U.S. retirement savers entered the second half of 2026 with record account balances and savings rates close to a widely cited long-term retirement target, highlighting the increasing role of workplace plans and individual retirement accounts in household wealth creation.

Fidelity Investments said on September 3 that average balances across the 401(k), 403(b) and individual retirement accounts it administers all reached new highs in the second quarter. The findings are based on more than 55 million retirement accounts and provide one of the largest recurring views of how American workers and investors are saving, allocating capital and responding to changing market conditions.

The average 401(k) balance reached $155,800 at the end of June, up approximately 10% from the first quarter and 13% from a year earlier. Fidelity said the quarterly increase was 10.5%, the strongest percentage gain since the fourth quarter of 2020. Compared with the second quarter of 2021, the average balance was 20% higher, while the increase over a decade reached 75%.

Average 403(b) balances, representing retirement plans commonly used by employees of schools, nonprofit organizations and other tax-exempt institutions, rose to $145,000. That represented a 12% quarterly increase and a 16% gain from a year earlier. Over five years, the average was up 28%, and compared with the second quarter of 2016 it had more than doubled.

Average IRA balances reached $144,523, an increase of about 10% both from the preceding quarter and from the same period in 2025. Fidelity reported that the average IRA balance was 59% higher than a decade earlier. Contributions to IRAs also accelerated, rising 36% from the second quarter of last year, suggesting that investors were directing more capital into retirement accounts beyond employer-sponsored plans.

The balance increases reflected both investment returns and sustained contributions. Financial markets rebounded strongly during the second quarter following volatility earlier in the year, giving retirement investors who remained invested a substantial lift. The results reinforce a central principle of long-horizon portfolio management: contribution consistency and continued exposure to markets can matter as much as attempts to anticipate shorter-term price movements.

Only a relatively small portion of retirement participants significantly altered asset allocations during the period, according to data discussed around Fidelity’s report, indicating that most savers maintained their existing strategies rather than reacting aggressively to market fluctuations. That behavior can be particularly consequential for participants whose retirement accounts are heavily invested in diversified stock funds or target-date strategies.

For financial advisers, however, the more significant number may be the savings rate rather than the account balance. Fidelity said total average 401(k) savings remained at a record 14.4% for a second consecutive quarter. That figure combines an average employee contribution rate of 9.6% with an average employer contribution of 4.8%.

The combined rate stands just below Fidelity’s recommended annual retirement savings benchmark of 15% of income. While the appropriate savings target varies according to age, income, expected retirement date, existing assets and anticipated spending, the persistence of the 14.4% average indicates that workplace retirement-plan design is pushing a growing share of workers toward contribution levels associated with more substantial long-term wealth accumulation.

Employer matching remains central to that equation. More than eight in 10 participants — 81.2% — were contributing enough to receive their employer’s full available matching contribution in the second quarter. For advisers working with households that have not yet maximized available matches, that remains one of the most straightforward opportunities for improving long-term retirement outcomes without assuming additional investment risk.

The contribution environment is also being supported by higher federal limits. For 2026, the Internal Revenue Service increased the basic employee contribution ceiling for 401(k), 403(b), most 457 plans and the federal Thrift Savings Plan to $24,500 from $23,500 in 2025. The general catch-up limit for participants aged 50 and older rose to $8,000, allowing many older workers to contribute as much as $32,500 through employee deferrals.

Workers aged 60 through 63 can qualify for an even higher catch-up allowance of $11,250 in 2026 under provisions created by the SECURE 2.0 Act. The IRA contribution limit also increased to $7,500, with an additional $1,100 catch-up contribution available to eligible individuals aged 50 or older. Those higher ceilings expand tax-advantaged savings capacity for affluent and late-career households seeking to accelerate retirement funding.

The Fidelity figures also point to stronger accumulation among women. Women who had continuously participated in a 401(k) plan for at least five years reached an average balance of $273,400 during the quarter, crossing the $250,000 threshold. Female IRA investors had an average balance of $130,231, up 12% from a year earlier.

Roth accounts are playing a notable role in that segment. Fidelity reported that women directed 72% of their IRA contributions to Roth IRAs, an increase from the prior year. Roth contributions do not generally provide an immediate federal income-tax deduction, but qualified withdrawals can be tax-free, making the accounts relevant for investors expecting substantial future taxable income or seeking greater flexibility in retirement tax planning.

Younger workers also recorded sizable gains. Average millennial 401(k) balances increased 14.2% during the quarter and 26.1% from the same period a year earlier. Millennials and Generation Z workers had some of the highest participation rates in Roth 401(k) contributions, at 20.1% and 21.9%, respectively, according to Fidelity’s analysis.

For wealth advisers, those trends have implications extending beyond the immediate balance figures. Younger investors accumulating meaningful retirement assets earlier in their careers may eventually require more sophisticated guidance on asset allocation, Roth-versus-traditional contributions, tax diversification and the coordination of workplace plans with taxable portfolios. The retirement account can increasingly become the foundation for a broader wealth-management relationship rather than a standalone employee benefit.

