sporting

Hey guys/gals,

I am wondering how much the "average" person is able to save per month?

This is after mortgage/car payments/expenses/etc. that you don't and won't need to touch, I am able to save ~500 a month, give or take.

Would this be considered a decent savings plan or should I consider more?

Note: I do put maximum into my company 401k, which is %15 of my salary.

*******

And another ? is do you guys put a limit on how high your checking account grows? Say like if your checking account reaches $xxx then the rest goes into a savings account/rainy day account?


Clueless...

DelawareCLS

Unclear if you are separating out your 401k from your "savings" question (i.e. sounds like you're saying you have $500 left over every month after 401k, mortgage, etc). 2 very different amounts in my finances, so thought it might help to clear it up.

I'll assume you're talking about "end of the month" money left over after everything else...I'm probably in the $500-$1000 range, depending upon what kind of credit card bill I racked up that month. Lately there's been a big CMas, a trip to Asia, and new furniture on the card to it's been all over the board.

SakiGT

10-20% is what the experts say is a good amount to save.

However, as the recent "omg I cant retire!!!" debacle shows, you shouldnt have all your retirement money in one place.

I havent started seriously saving for retirement yet, so I havent researched the best way to split the savings would be, but Im assuming some should go towards a money market account, commodities (not at the moment, btw), and other stuff that spreads your risk.

---------------------------------------------------

Personally I save $150 a month for vacations plus any extra money I come across from working OT or selling stuff. Any money I would be saving goes towards paying down debt before I hit school again.

Although I do save $100 in my matched 401k. Its only to get me in the habit of contributing.

Whiskers

My gambling isn't going well this week...

TzarChasm

I generally only keep $1,000 in my checking account as a reserve. So once I pay mu bills, I have $1k in there at the end of the money. Anything else goes into savings. Checking has a low interest rate, so I dont want to have too much in there, when it could be making me some money instead of sitting around.

As for what I save, right now its pathetically small, nothing other than the 10% that goes to my 401K. I decided to go back to college for a second time and had to take a lower paying, but more flexible job for a couple years. Wound up running up a lot of CC debt just to keep myself fed, but meh, it happens.

taz98spin

That's what I do too.

Only put 10% into my 401k and stopped trading stocks...
Still have around 8 grand worth of stocks, but I'm at a negative 20% on my overall return
So just waiting for the market to go back up again!!

Any extra money I make outside of my job + money left over from paying off my bills,
I put into paying off my car and saving up for a trip to Japan and Korea.

I want to be 100% debt free!!

sporting

Yes, I am talking about savings that is separate from your 401k.

I wanted to to keep around $2000 in my checking but I just can't, I don't know why I just like a big cushion in there.

I am trying to look into other investment vehicles, but nothing seems "good" right now besides the WAMU 3.3% savings, it's got a decent rate and its easily accessible.

DelawareCLS

I like to have a few thousand in checking/savings as my "whatever" money. This is to cover if we decide to take a long weekender, the hot water blows, etc. This would all go on the card but the cash is there to handle it.

The bigger non-retirement stuff sits in accounts that I essentially forget about until a major need arises (i.e. engagement ring, down payment on next home, etc).

mantis23

~24%

BubbaMarkTL

i save about 15% of income at this time, half of which goes to savings accout, half goes to an IRA

GreenMonster

I'm around the same... maybe a little higher...

Contributions to 401K, Roth IRA and regular "savings" (cash, other investments, etc) being considered.

I do carry a bit of cash in my checking account, but most of my savings is in online banking or brokerage accounts.

Will Y.

You're doing the right thing. Any amount that you save is decent, and if you can save more with minimal effects on your lifestyle, do it. IIRC, the "average" person has a negative savings rate (spending more than the person makes).

I try to put as little as possible into checking (less than $400 until bills need to be paid), less than $5K into savings, and the bulk of cash into higher interest money markets (usually 3 free checks/withdrawals per month with no penalties) and CD accounts (very limited withdrawal without penalties).

Renegade

$0

GreenMonster

Max 401K contribution is 15.5K a year (2007,2008)... If you're putting in the max at 15% of your salary, you're making 100K, right ?? At that pay rate, I'd think you'd be able to save a bit more than $500 per month ($6K per year)... But I guess you could have a huge mortgage and big car payment

That being said, putting $15K per year into a 401K at 25 years old is a fantastic way to plan for retirement...

T Ho

Not necessarily. Even though the fed limit is 15500 for this year, some companies limit the max percentage that they'll allow you to put in, regardless of salary.

For 3 years, back in the 90s, we saved the equivalent of my wife's entire salary. Being heavily invested in tech initially (to the end of 2000), that didn't work out so well for us. Since then, kids and move to a MUCH more expensive area dictate that we don't save nearly as much. If I can put away 10% of gross in a year, I feel good.

Believe it or not, in some areas of the country, six figs don't get you that far, even with no car payment...

teranfon

I agree. Different people have different circumstances at different times. The important thing is to be aware of the need for savings and try to contribute whenever possible. It's the discipline required to contribute to savings that is most important. Contribute what you are comfortable with at this point, more when you are able, and continue to have the discipline and the realization for savings as the years pass. I now at times often contribute the majority of my personal income to savings, but this was not always the case.

To answer your other question, no. Personally, I have found that savings is a good way to accumulate funds until other opportunities arise. I don't think one can ever have "too much" in a savings account. And it's very reassuring to have a financial cushion for unforeseen expenses or funds immediately available for opportunities when they arise.

