Average Investment Portfolio Size in Your 30s for 2026: How Do You Compare?

When you’re in your 30s, you’re often buying your first home, starting a family, paying down student loans, and trying to save for retirement. So how much do people in this age group have invested?

The median total financial assets for U.S. households ages 30 to 39 is $23,000, according to the Federal Reserve’s 2022 Survey of Consumer Finances (SCF), which is the most recent available. For most people in this age group, their portfolio is modest, weighted toward cash, and light on investment securities.

More Cash Than Stocks

The Fed’s SCF shows you’re not alone if you’re not chasing hot stocks or looking up the latest bond yields. The typical household in this age group doesn’t own individual stocks or bonds. Only about 22% hold individual stocks, and fewer than 1% own bonds.

Among those who do own stocks, they hold a median value of about $5,700, and the average, pulled up by high-net-worth individuals, is $76,383. For bonds, those numbers are $20,000 and $388,893, respectively.

Only about 60% of thirtysomethings have retirement accounts, and the median balance for those accounts is about $33,000. Across all 30–39 households, including the 40% of households with no retirement accounts, the median drops to $6,000. In fact, the typical thirtysomething household has more in checking and savings accounts than saved for retirement, with a median value of their cash holdings at about $7,000.

More recent industry data suggests the picture hasn’t changed much since the Fed’s 2022 survey. Vanguard reports that workers ages 25 to 34 hold a median value of $16,255 in their 401(k) accounts. For those ages 35 to 44, it’s $39,958. Fidelity’s data from the third quarter of 2025 shows that millennials held an average balance of $80,700 in their corporate defined contribution plans and an average IRA balance of $25,109.

David Tenerelli, a certified financial planner at Values Added Financial, said the numbers matter less than the habits you’re developing. “Whether your investment balance is a few hundred dollars or a few hundred thousand dollars or more, the most important thing is to keep contributing to your investments regularly,” he said. “Contribute when markets seem ‘high’ so you can participate in that momentum, and contribute when markets are falling so you can buy at relatively lower prices.”

How To Close Any Gaps Before 40

The most effective move to bump up your long-term savings, according to Tenerelli, is also the simplest. “If your company offers a 401(k) match, make sure you’re contributing at least as much as the match percentage in order to unlock that ‘free money,'” he said.

After capturing the full match, the next question for most thirtysomethings is how to juggle competing debts. Tenerelli recommends comparing your student loan interest rate, your mortgage rate, and the returns you might earn by investing.

“If you might achieve a higher yield in your investments than your student loan interest rate or your mortgage rate, that generally favors minimum loan payments with any excess cash flow going to investments,” he said. Homeowners who itemize deductions get an additional edge—deducting your mortgage interest can lower your tax rate a few percentage points, making the case for investing over accelerated repayment even stronger.

If you have cash left after setting aside enough for your 401(k) match, loan payments, and living expenses, Tenerelli recommended the following steps: first, maximize your retirement account contributions—401(k), then a traditional or Roth IRA—and then, fund a taxable brokerage account.

“Retirement accounts tend to be more tax-efficient in the long run,” he said. “But a taxable brokerage account can have its place for medium-term savings goals.”