Dow Gains in 2025 Fuel Double-Digit Percentage Increases in Retirement Accounts

Vanguard participants’ average balance rose 13 percent from the year before. For Fidelity participants, the increase was 11 percent.

Trading data are displayed at the New York Stock Exchange on Feb. 27, 2026. Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images

The runup in public equities markets in 2025—the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) opened the year at 42,660 points but closed at 48,063 on Dec. 31—led to double-digit annual percentage increases in retirement account balances, Vanguard and Fidelity Investment said in separate reports.

According to Vanguard’s “How America Saves 2026” report published on March 4, participants’ retirement account balances averaged just under $168,000 at the end of 2025—a 13-percent increase from the end of 2024. Median account balances stood at $44,115, a 16-percent increase since 2024 ended.

Fidelity, meanwhile, said in its fourth quarter retirement analysis published March 4 that average 401(k) and 403(b) account balances spiked more than 11 percent in the final quarter of 2025 versus the comparable quarter in 2024, buoyed by continued stock market gains and higher savings contributions.

Average Fidelity 401(k) retirement account balances in the fourth quarter were $146,400, while 403(b) accounts averaged $133,500. Employee and employer contributions were consistent at 9.5 percent and 4.7 percent, respectively, the third quarter in a row that combined contributions tallied 14.2 percent, Fidelity said.

Individual retirement account balances, meanwhile, stood at $137,095, up 7 percent from the fourth quarter of 2024. Total contributions to IRA accounts in the quarter jumped 23 percent versus the prior year, Fidelity added. Contributions from Gen X savers ages 46-61 spiked 25 percent year over year, while just over 46 percent of female Gen Z savers ages 14-29 boosted their total contribution rate in 2025, Fidelity said.

“Retirement savers remain committed to their financial futures by staying the course with their retirement savings,” said Sharon Brovelli, Fidelity Investment’s president of workplace investing.

“The consistency so many Americans show in maintaining responsible savings behaviors and keeping a long-term perspective will serve them well in retirement.”

Retirement account balances for more than 5.5 million people who had the same employer-sponsored savings plan for at least five years were significantly higher at $304,200, Fidelity noted. That’s an increase of 16 percent from the end of 2024.

Public equities continue to be the primary investment choice for retirement savers, Vanguard said in its report. Nearly 80 percent of retirement fund contributions were invested in equities in 2025, with about two-thirds earmarked for target-date funds. Just under 70 percent of retirement savers opted to put their funds in professionally managed investment accounts, Vanguard noted.

Vanguard also noted that hardship withdrawals—early distributions from retirement accounts—inched up a full percentage point in 2025 to 6 percent of participants.

“Given that it’s now easier to request a hardship withdrawal and that automatic enrollment is helping more workers save for retirement, especially lower income workers, a modest increase isn’t surprising,” Vanguard said.

Provisions enacted in 2025 under the Secure 2.0 Act that boosted retirement account catch-up contributions for people ages 60-63 to $11,250 proved attractive, Vanguard added, with 13 percent of eligible plan participants contributing more than the standard $7,500 annual limit.