So I was looking into what people actually have saved for retirement by their late 30s and early 40s, and the numbers are pretty interesting. Turns out how much should you have in retirement by 35 is something a lot of people wonder about, and there's actually decent data on this.

According to Vanguard's recent research, the average 401(k) balance for people aged 35 to 44 is around $91,281. But here's the thing that caught my attention: the median is only $35,537. That gap between average and median tells you something about how unevenly savings are distributed across that age group.

The reason this age range matters so much is pretty straightforward. You've got maybe 20-25 years until retirement, which means compound growth is actually working in your favor if you start getting serious now. I think a lot of people underestimate how much time they still have at 35 to build real wealth.

Now, the question everyone asks is: am I on track? There's this rule called the 80% rule that's been around forever. Basically it says you should aim to have 80% of your final year's income available annually in retirement to keep your lifestyle similar. So if you made $100k in your last working year, you'd want $80k coming in yearly from all sources. Obviously that doesn't all have to come from your 401(k). Most people should have Social Security, maybe a brokerage account, IRAs, stuff like that adding up to create your total retirement income.

The tricky part is figuring out how much should you have in retirement by 35 specifically. There's no magic number that works for everyone because it depends on where you live, what your lifestyle looks like, and what you're actually planning for. But having benchmarks like these helps you see if you're in the ballpark or if you need to adjust your savings rate.

Honestly, if you're in your mid-30s to mid-40s and thinking about retirement savings, now is exactly when you should be getting more intentional about it. The compound growth you build in this decade can make a huge difference in how much you have in retirement by the time you actually retire.