Fidelity Savers Who Stayed in the Same 401(k) Five Years Straight Average $304,200, Versus $146,400 Across All Savers

Fidelity’s latest retirement data puts two averages side by side. Savers who’ve stayed in the same employer’s 401(k) for five years straight averaged $304,200 at the end of 2025. The average across all of Fidelity’s 401(k) savers was $146,400. That’s a $157,800 gap, and it raises a fair question about how much of the difference comes from simply staying put.

What Fidelity’s Long-Term Saver Number Measures

Fidelity tracks a group of continuous savers. These are people who’ve been in their 401(k) plan with the same employer for five years without a break. More than 5.5 million people on its platform fit that description, and their average balance rose 16% from the end of 2024.

The overall figure comes from Fidelity’s Q4 2025 data, which covers 24.8 million participants across 26,200 corporate plans.

Both numbers are averages, also called means. An average gets pulled up by a small number of very large accounts, while the median is the middle value. Fidelity doesn’t publish a median for its continuous savers, so the typical saver in that group likely holds less than the headline figure.

Why Longer-Tenured Savers Start With an Edge

Some of the gap comes from who these savers are. Vanguard’s How America Saves report notes that income, age, and job tenure are intertwined. Longer-tenured workers tend to be older, earn more, participate more, and contribute at higher levels; they’ve also contributed longer, so their accounts have had more time to grow.

Contribution rates across Fidelity’s platform sit near its own guideline. The average employee contribution rate was 9.5%, and employers added 4.7%. The combined 14.2% savings rate is close to Fidelity’s suggested 15%.

How Staying in One Plan Keeps Balances Growing

Staying in one plan means contributions and employer matches keep coming without a gap. In 2025, the average employee put in $9,080, and the average employer contribution was $4,920. Fidelity also reports that 88.1% of participants got some employer contribution. A job change can break that flow. Some plans make new hires wait before they can enroll or receive a match.

Vesting also matters, as it refers to the point at which employer money in the account fully belongs to the worker. Under federal rules, a 401(k) can use a cliff schedule that fully vests employer contributions after three years of service. It can also use a graded schedule that starts at 20% after two years and hits full vesting after six. Leaving early can mean giving up part of the match, though a worker’s own contributions are theirs from the start.

What Cashing Out Actually Costs

One break in saving comes when someone cashes out after leaving a job. IRS guidance says a payout made directly to the worker generally has 20% withheld for income tax. The entire balance still counts as distributed. Anyone under 59½ may also owe an extra 10% tax on whatever isn’t rolled over within 60 days.

The IRS goes through a simple example. On a $10,000 distribution, $2,000 is withheld, and the worker gets $8,000. If none of it is rolled over, a younger worker pays an additional $1,000 in tax on top of regular income tax.

There’s also the growth that money never gets. Assuming a 6% average annual return, $10,000 left invested for 30 years would grow to about $57,435. This figure assumes a fixed return, and real markets move around.

Options for Job Changers That Keep the Money Working

A direct rollover moves the money straight into a new employer’s plan or an IRA. Under IRS rules, no tax is withheld when the money goes directly to the new plan’s trustee. That keeps the full balance invested, avoids having to replace withheld money by the deadline, and combining old accounts also reduces forgotten 401(k)s left behind at former employers.

Contribution rates are the other piece. Some workers start over at a lower rate in a new plan, or wait to sign up. For 2026, the employee deferral limit is $24,500. Employees age 50 and up can add an $8,000 catch-up, and that rises to $11,250 for ages 60 to 63.

How Continuity Follows Workers Across Job Changes

Age and income explain part of the gap in Fidelity’s figures, along with tenure. Larger balances also align with regular contributions, ongoing employer matches, and balances that stay invested. A rollover lets that money move with the worker from job to job, while cashing out at a job change ends that saving for the money involved.

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