A ‘Better’ Than Averages Report
There were some good headlines about 401(k)s last week — but the numbers underneath those “averages” were even better. Those headlines — reporting on Fidelity’s Building Financial Futures: Q1 2025 report — noted that savings rates hit a record high in Q1, driven by a milestone employee contribution rate of 9.5%, and an employer contribution rate of 4.8% — the highest level to date in that survey. Those types of increases have previously been noted in surveys by the Plan Sponsor Council of America, but this one commented that the combined savings rate of 14.3% is the closest it’s ever been to Fidelity's suggested savings rate of 15%. That said, when you look inside those averages — Fidelity noted that Boomers [i] actually had a total savings rate of 17.2%, buoyed by a 12% employee savings rate, while Gen Xers had a 15.4% total savings rate (a 10.3% employee savings rate). Gen Z’s 7.3% employee savings rate and Mil...