Is Your 401(k) Keeping Up With Jones’? Well, if You Must Know . . .

“How do I stack up?” Admit it. Isn’t that something you’d really like to know?

As in: “Do I have more money in my 401(k) retirement plan than my neighbors?”

Or: “Are my allocations similar to those of my co-workers?”

Or: “Am I putting aside anywhere near what my peers are in their 401(k)s?”

Ask a financial planner any of these things and you’ll be told they’re not what you should be worrying about. Saving for retirement isn’t a contest, they’ll say, it’s a matter of doing what’s right for you. The numbers by themselves mean nothing. Whether you retire with $10,000 more--or less--in your 401(k) than your friends do is of no consequence. After all, you may have different lifestyles. You may have a big family to support while your next-door neighbor need only provide for himself and his Pomeranian. You may be able to count on other sources of income in retirement and the woman in the next cubicle may not.

As Dee Lee, co-author of “The Complete Idiot’s Guide to 401(k) Plans,” reminds us, “For individual investors, your comfort level has to come from within, not from looking at what others are doing.”

Amen.

But there’s no denying that many of us are nevertheless curious about what our peers are doing and how we compare. Thanks to a bevy of new surveys and studies, there’s now enough information out there to give an approximate picture of what our peers are doing. So, disclaimers out of the way, here goes:

* Generation X--investors under 35: The typical X-er contributes about $224 a month toward his or her 401(k), according to a recent study by Scudder Kemper Investments. The average X-er has $15,408 in his or her 401(k), reports a recent survey conducted by the mutual fund giant Fidelity Investments.

The Employee Benefit Research Institute in Washington did a study breaking down account balances not only by age, but also by the number of years on the job. Plan participants in their 20s with less than two years on the job have on average about $3,000 in their plans. Those with two to five years have about $6,600. And those with five to 10 years on the job have socked away about $10,900. Thirtysomethings with five to 10 years on the job have more than $22,000 saved.

What else do we know?

Fidelity asked respondents to choose phrases that described their knowledge and interest in investing. Of those X-ers who describe themselves as “less involved beginners,” only 6% are contributing the maximum that their companies and/or the IRS allow. Of the “self-starters” in this group, 32% are maxing out on their 401(k) contributions.

The one thing X-ers have more of than any other group is time--time for their investments to ride out market ups and downs. So it’s not surprising that 83% to 93% of the typical X-er’s plan assets is in equities, be it a stock mutual fund or company stock, according to Fidelity.

* Baby boomers--investors 35 to 50: The average boomer, according to Scudder Kemper, puts $284 a month into his or her 401(k). The typical boomer account stands at $54,577, Fidelity says.

Thirtysomethings with 10 to 20 years on the job have about $36,840 in their 401(k)s, EBRI data show. Fortysomethings with 10 to 20 years on the job, by comparison, have amassed $58,590. And fortysomethings with 20 to 30 years of experience have about $66,200 on average.

Fidelity had people in this age group choose from a different set of self-descriptors. Of those who would call themselves “concerned but harried,” 35% are taking full advantage of their company-sponsored retirement plans. That compares with 43% for the “uninvolved” and 48% for the “confident planners.”

How are boomers allocating these assets?

According to the EBRI, typical thirtysomethings put 51% of their plan assets in equity funds, 20% in company stock, 8% in balanced funds (which invest in a mix of stocks and bonds), 6% in bond funds, 5% in money market funds, and nearly 10% in guaranteed investment contracts and/or stable-value funds (investments that promise a set rate of return).

The average fortysomething’s 401(k) is allocated in much the same way: 46% in stock funds, 21% in company stock, 8% in balanced funds, 6% in bond funds, 5% in money funds, and about 13% in GICs and/or stable-value funds.

* Pre-retirees--investors 50 or older: Not surprisingly, as retirement looms, 45% to 55% of plan participants 50 or older are maxing out on their 401(k) contributions, according to Fidelity. The average pre-retiree has $162,573 amassed in his or her 401(k). This group tends to have a good percentage of plan savings in equities, contrary to what popular thinking might lead you to expect.

Among fiftysomethings, EBRI data show, the typical 401(k) allocation is 43% stock funds, 20% company stock, 8% balanced funds, 7% bond funds, 5% money funds and 17% GICs and stable-value funds.

For pre-retirees in their 60s, the stock allocation drops a bit (but only a bit): 34% is in equity funds, 15% in company stock, 7% in a balanced fund, 9% in a bond fund, 6% in a money fund, and 28% in a GIC or stable-value fund.

Now, does any of this mean you should be allocating your assets in a similar fashion?

Of course not. 401(k) statistics say nothing about what investors have outside their 401(k)s--in their IRAs or taxable accounts, or what they might expect in the way of a traditional pension.

But for the curious among you, there’s the skinny.

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Do you have ideas for mutual fund and 401(k) topics for this column? Times staff writer Paul J. Lim can be reached at [email protected].