THE BEAUTY OF DEFINED CONTRIBUTION:

Fidelity Investments analyzed the savings habits of roughly 1,100 401(k) investors who earned less than $150,000 a year and had accumulated more than $1 million in 401(k) savings to determine how they reached the million-dollar mark.

The retirement plan provider found these savers, who were an average age of 59, had some key behaviors in common: they started young, always took advantage of the company match and saved a large chunk of their pay each year, a median of 14% (not counting the company match).

These workers put aside a median of $13,300 of their own cash each year and enjoyed a median employer contribution of $4,500, for a total of $17,800 in retirement savings each year.

As a result, the savers grew their median account balance from $426,000 in June 2000 to $1.2 million in June 2012.

"You have to start saving and start saving early," said Jeanne Thompson, Fidelity's vice president for market insights.

Follow @brothersjudd