Terry

subinf

Nothing right now.

sporting

Thanks for all the great inputs,

Green, yes I realize that 15.5k/yr is the IRS limit but I am talking about my employer's limit. I think it's a decent policy since it's 15% of my total salary at .50 for every dollar. So if I put in $1000 I would get $1500 total in my 401k.

I've paid off my student loans already so thats a relief.

Sporting

GreenMonster

I've never had an employer limit my 401K contributions. Sure, they limit THEIR contribution (matching), but I didn't realize that some places still limit your contributions based on "nondiscrimination rules"

That sucks... I'm up to a little over 80% of the fed limit... $200 plus a week...

GreenMonster

That's another great way to increase saving. Get rid of debt, as soon as you can, can free up some $$ for saving and investing.

sporting

You know it.

Ken1997TL

I save $1500 or more a month

gatrhumpy

iTrader: (1)

Saving $1,067 a month for various things:
1.) $333 wife's ROTH IRA.
2.) $333 my ROTH IRA.
3.) $300 son's wedding/college fund.
4.) $50 growth fun

Another $500/month into an MMA for emergency purposes. $225/month into BoA savings account.

Save 6% of my salary into TSP (government equivalent of 401(k)), plus government 4% matching (total about $634/month).

Sometimes we contribute another $800/month from extra money for saving on electricity, groceries, etc.

All in all, we're saving about $2,426-$3,226/month for retirement/college/IRAs/saving.

godfather2

^ that's incredibly, i hope you find a way to stick to it for years to come!

personally, i've lost thousands (5 digits anyways) in the real estate market. so, for now, i'm only able to save about $150 per month. when things level out, i'll be able to start re-contributing to my various accounts

korrupted

Wow GJ.
So is this a joint effort, are is this one salary?
Are you a GS14 or higher?

New Car TL-S

$800 401k
$350 pension
$250 insurance fund (not my fav, but financial adv tells me to)
$150 Roth
$350 online savings
$600 mutual funds

nothing stays in local bank (min to stay open), online banks can transfer in less than 3 days, why do I want 0.5% intr when I can get 3%?

supaman8118

I save a bout 50% on average, cause I'm still in college and work 30 hours a week and only really need gas and some food money. So the rest of the money gets saved for when I get out of college and want a new car and a house.

subinf

Ok that isn't exactly true - I still contribute to IRA.

supaman8118

oh yeah, its usually about $400 a month

ChodTheWacko

My previous employer also capped the 401k at 15% of current salary, or fed limit, whichever was lower.

my take home pay breaks down to roughly:
~30% - "mandatory" bills. This includes everything I would probably not trim down on, even if I lost my job. This includes stuff like condo fee, gas, and eating out (my biggest montly expense right now, actually).

I split the rest 2/1 so roughly:
23% - savings
46% - 'fun money'

Back when I had loans, I would do 33% 33% 33% each for
'fun money', 'loan repayment', 'savings'.
It's hella nice to be debt/loan free.

gatrhumpy

iTrader: (1)

That's going to end in June. Wife is an O-3 (LT) in the Naval Nurse Corps, and I'm a GS-12 engineer. We just make saving a priority. We started shortly after we got married in May of 2004. We started with ROTH IRAs for both of us, a college/marriage fund, growth fund, BoA savings account (used for vacations and other minor unexpected expenses), and about a year and a half ago, we started an MMA.

We currently have about $13K in our MMA, $4.5K in out BoA savings account. This is all due to the fact that we paid off our cars ('03 Honda Civic and '04 Honda Accord) this past December. That's an extra $1,630/month (only due to the extra money we were paying on them to pay them off). We paid off our cars 6 months and 32 months early.

Like I said, starting in June, all that is going away, and saving will be incredibly hard.

gatrhumpy

iTrader: (1)

This is a joint effort.

Wife is a LT Navy nurse, and I'm a GS-12 engineer. See my above response.
Get started early!

korrupted

I'm too old to "start early", time to "catch up"

sporting

In this time of hardship (2009), has your savings plan changed or still stayed the course on a month to month basis?

For the people that are still employed (Thank Goodness), have your bills gone up or down (i.e. helping family out)?

Luckily, I am still staying the course.

Jiggy2dmax

iTrader: (1)

$1500-2k a month, no 401k at the moment, car is paid for, live with the rents, just the basics, insurance, gas, food, tuition----biggest expense

Yumcha

~ $1200 per month.

svtmike

Somewhere in the 25-30% range.

moeronn

Hard to really estimate at the moment. It's inconsistent and really isn't that much overall. We're in the process of buying a house while keeping two condos as rentals that will be slightly negative for the near term. We still plan on saving a few hundred a month (plus we are both maxing our 401k type accounts), but not much beyond that for the next several months.

Of course we are making sure we have a couple of months worth of expenses in an account in case the rentals go vacant or something unexpected happens.

sporting

I think anything above 1k/month in savings is great! At least we still have people who know how to save!

To those who have 2k+/month mortgages, I applaud your bravery... Unless you are making bank, i.e. 6k or 7k/month you're really tied down in a sense to your mortgage.

97BlackAckCL

iTrader: (6)

I don't save cash, too many bills, I do contribute to an IRA and a 401K though (pretax), just hope I'm still alive to use it when I retire