The typical American 65 or older with an active 401(k)-style account holds about $95,000, according to Vanguard.

By retirement, much of the money in 401(k)s has been rolled into IRAs.

Workers building 401(k) balances often assume the account will be their main source of retirement income. For most current retirees, it isn't.

Among Americans 65 and older with an active 401(k)-style account at Vanguard, the median balance is $95,425, according to its 2025 report. At the traditional 4% withdrawal rate, that's about $3,800 a year—enough to matter, but not enough to live on. That isn't necessarily reason for concern, but it's worth understanding why this is: Most retirees no longer keep their largest savings in a 401(k). By their late 60s, those dollars have usually moved into an IRA.

Pensions, 401(k) withdrawals, and IRA distributions together accounted for 24% of total income among Americans 65 and older in 2019, according to a Congressional Research Service analysis of surveys linked to Social Security records. Social Security was larger, at 30%. So were earnings, at 27%.

The gap between what workers expect from 401(k)s and what retirees actually draw from them should change how you map out your income streams.

Many workers think 401(k)s will eventually do most of the work in retirement. Retirees say something different. The Employee Benefit Research Institute 2026 Retirement Confidence Survey found that 83% of workers expect a workplace retirement savings plan to be a source of income in retirement. But just 45% of retirees say theirs is, down from 54% in 2025.

The share of retirees citing a traditional IRA as an income source fell to 54% from 59%, and a defined benefit pension dropped to 56% from 64%.

Survey self-reports are often wrong. Retirees overstate their reliance on Social Security and underreport withdrawals from 401(k)s and IRAs, frequently by wide margins.

A 2025 Congressional Research Service (CRS) analysis of 2019 income records—the most recent data linking surveys to tax and benefit information—gives a clearer picture. For those 65 and older, Social Security accounts for about 30% of total income. Earnings from wages, salaries, and self-employment make up 27%. Pensions and retirement savings, which include defined benefit checks, 401(k) withdrawals, and IRA distributions, account for 24%.

The mix shifts with age. For Americans 65 to 69, earnings dominate at 49% while Social Security trails at 19%. By age 80 and older, earnings drop to 5% while Social Security rises to 40% and pensions and retirement savings reach 29%. Even at ages when pensions and 401(k) income have the most weight, they never overtake Social Security.

While Vanguard's median account balance for 401(k)s was over $95,000, the average was $299,442. At more than three times the median, that's a sign that a relatively small number of large accounts are pulling the mean up.

Most retirees no longer have current-job plans by their late 60s, according to the Federal Reserve's 2022 Survey of Consumer Finances. When workers leave a job—retiring, switching employers, or getting laid off—they typically roll their 401(k) into an IRA. Nearly 60% of traditional IRA-owning households held rollover assets as of mid-2024, according to the Investment Company Institute.

Those flows have made IRAs the largest single pool of U.S. retirement money. At year-end 2025, IRAs held $19.2 trillion, while 401(k) plans alone held $10.1 trillion.

So when CRS found that about 29% of Americans 65 and older drew household income from IRA withdrawals, much of that money started life as a 401(k). The account label doesn't tell you where the savings came from, which means the headline numbers undersell how much of your retirement a 401(k) will eventually be funding.

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