The record balances are also creating a growing cohort of high-value retirement investors. MarketWatch reported that Fidelity’s number of 401(k) millionaires reached a record 769,000 during the quarter. Although million-dollar balances remain a small proportion of the overall participant population, their growth illustrates the cumulative impact of long plan tenure, high contribution rates and sustained equity-market exposure.

The headline averages nevertheless require careful interpretation. Average account balances can be pulled higher by participants with large portfolios and do not represent the experience of the typical worker. Age, income, employment stability and years of plan participation create substantial differences across households. A young employee who recently entered the workforce would generally be expected to hold a much smaller account than a participant who has contributed consistently for several decades.

Market appreciation also played a major role in the second-quarter increase. Record nominal account values therefore should not be interpreted as evidence that retirement readiness has improved equally across all households. Future market declines could reverse part of the balance gains, while inflation affects how much purchasing power those balances ultimately provide.

There were also indications of continued financial stress. MarketWatch reported that the share of workers with an outstanding 401(k) loan edged up to 19.5%, while about 3% made hardship withdrawals. Both measures were slightly higher than a year earlier. Retirement-plan borrowing can help households meet immediate cash needs, but it can also reduce the amount of capital remaining invested and potentially limit future compound growth.

The coexistence of record balances and rising withdrawals illustrates the uneven financial position of American households. Higher-income employees with stable cash flows may be increasing contributions and benefiting from market appreciation, while other participants remain exposed to housing costs, consumer debt, insurance expenses and unexpected emergencies that can force them to tap retirement assets.

For advisers, that divergence strengthens the case for integrating retirement planning with liquidity management. Maintaining an emergency reserve outside tax-advantaged retirement accounts can reduce the probability that a client will need to borrow from a 401(k) or make an early distribution during a period of financial strain. That distinction becomes more important as retirement balances grow into a larger share of household net worth.

Small-business retirement saving is another area of expansion. Fidelity said adoption and participation in its retail small-business retirement accounts — including self-employed 401(k)s, self-employed Roth 401(k)s, SEP IRAs and SIMPLE IRAs — had grown 178% over the previous five years. Contributions to those accounts increased 46% during the same period.

More than 25,000 participants are also now saving through Fidelity Advantage 401(k), the company’s pooled employer plan for small businesses. The growth matters for the wealth industry because entrepreneurs, independent professionals and small-company owners historically have had less consistent access to large-employer retirement infrastructure despite often having complex planning and tax needs.

Expanding retirement-plan adoption among small businesses can create additional opportunities for advisers serving business owners to coordinate corporate benefits, personal retirement savings and succession planning. For affluent entrepreneurs, decisions about plan structure can affect both employee compensation strategy and the owner’s own capacity to accumulate tax-advantaged assets.

The new data also reinforce the importance of plan design. Automatic enrollment, automatic contribution escalation, target-date investment defaults and employer matching can materially influence participant behavior without requiring workers to make repeated active decisions. When contribution rates remain elevated through periods of market volatility, those structural features can help convert regular payroll deferrals into increasingly significant long-term portfolios.

For higher-net-worth households, contribution limits mean workplace plans alone may not satisfy long-term savings requirements. Investors who reach federal retirement-account ceilings frequently need to coordinate 401(k)s and IRAs with taxable brokerage portfolios, health savings accounts, deferred compensation, charitable strategies or other vehicles. The record Fidelity balances therefore represent only one component of the financial position of many affluent investors.

Tax diversification is also becoming more important as balances rise. Large traditional 401(k) and IRA holdings can create substantial taxable distributions later in retirement, making Roth contributions and conversions relevant components of multiyear planning. The increasing use of Roth accounts among younger participants suggests more households are building portfolios containing both tax-deferred and potentially tax-free retirement assets.

Advisers must still balance tax efficiency against liquidity and investment risk. Maximizing tax-advantaged contributions can be attractive for households with sufficient cash flow, but locking too much wealth into retirement structures may create constraints for investors who need capital for homes, businesses, education or other objectives before retirement age.

Fidelity’s second-quarter figures ultimately show that retirement wealth is being driven by several reinforcing forces: strong markets, elevated employee contributions, employer matches, higher federal contribution limits and plan designs that encourage persistent saving. The combination helped push the company’s measured account balances to unprecedented levels even as economic concerns remained prominent.

The next test will be whether those savings behaviors persist if market performance weakens or household finances come under greater pressure. Record balances are partly a snapshot of asset prices, but a savings rate holding at 14.4% carries a different signal. It suggests that, among Fidelity participants, retirement funding has remained a priority rather than simply a byproduct of rising markets.

For wealth managers, the distinction is important. Market gains can raise portfolio values quickly, but sustainable retirement wealth depends on how consistently clients contribute, how effectively they capture employer benefits, how portfolios are allocated through market cycles and how successfully households avoid premature withdrawals. Fidelity’s second-quarter data indicate that many American savers are moving closer to that model, even as the rise in borrowing and hardship distributions shows that progress remains uneven.