The personal finance site analyzed data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2022 Survey of Income and Program Participation, the latest available, to determine the average amount households in each state have saved for retirement. The totals include balances of 401(k)s, IRAs, Keogh plans and thrift savings plans.
The average amount Americans have saved for retirement in every U.S. state—see how you compare
Thrift Savings Plans refers to a government program: Home | The Thrift Savings Plan (TSP)
Per the story, they include accounts specific to retirement such as IRA and 401(k) programs but do not include:
- Ordinary bank accounts
- Stock investments
- Real estate owned, including one’s own home
- Pensions
- Social security and other benefit programs
- Other savings
Which means they may be leaving the bulk of retirees’ assets out of the total!
Update July 2026
More bullshit: The typical American worker has $955 saved for retirement
“That figure factors in workers with 401(k) and other retirement plan savings, while also including the roughly 56 million U.S. workers who lack access to an employer-sponsored retirement plan. Median savings for all employed adults between the ages of 21 and 64 amounted to $955”
Total bullshit reporting from CBS News. By including the very young, and excluding all other savings and investments, the doomer media paints a picture of no one can ever retire.
