The average American saves 5% of their after tax income.

How much do you save? (Into savings or other liquid assets)

[Edited on September 5, 2011 at 11:13 PM. Reason : .]

9/5/2011 11:13:28 PM

about 10% excluding 401k and salary savings plan

9/5/2011 11:16:01 PM

Not much, sad to say

9/5/2011 11:20:47 PM

I save approx 75% of my income after taxes, at least since starting my current job in June. One week's paycheck goes toward monthly expenses. The other paychecks that month go into savings.

[Edited on September 5, 2011 at 11:39 PM. Reason : M]

9/5/2011 11:22:50 PM

I make around $25k/year. I currently have about $2k in savings, but I just made a big computer parts purchase with my "extra" August paycheck. The most I've had in savings is $6k, right before I bought my car in April. I think I save about $200/mo after all expenses. I've also got a 4% employer match on my 401(k), so I'm definitely putting money there.

9/5/2011 11:29:04 PM

this is actually a good reminder that i need to figure out the 401k plan at my work in a few months once i hit a year... i need to start getting better about this shit

9/5/2011 11:29:28 PM

Not in a very good position to save right now, given wife's health issues the last 2 years. Right now, have the state retirement plan (lame) and various moneys in a Roth and a 401k (prev. employer). Just can't really save right now.

9/5/2011 11:32:17 PM

6% to 401(k) (Plus 3% match)

Max out wife and I's Roth IRA's

About 6 months minimum living expenses cash (~12k)

Also put about $30 a week into a brokerage account just to see if I get lucky.

No debt other than like $10k in wife's student loans (at like 1.5% interest) and $140k on a house. No 'bad debt' (consumer debt), I suppose

[Edited on September 5, 2011 at 11:43 PM. Reason : 401k match]

9/5/2011 11:41:08 PM

about 13.2% of my gross pay (not counting all gross income, like capital gains and dividends and stuff)

(used to be almost 25%, but my pay has increased and my savings have stayed the same.)

18% of after tax
21.5% of actual take home after child support (which is another 15% of my income)

No debt of any kind except my mortgage (another 15% of income, including escrow stuff).



Yes, America, the richest country in the world, is in a sad state financially from the federal budget down to individuals, compared to what it could be.

9/5/2011 11:41:51 PM

The US government is a fitting representation of the US population.


I'm in that small fraction of the population that is saving a lot.

I'm saving 50% probably. I've made a nice chunk of change on the stock market, too. I eat out almost every meal and go to bars a lot, but I have no real expenses (kids, family, house, car).

[Edited on September 5, 2011 at 11:47 PM. Reason : .]

9/5/2011 11:43:45 PM

I was saving about 10% of my after-tax income but recently I've had medical issues

9/5/2011 11:44:05 PM

6% 401k (plus 6% match)

10% of post tax

9/5/2011 11:45:47 PM

Anyway, the number 1 reason people don't save is because of the housing market.

It's basically unquestioned common "wisdom" that buying a house is a good investment (it isn't). So ASAP, people get into debt and buy a house -- usually a house that is more than they can afford (2-3x annual income). When you are that much in debt, you stop caring about saving and only care about cash flow streams.

The house becomes your savings. All other consumer expenses go on the credit cards, which is serviced by the rest of the pay check. Besides, putting extra money into the house is better than parking it in a bank, right?

In reality, houses are typically poor investments unless you buy and sell at just the right time, which only a few people have done. One guy at work puts all his money into his house instead of a bank as a hedge against dollar devaluation.

9/5/2011 11:57:38 PM

I have over 13K in my saving/checking account right now. I make 45K a year (this is my first year of working). I have about 25 or so thousand in student loans. Right now I drive a car owned by my parents but I will be purchasing my own car next year (probably like a Kia Forte Koup and I will take out a loan for it, but I would like to put half down). I have yet to start a 401K, but I plan to do it this month. I've been devoting most of my pay check to things my student loan, bills, rent, car insurance, ect. I want to pay off my student loan as quickly as I can without putting myself in a tight spot.

9/6/2011 12:01:45 AM

I max my roth 401k and roth IRA so ~$21,500 a year in after tax dollars.

The remainder is spent mostly on booze and the rest I just blow.

9/6/2011 12:04:27 AM

25% pretax, 10% post tax.

9/6/2011 12:15:23 AM

^^^^Was this post made 4 years ago or something? I didn't think housing was considered a viable investment anymore.

9/6/2011 1:14:39 AM

Have any of you inherited a large sum of money?

9/6/2011 1:37:30 AM

i've never inherited anything

well, i got one of my electric guitars when my great uncle died a while back, but that's it.

