We’re saving almost enough in our 401(k) retirement plans. Here’s the magic number.

Another evolving feature allows employees to automatically increase 401(k) contributions from year to year. Nearly three-quarters of Fidelity plans now have an auto-escalation feature.

Retirement plan contributions are rising at a moment when tax-advantaged retirement savings seems to be catching on in the American workplace.

Half of all private-sector workers now participate in 401(k)-type plans, up from about two-fifths of employees in 2010, federal data shows. Some retirement experts see 50% participation as a retirement-savings tipping point.

More private-sector Americans are participating in 401(k) plans, at least in part, because more employers are offering them. Between 2014 and 2024, employee access to 401(k)-style plans rose from 60% to 70%, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Those positive signs are important, retirement experts say, because many Americans fail to save for retirement.

The wealthiest Americans are the most likely to amass retirement savings. For households in the top 10% by income, the median retirement account held $559,000 in 2022, according to the federal Survey of Consumer Finances. An overwhelming 93% of those households held retirement accounts.

For middle-income Americans, those in the 40th to 60th percentile by income, the median retirement plan held just $39,000, and nearly half of that group had no retirement accounts.

Many smaller employers don’t offer 401(k) plans. Nearly half of workers have no access to any retirement plan at work, according to an AARP analysis.

Americans achieved a record rate of 401(k) savings at a time when their account balances were slipping.

Average 401(k) balances fell by 3% from late 2024 through early 2025, to an average value of $127,100, Fidelity reports. The decline came during a span of market volatility as President Trump took office and launched a trade war.

If 401(k) contribution rates continue to rise, investment experts say, one reason will be good savings habits among younger workers.

The total 401(k) savings rate for Generation Z workers is 11.2%, Fidelity reports, not far behind the savings rates for Millennials (13.5%) and Generation X (15.4%). The savings rate for young adults is significant, because Gen Z is decades away from retirement.

“I think most of the newer, younger cohorts are in this environment where they learn that they need to be saving a lot,” Austin said.

Younger workers know about the decline of pensions as a source of retirement income, and the possibility that Social Security will face a shortfall when they retire.

“Shortfall risk is very real,” Yu said.

Younger workers are more likely than older workers to contribute to a Roth 401(k), Fidelity data shows. Those workers are effectively contributing at a higher rate, Austin said, because Roth contributions have already been taxed.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: We’re saving almost enough in our 401(k)s. Here’s the magic number.