 401(k)s, IRAs, HSAs, and brokerage accounts all count.
    • The multiple is of your current salary. Get a big raise and your target jumps too; that's the guideline working as intended, since your lifestyle (and the retirement that must fund it) got more expensive.

    Why the targets accelerate

    Notice the jump: one salary in your first decade of work, then two more by 40, then three more by 50. That's compounding math, not expectation inflation — money invested at 25 has 40 years to grow, so early savings do disproportionate work. The corollary cuts both ways: being behind at 30 is cheap to fix; being behind at 50 is not.

    Behind the curve? In good company — and here's the playbook

    Most Americans are behind these benchmarks — the median 401(k) balance is about $44,000, far below where the multiples say a mid-career saver should be. If that's you:

    1. Get the full employer match first. It's the highest-return money available to you.
    2. Use catch-up contributions if you're 50+. The IRS allows meaningfully higher 401(k) and IRA limits from age 50.
    3. Automate an annual 1% increase. Most plans can do this automatically; you won't feel it, and it compounds your savings rate.
    4. Attack high-interest debt in parallel. A credit card at 24% outruns any market return; clearing it is a guaranteed win.
    5. Know your real number. Scattered accounts make people underestimate (or overestimate) where they stand — the benchmark only helps if you're comparing it against your true total.

    How this fits with other benchmarks

    Salary multiples measure retirement readiness. For the broader picture — home equity, debts, everything — the yardstick is net worth; see the average net worth by age and what puts you in the top 10%. The two views together answer both "can I retire?" and "am I building wealth?"

    Frequently asked questions

    Are Fidelity's multiples too aggressive?
    They're calibrated for maintaining your lifestyle from 67 onward. If you expect lower expenses, Social Security covering a bigger share, or working past 67, you can land safely below 10×. Planning to retire early? You'll need more, sooner.

    Should I count my home equity?
    Not for these targets — you can't spend the house you live in. Home equity belongs in your net worth, not your retirement-savings multiple.

    What if my income just increased a lot?
    Your multiple drops overnight, and that's fine. Treat the new target as a direction, not a pass/fail grade — and avoid letting lifestyle inflate to the new income while you close the gap.

    The hardest part is knowing your true total across every account. NetTrack adds it up automatically and shows whether the number is moving fast enough. Start free.