9/6/2011 2:04:10 AM

^^nope. Since I was 17, I've earned everything myself. Same goes for the wife. Nothing has been given to us* As an only child, I'll end up inheriting just about everything (I imagine), but I don't care about any of it. That will be (hopefully) far far ahead in the future anyways. By then I'll be too old to do anything crazy with it so I'll just sit on it as a rainy day fund in case there's a huge medical bill I need to pay.

*Okay, my parents gave us $2k for a wedding gift as well as a new riding lawn mower for the house warming gift. Otherwise, my wife and I have built our "empire" all on our own. Feels pretty damn good and if we can do it, no one has an excuse IMO. You have to prioritize and manage your money accordingly...



Life-The ultimate RPG

[Edited on September 6, 2011 at 5:00 AM. Reason : .]

[Edited on September 6, 2011 at 5:01 AM. Reason : .]

[Edited on September 6, 2011 at 5:02 AM. Reason : .]

9/6/2011 4:55:11 AM

I was saving 50% of my check. Had about 11k in savings. Need to build it back up, currently at 6k and im About to buy a little honda civic for gas purposes.

9/6/2011 5:22:28 AM

i have very very little income so therefore i am saving very very little bit. hopefully this will change in 2 years.

9/6/2011 6:46:13 AM

I probably save about 25% of my income per month. My expenses are pretty high right now though (mortgage, law school loan, new office expenses). Income is looking to go up though...so hopefully that will move to 50% in the next couple months.

I also max out my Roth IRA every year...which I don't include in that 25%.

Would definitely love to do more, but just happy not to be dipping into my savings right now.

9/6/2011 7:58:59 AM

Pre-Tax:
*I max my 401k + 5% company match
*Wife puts 16% into her 401k + company match

After Tax:
*I max my Roth IRA
*My wife maxes her Roth IRA
*I take another chunk of our after tax income each month (25%) that is earmarked for savings & investments and divide it amongst our money market, CDs, and/or my etrade and vanguard brokerage accounts. A small % of this money goes toward vacations, but the majority of it is purely long-term, taxable savings.

General:
*We have $160,000 in mortgage debt
*I have $9,000 left in student loan debt (on track to have it paid off before next Christmas)
*No other debt of any kind

Figuring out how many months of "living expenses" we have is tough. There is plenty of stuff I would immediately cut out if we both lost our jobs and were temporarily living completely off of savings: TV, house project spending, extra travel/entertainment expenses etc. Using an average number somewhere between what we normally spend and what we would probably cut down to, I think we have about 16 months of living expenses in cash (savings and money market) and then another 14 months of living expenses in taxable brokerage and CDs.

I definitely feel like we are "over-saving" to some extent, but my plan was basically to get our 401ks and Roth IRAs maxed as early as possible (which we are close to). The earlier you get it done, you don't feel like you are having to take money away to save at a later date; it has already been earmarked and put away. From that point on, bonuses, promotions, raises etc. can be focused a little more on stuff we enjoy without putting as much thought into the savings side.

[Edited on September 6, 2011 at 8:46 AM. Reason : ]

9/6/2011 8:31:34 AM

When not in grad school >50%.
While in grad school >20%.

I dont like nice things so its very easy. I drive a semi nice car but i paid it off 4 years ago. The rest of my belongings are crap.

9/6/2011 9:02:15 AM

Damn I didn't know I was so much in the minority in terms of savings. I (like probably most of you) get paid bi-weekly. The first paycheck of the month goes towards living: house payment, various forms of insurance/bills, food, etc. usually with about $200-$400 leftover. That leftover goes to fun stuff for the month and the other paycheck in it's entirety goes to savings. I'm thinking of overpaying on my mortgage as much as I can for now so I can pay it off sooner.

9/6/2011 9:09:38 AM

65% of my income goes into savings until I have $6000 for an emergency fund saved up. Then I'm going to pay off my student loan -$800 and probably my medical bills -$800. After that I will save up for a car and hopefully pay for it with cash along with going back to school. Then save up for a house and get married. Buy house with 20% down on a house and a 15 year loan. Pay twice as much each month and have it paid off in 7.5 years.

I hate debt and I hate being broke. Been there, done that, and never doing it again.

9/6/2011 9:28:22 AM

Money from my side job (freelance tutoring) goes towards meeting monthly expenses, so I end up saving 100% of the salary from my full-time job. Some months are really profitable for tutoring (just before exams), when I make just as much from tutoring (or more, as much as 100% more) as from my job. Over the course of the year, I end up saving more than the salary from my job (but we also og abroad twice a year).

No debts.

I just got a CC last year for the first time, and I use it as a debit card (use it, come home and pay it off).

9/6/2011 9:29:57 AM

^^ I definitely understand not wanting to have any debt because we are the same way, but at the same time I might still consider a 30 year mortgage with no early payoff penalty and just pay as much extra as you want. Of course I don't know what your situation is like, but it is nice to be able to back off your payments in the case of an unforeseen emergency.

