The number of people with $1 million or more in their 401(k) increased to 157,000 at the end of Q1, a 45 percent increase from Q1 2017. Another 148,000 had saved that much in an IRA. Of those, 2,400 people had saved $1 million in both types of accounts.
That means this one firm holds tax-advantaged retirement accounts for 300,000 people with $1 million in savings.
Those are just the accounts at one firm (though it is true, it’s a pretty big firm with $6.9 trillion in assets under management). If we add in all of the other large custodians such as Charles Schwab and TD Bank; big fund managers such as Vanguard, BlackRock and State Street; and big brokerage firms such as UBS, Merrill Lynch and Morgan Stanley, the number of 401(k) millionaires adds up very quickly.
If there aren’t a million 401(k) millionaires already, there will be soon. For all we know, that milestone may have already been reached.
Winding up with $1 million in your 401(k) isn’t too hard — as long as you are willing to do the difficult things that need to be done to get there. Commitment, discipline and most of all, managing your own behavior is all that you need.
This column was provided by Bloomberg News.