Here's the Average IRA Balance Today. How Does Yours Compare?

It's important to save well for retirement so you're able to cover your living costs without having to pinch pennies.

Sure, if you spend a good number of years in the labor force, you can probably count on Social Security to pay you a monthly retirement benefit. But your Social Security checks might only replace about 40% of your wages. And that assumes you're an average earner.

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Many people cannot afford a 60% pay cut in retirement. So it's important to have a nice amount of income outside those monthly benefits. That's where your retirement savings come in.

Now, not every retirement saver has access to a 401(k) plan. If you work for a smaller company or are self-employed, you may not have a workplace retirement plan to contribute to. But anyone with earned income can save for retirement in an IRA, making these accounts a terrific tool to use across the board.

Meanwhile, new data shows that IRA balances are on the rise. Here's the average IRA balance today -- and what you can do to boost yours.

What the average IRA balance looks like

Fidelity reports that the average IRA balance for 2025's third quarter is $137,902. That's up 5% from the second quarter of the year and 7% from the third quarter of 2024.

A big reason IRA balances are up likely has to do with stock market gains. But it's still an encouraging trend.

Are you happy with your IRA balance?

Whether your IRA balance is higher than, lower than, or comparable to the average, there are steps you can take to boost your savings rate.

One challenge of saving for retirement in an IRA is that you don't have a workplace match to boost your contributions. To make up for that, get on a budget so you can see exactly where your money is going every month. From there, you can pinpoint ways to reduce your spending and free up more money for savings.

If that doesn't work, look at joining the gig economy. The extra income you earn could be your ticket to boosting your IRA contributions.

In fact, if you earn enough money from a side gig, you might manage to max out your IRA.

IRAs have much lower contribution limits than 401(k)s. This year, they max out at $7,000 for savers under 50 and $8,000 for savers 50 and over. In 2026, these limits are rising to $7,500 and $8,600, respectively.

Let your investments do some of the work

While contributing more money to your IRA is a great way to grow your balance, it's not your only option. If you invest your IRA wisely, you may find that your balance is able to increase substantially over time.

One nice thing about IRAs is that they allow you to hold stocks individually. Employer 401(k) plans typically do not.

It pays to load up on growth and dividend stocks in your IRA across a range of market sectors. The more diversified your portfolio is, the more protection you might gain against market volatility, and the more your money might grow.

If you're not so comfortable with the idea of choosing individual stocks for your IRA, you could invest in broad market ETFs, or exchange-traded funds, instead. That could make your portfolio easier to manage and take some of the pressure off.

It's a good thing to see that IRA balances seem to be growing, even if some of those gains are due to the stock market's recent performance. But if you're not happy with your IRA balance, the sooner you take steps to boost it, the more confident about retirement you might be.

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