9/6/2011 9:41:53 AM

Quote :

"Buy house with 20% down on a house and a 15 year loan. Pay twice as much each month and have it paid off in 7.5 years."

it's not linear.

9/6/2011 9:50:16 AM

~28% of our total pre-tax income
401k = 10% (+ ~8% match average between me and the wife)
Roth + brokerage + next car fund = 18%

[Edited on September 6, 2011 at 10:20 AM. Reason : e]

9/6/2011 10:19:56 AM

i save almost 90% of my actual salary
my per diem covers all of my travel expenses as well as my monthly expenses at home. balling.

9/6/2011 10:27:02 AM

I just do whatever bmel suggests

9/6/2011 1:09:11 PM

Paying extra on a mortgage doesn't make much sense to me right now. You can get a mortgage at 3.5-4% or so. At that interest rate, and with the interest also being tax deductible, I just can't see paying anything extra on it. Either invest it somewhere else for much greater return, or if you're as deeply invested everywhere else as you want to go, just go have fun with it.

I'm a saver for sure...I have no debt except my mortgage, solid retirement savings, and probably a year and a half's worth of expenses in savings (although really I call it my "hookers & blow" account--it's money I just haven't spent yet, but it's not for retirement). That said, you only live once, and I can't see saving 50% of my income like some of you are talking about, either!

9/6/2011 1:11:50 PM

Granted I don't think I do well enough in this respect but I apparently do a lot better than the average American.

9/6/2011 1:31:21 PM

It'd be a lot easier for me to save if I didn't have expensive hobbies like cars and alpine skiing

9/6/2011 1:43:04 PM

I shoot for 15% from every dollar I touch.

9/6/2011 1:46:31 PM

Quote :

"That said, you only live once, and I can't see saving 50% of my income like some of you are talking about, either! "

It depends on why you're saving 50%+ of your income. Pretty sure most folks are saving for a certain goal. Like retirement. Or for a major purchase. Personally, I want to start my own business one day, so I know I need to save a lot now so I can do that sooner rather than later.

Also, my monthly income recently doubled unexpectedly while my living expenses decreased. I suppose I could spend more now that my income is higher, but I don't need or want anything. Except to eventually own my own business.

Is it really so bad to save a majority of your paycheck?

9/6/2011 1:51:27 PM

Depending on the month, between 30-50% of my income. I would save more if I could. I'd rather live like a poor person now while still doing the things I enjoy and not be forced to eat cat food when I'm 70.

9/6/2011 2:01:06 PM

we put about 15-20% of our take-home in savings (doesn't include 401k contributions, which are as high as whatever our employers will match), but half of that money goes in an account that is used for large purchases (ie. i bought a $1400 trailer this past weekend)

9/6/2011 2:06:14 PM

Quote :

"Also, my monthly income recently doubled unexpectedly while my living expenses decreased. I suppose I could spend more now that my income is higher, but I don't need or want anything. Except to eventually own my own business."

same here ... i love watching all that money pile up.

9/6/2011 2:10:32 PM

The shitty thing about being successful is I can't brag about it

9/6/2011 2:22:45 PM

but you kinda just did

9/6/2011 2:27:14 PM

^^^ Agreed ... though with that in mind, I know I need to start doing a bit more with it. Make it work a little harder in a CD or MMA. What are some of the highest/best APY options out there right now?

[Edited on September 6, 2011 at 2:31 PM. Reason : e]

9/6/2011 2:31:28 PM

Quote :

"but you kinda just did "

I know, but you don't know to what level. :shrugs:

9/6/2011 2:33:17 PM

Every month is a struggle not to buy an exotic car

9/6/2011 8:18:06 PM

Quote :

"Have any of you inherited a large sum of money?"

I just inherited a house, 100+ acres, 150 K in POD accounts, and my 3 year old son inherited a 50K annuity and a 25K CD.

Right now, I have everything sitting in money market until the rest of the money runs through the estate and the estate is officially closed.

9/6/2011 8:25:06 PM

something around 40% of my gross pay goes into retirement and/or generic savings. might as well squirrel it away while i'm single.

that said, i make a point of having fun, too.

9/6/2011 9:14:49 PM

Def possible to still have fun while socking away a decent amount of money. At least it is when you're relatively unattached.

I suppose it depends on your interests. I read, write and jog for fun. And go on power walks with friends. Def a bit cheaper than some hobbies, like jet-skiing and shopping.

9/6/2011 9:23:32 PM

The pic/chart/info in the OP is over a year old. I wonder how much those stats have changed in the past year.

9/6/2011 9:37:11 PM