Skip to main content

You are here

Advertisement

Millennials’ Savings Habits Bode Well for Future, Study Says

Millennials’ embrace of savings is robust, says a report the Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies issued on July 15. The report says that employees born between 1979 and 1996 have a strong interest in saving and preparing for retirement. 

TCRS found that 75% of employed Millennials are discussing saving and investing for retirement. But they are also, if you’ll pardon the expression, putting their money where their mouth is — TCRS found that they were saving during and in spite of the Great Recession and after. According to the study, the median retirement savings for Millennial workers’ households rose from $9,000 in 2007 to $32,000 this year. TCRS President Catherine Collinson in a press release about the study called employed Millennials “an emerging generation of retirement super savers.” 

Even more heartening, TCRS says that they are heavily participating in retirement plans. It found that 70% are doing so through employer-sponsored plans or outside the workplace, and that they median age for starting to do so was 22. And the median employee contribution to those plans is 8%. 

Still, TCRS says, there is room for improvement. It found that more than half — 59% — have a retirement strategy, but a mere 13% have a written plan. Even fewer — 10% — have used a retirement calculator or worksheet.  TCRS recommends that Millennials not only save, but also calculate their retirement savings needs, develop a strategy, write the strategy down, and learn more about investing.