# How much should I have saved??



## familyguy (18 Jan 2010)

Hi

Am new here so please go easy on me! 

I am in my late 20's, live alone and work full time in a mid level income
job. I rent and have no mortgage etc.
I have the usual bills to meet each month, (I also get paid monthly)
car upkeep, esb,phone,internet,sat tv etc.
I don't go mad on luxuries but at the same time I don't keep an ultra tight
belt by any means.

I'm just very curious to know or get a ballpark idea of just how much
someone my age should have saved?
I'm in full time employment for over seven years now, I try to save as much as possible.
I save for the future, for holidays, for the fact that in the current climate you don't know how long your job will last and for any unforseen circumstances.
I was going to post a figure in terms of what I have saved but I think that might be unwise as I have read posts on here from people who are in precarious positions financially and I would think the last thing they'd want to read is how much better off (if at all) someone else is.

I'm also hoping to maybe get some help on how to make the most of my savings as I am totally clueless when it comes to say shares or markets etc. It's all in the bank and I'm not sure that's the wisest.

If anyone with advice would rather pm me that would be appreciated.

(by the way my username is based on the tv show not me!)


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## chlipps (18 Jan 2010)

Very difficult to advise you on how best to control your money without getting a breakdown of your income and what you are spending. 

You mention that your money is in the bank, but is this just a deposit account or have you it split in many savings accounts with higher interest rates.

You mention that you live alone so I assume you pay the full rent of say 600+ per month, full esb, full gas bill etc,, Would you consider sharing in order to reduce these costs

As I say, I dont know your salary but if you are on say 50k, would 15k-20k per year of saving be possible


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## PaddyBloggit (18 Jan 2010)

You need to fill in a money maker template before anyone can give you an indicative guide.


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## familyguy (19 Jan 2010)

PaddyBloggit said:


> You need to fill in a money maker template before anyone can give you an indicative guide.



how do i do that?


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## noel123ie (19 Jan 2010)

Here you go familyguy....


Age:

Spouse’s/Partner's age:


Annual gross income from employment or profession:

Annual gross income spouse:


Type of employment:


monthly expenditure



Rough estimate of value of home


Mortgage on home


Type of mortgage: 
Other borrowings – car loans/personal loans etc Credit card *€3000 owed*

Savings and investments:

Do you have a pension scheme?


Do you own any investment or other property?


Ages of children:


Life insurance:


What specific question do you have or what issues are of concern to you?


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## familyguy (19 Jan 2010)

noel123ie said:


> Here you go familyguy....
> 
> 
> Age:




Thanks do I post it here or pm someone?


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## familyguy (19 Jan 2010)

Age: 28

Spouse’s/Partner's age: n/a


Annual gross income from employment or profession: 31,500

Annual gross income spouse:


Type of employment: management


monthly expenditure: 800 to 1000e approx

Rough estimate of value of home:
(no home / mortgage)

Other borrowings – car loans/personal loans etc:

€6,000 car loan from credit union.

Savings and investments: €20k approx in savings in aib accounts
split between current account, online notice account and online savings account

Do you have a pension scheme? Yes

Do you own any investment or other property? No

Ages of children: None

Life insurance: None



> What specific question do you have or what issues are of concern to you?



Is 20k a decent amount of life savings for someone my age or should
I really have more to my name after seven or 8 yrs of full time work?
Should I be doing more with my savings?
What other options are there in terms of making it work for me
and getting the maximum interest from the lump sum?


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## Corcaigh abu (19 Jan 2010)

It is very relative.  Perhaps you could consider saving by standing order  so that the same amount is saved each month.  That way you will know how much savings you have at the end of the year.  just a thought.  It is hard to save.  I find if you take note of your spending you save more.


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## annR (20 Jan 2010)

I don't think anyone can tell you how much you should have saved but E20k sounds really good to me.  

It depends on what your plans are and what your general notion is about how much savings you feel good about.  Some people spend every spare penny thing they have and some people can't sleep unless they have 50k put aside.


