The Average Boomer on Fidelity’s Platform Has $270,800 in a 401(k). Here’s the Monthly Income It Can Actually Pay

Fidelity’s latest 401(k) data puts the average Boomer balance at $270,800. Most people respond to that number in one of two ways. They either feel relieved they’re close or shocked and worried they’re nowhere near it. Either reaction misses the more useful question: what a balance like that actually pays each month once the paychecks stop. That monthly figure comes out a lot smaller than the headline number.

Why $270,800 Runs Higher Than the Typical Account

Fidelity’s Q4 2025 report shows Boomers at $270,800, Gen X at $222,100, and all savers at $146,400. Each is an average, and big balances drag the average up. Say nine savers have $50,000 each and a tenth has $2 million. The average comes out to $245,000, even though nine of the ten people have far less than that.

Fidelity doesn’t publish a median, meaning the balance of the saver right in the middle. Vanguard does, though. In its How America Saves 2025 report, savers 65 and older had an average balance of $299,442 but a median of just $95,425. Each figure counts only one account on one platform. That means it leaves out IRAs, old 401(k)s from past jobs, and a spouse’s savings.

What the Balance Pays Under Three Approaches

Here’s the setup: a single retiree starting at 67 with all pre-tax money, and each approach below trades monthly income against how long the money lasts.

• The 4% rule: Take 4% of the starting balance in year one, then adjust for inflation each year after. That works out to $10,832 a year, or about $903 a month.
• Annuity-style withdrawal: Spend the account down to zero by 93, the planning age Fidelity uses in its savings guidelines, while earning the current 10-year Treasury yield of 4.99%. That pays about $1,541 a month, but there’s nothing left at the end, and the yield isn’t locked in.
• Interest only: Park everything at the national average 12-month CD rate of 1.76%. That pays about $397 a month and never touches the principal.

Adding Social Security and Subtracting Medicare

After the 2.8% cost-of-living raise, the average retired worker now gets $2,071 a month. Add that to the 4% withdrawal, and the total comes to about $2,974. Medicare then takes its cut: the standard Part B premium is $202.90 and usually comes straight out of the Social Security check, leaving about $2,771. Under the withdrawal approach, the same math comes to about $3,409.

Taxes are the next deduction from that monthly figure. Under 26 U.S.C. § 402(a), money from a traditional 401(k) is taxed like a paycheck when it comes out. Qualified Roth withdrawals are the exception, since § 402A(d)(1) keeps them out of taxable income.

At the 4% pace, a single filer’s combined income (withdrawals plus half of Social Security) works out to $23,258. That’s below the $25,000 base amount in § 86(c)(1)(A), so none of the Social Security gets taxed. On top of that, the withdrawal falls below the 2026 standard deduction of $16,100. Federal income tax is likely zero, so this withdrawal approach brings combined income to about $31,038, and at that level, part of the Social Security check becomes taxable.

Four Factors That Can Raise the Monthly Number

Waiting to claim Social Security makes the biggest difference. For anyone born in 1943 or later, benefits grow 8.0% for each year they delay past full retirement age, up to age 70. Applied to the average check, that would bring it to about $2,568 at 70.

Each extra year on the job helps too. Boomers on Fidelity’s platform save 12.1% of pay and get another 5.0% from their employer. Working longer adds to the balance and reduces the number of years it has to cover, and a paid-off home makes every figure go further because the biggest monthly bill is gone. A spouse changes things as well. An aged couple who both collect gets an average of $3,208 a month in combined benefits.

One Number Worth Measuring Against

Under the 4% rule, the average Boomer 401(k) pays about $903 a month. That covers groceries and utilities, maybe some travel. It won’t replace a salary. The same figure applies to any balance: divide 4% by 12. Run Vanguard’s median for savers 65 and older through that formula, and it comes to about $318 a month. Social Security still does most of the work for the typical retiree, and $903 marks what a well-funded Boomer account adds on top of it (we made the full case for an income-first approach over the classic 4% rule in a free report here).

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