Skip to navigationSkip to main contentSkip to right columnADVERTISEMENTDavid BerenSat, July 4, 2026 at 5:15 PM GMT+2 5 min readQuick ReadThe average 60-year-old holds $246,500 in their 401(k), far below Fidelity's 8x salary target, making every avoidable tax loss especially costly.Workers aged 60 to 63 can contribute $35,750 to a 401(k) in 2026, the highest limit available to any age group under current law.Delaying Social Security past full retirement age adds 8% annually through age 70, and each COLA increase then compounds on a permanently larger base.Are you ahead, or behind on retirement? SmartAsset's free tool can match you with a financial advisor in minutes to help you answer that today. Each advisor has been carefully vetted, and must act in your best interests. Don't waste another minute; learn more here.The five years around age 60 hold an unusual amount of tax leverage. Contribution limits change, Roth conversion windows open, Social Security timing decisions firm up, and the first preview of required minimum distributions starts to take shape. Each lever pulled or skipped during this stretch echoes for decades, often quietly, through the size of every check, withdrawal, and tax bill that follows. The data below sketches what the average pre-retiree is actually working with and which choices carry the most weight.mayu85 / Shutterstock.comWhat the average 60-year-old is working withThe starting point matters because it shapes which levers are even available. Fidelity's most recent retirement analysis puts the average 401(k) balance at $246,500 for the 60 to 64 age bracket, climbing only slightly to $251,400 for ages 65 to 69. Fidelity's own guideline suggests saving 8 times one's salary by age 60, so a household earning $90,000 would target roughly $720,000. When the balance is modest, every dollar lost to avoidable taxes is a dollar that does not get spent in retirement.Read: Are you ahead, or behind on retirement?