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## Protocol (20 Jan 2010)

See this thread for typical savings for those aged 25-40:

http://www.askaboutmoney.com/showthread.php?t=127467


On that thread, one 28 year old had 100k+ saved.

I know plenty of people aged approx 35 with 100k+ savings.

BUT, I also know people in their 30s with under 10,000 savings.


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## familyguy (20 Jan 2010)

Thanks for the replies.


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## paddyodoors (21 Jan 2010)

You need to identify why you are saving, what are your goals etc, the figure itself is pointless unless you have a planned end game.

Are you looking just for a security buffer in case u lose your job, a mortgage in a few years, early retirement, college fund, blow it all in a once in a lifetime vegas trip......

u say its for holidays and job security, well in that case I would say u have more than enuf. (unl;ess it is for the vegas trip  )

I think 6 months net salary on easy access is the usual cushion, with any more in longer term investments.

Paddy


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## diarmuidc (21 Jan 2010)

What interest rate are you paying on your car loan?


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## familyguy (21 Jan 2010)

diarmuidc said:


> What interest rate are you paying on your car loan?



Not sure actually,pay back about €100 p.m.


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## RMCF (26 Jan 2010)

Protocol said:


> See this thread for typical savings for those aged 25-40:
> 
> http://www.askaboutmoney.com/showthread.php?t=127467
> 
> ...



But you have to remember there's as many young people in this country with no savings and just loads of debt.

Many live from month to month, have accumulated vast credit card debt and lived way beyond their means for many years.


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## TheBlock (26 Jan 2010)

When calculating savings do people generally take into account pension contributions. I know that apart from a small amount of cash at hand most of my saving goes into my pension via AVC's.

I would agree with the above poster, most people I know do not have a lot of savings due to large Mortage payments and years of living if not beyond their means right up to the limit. I suppose the one good thing to come from this down turn (recession) is people feel less like they have to keep up with the Jones's.


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## familyguy (26 Jan 2010)

TheBlock said:


> When calculating savings do people generally take into account pension contributions. I know that apart from a small amount of cash at hand most of my saving goes into my pension via AVC's.
> 
> I would agree with the above poster, most people I know do not have a lot of savings due to large Mortage payments and years of living if not beyond their means right up to the limit. I suppose the one good thing to come from this down turn (recession) is people feel less like they have to keep up with the Jones's.



Yes I have many friends in that particular boat and I know how tough it
is for them. Then again I don't have anything to show for my savings, I didn't build a house etc but that is why I am curious to know if what I've saved is anyways substantial on average, I think about what I would need if I lost my job or if I decided to go travelling maybe for a year etc.

I appreciate the replies.


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## japester (1 Feb 2010)

I reckon there is no such thing as having a set target for having a certain amount saved by a certain age. It depends completely on your personal set-up i.e. what your net income is, whether you are married, have kids, have a mortgage etc etc. The best you can do is to sit down and go through the figures and try to come up with some kind of target percentage of net income having allowed for big expenses such as mortgage etc.

I have retrospectively gone through my own figures since I started working about 15 years ago (am now 36) and I see that generally I have been able to save around 40% of my net income, which is probably well above average. What has made it possible for me to do this I suspect is that my income has been relatively high, going from £11000 (gross) in 1994 to €75000 (gross)today. If my income had been lower then I figure my percentage savings would no doubt have been much lower also.

I must say though that despite my savings - which now total about 160K - I have still managed to buy a house, worth 300K in Sept 2008 and I have about 13 years left on this mortgage (120K) with payments of around €920 pm. I am very happily married and I don't smoke, and drink quite rarely but I am always on the lookout for a bargain and always shop around for insurances etc so that all helps when it comes to saving a buck. Indeed the advice on this board has been more than useful to me since I started reading here


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## hiagain (5 Feb 2010)

The only times I saved were when I was planning a round the world trip and into an SSIA account.  I sold a house recently and that it the only reason I have any savings at all.  I agree with other posters, until you have a goal in mind, it's difficult for most people to save.


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