Average savings and income for ~26 year old?

I'd say the proportion of 26 year olds with savings like that are in a miniscule minority, and most of them with signicant means behind them too. Most 20 somethings I know are pretty skint, spending all or most of there earnings, as indeed I was at that age. And I don't regret spending a penny of it either, fun times!
 
If we had max 80% or 90% mortgages, then people aged 28-30, if they wanted to buy a house, would have to have 20k-60k saved as a deposit..
 
Protocol said:
If we had max 80% or 90% mortgages, then people aged 28-30, if they wanted to buy a house, would have to have 20k-60k saved as a deposit..
Click to expand...


That for me is the problem. Cheap and available credit allow a lot of people to buy today and ah sure I'll pay tomorrow. There is a level of maturity when it comes to impulse buying that most seem to not be able to handle. The oh I'm saving hard from now on mantra and by the end of the week they've spent a few hundred on stuff and drinks (last week example by someone I know).

Whereas I perceive that a generation ago you didn't spend what you didn't have and people tended to live within their means more and know that noone was going to bail them out in the future if they spent foolishly.

Oh sorry, I forgot it's peer pressure.
 
Hi, I am 25yr on €30K saving average 1K a month. Last three years only as that’s when I started this job. Have ~45K in deposits saving for house. This does involve some discipline but easily done. SSIA (Just qualified thank god) was 17K I think at maturity and went straight into this. Been paying tax since leaving cert. And I do have a happy lifestyle. Been long time since spent weekend without heading out with mates. Holidays also but more recently as in past was kept within Ireland or Scotland. Went to College their so have mates to put me up. Expenses would be €250 - €300 month on rent and car upkeep and fuel about €2,500 to €3,500 a year. Rest I spent on food/drink and entertainment and girlfriend
 

Welcome along Appman .

Good going, I would say anyone at 25 would be envious of you. €45k in the bank and a car paid for. (I am presuming it is paid for as 2500 - 3500 a year would be gobbled up by insurance for a 25yr old, tax, fuel and running costs)
Good going also to have amassed 17K in the SSIA at only one year into your current job. Obviously very disiplined at 18 -23 to get 17k together, (accepting the 25% top up) particularly whilst also spending some time in that period in college in Scotland.
Best a luck with buying the house.
 
Interesting thread.
I'm 28 and have €62K of my own savings on deposit with Rabo and a €20K gift on deposit with the credit union.
I earn approx €60K pa (approx €55k 2008, €42K 2007) and out of my net salary, just over 40% is saved. I don't own a car so that obviously helps.
The vast majority of my peers do not save and many have built up quite significant debts - personal loans and credit card debt.
Coming from Dublin, the norm IMO is to live at home until mid to late twenties (not necessarily a good thing). I only moved out last year. Most of my friends from outside the greater Dublin area have significantly larger debts than the Dubs due to the obvious higher living costs in the first few years of working in Dublin.
I have always been a saver and always will be.
 
Last edited:
I agree, thanks everyone for your responses. It seems there are a few savers out there in Ireland!

What has worried me in the past about some people (ages 26-40) that I care about, particularly those with origins from outside Ireland, is that they have nothing to their name. These people tend to be predominately women and have a pattern of living their lives from day to day, changing jobs and sometimes countries every few years and have maybe 2-5k in assets with no pension. It concerns me about their ability to live and provide for themselves in the times to come.
 
Very similar to Appman above

I'm 24 on 40,000 euro a year gross and save usually 1k a month if not more. I own my 3yr old car and never taken a loan out in my life. I also have 30k saved up. My goal is to buy a house in the medium to long term when the bottom of the market will come around. It likely I'll have to take out a mortgage which I'm going to hate being in debt.

I drink very little and dont smoke. Most of my cash left over goes towards holdidays/ weekend aways and my girlfriend!

It's easy to save that much as no drink would be a huge factor in the savings, I also had very little growing up which made me realise how important it is to be financially independent.
 
I'm 38. I didn't have a penny until I hit about 29 (apart from the house I'd bought at 25 on a borrowed deposit), and then it all seemed to just come together. Some of you here have more saved than me, and I'm a decade older. Having said that, kiddies are a huge financial drain, so if any of you young whippersnappers are thinking of setting up home and having kids, be aware your rate of savings will fall dramatically.


I don't regret "wasting" my twenties - many good times were had. 26 was actually a very good year for me (my bank manager at the time might differ )
 
pator said:
Welcome along Appman .

(I am presuming it is paid for as 2500 - 3500 a year would be gobbled up by insurance for a 25yr old, tax, fuel and running costs)
Good going also to have amassed 17K in the SSIA at only one year into your current job.
Click to expand...

Yes Car was paid in full €4,200. Insurance was €730 this year. Its a 00 so soon 2B ten years old May get it replaced but back my head "why fix it if ant broken" plus job security is Def not there. May well be getting boot in Feb (Q2 cuts) as alot team mates already gone. In IT and jobs going to India/Singapore.

SSIA i was working part time all through college paying min €12.50 weekly some months and during summer doing full time i saved max and also bit more to see me through next semister. Was hard and hands up did get maybe 1-2K help from parents. But i never liked taking money from them. We were always working class family.
 


Suppose what I am saying to the OP is that in asking what the average 26 year has in savings there is a huge amount of variables that need to be considered

- did/do you go to college
- did/do you pay rent if living at home
- do you rent somewhere to live
- do you have a mortgage
- do you pay your own health insurance
- did/do you pay bills if living at home, tv provider(eg sky anything from €21 -72 a month) , phone, esb, broadband, gas/home heating oil, repairs etc
- did any of your savings coming from parental/family/other help.



Appman I am just saying you are one of the luck ones, at 25 years old

- you earn €30k a year for last three years
- you have €45k in savings
- you paid €4200 cash for a car without a loan
- you got €17k from the ssia despite the fact that you only contributed the minimum €12.50 weekly for some months each year ...

- and you did all this whilst attending college abroad with its associated costs

Obviously you have a disciplined and astute financial brain which is to be admired.
 

Sorry for slow response to your question Protocol, wasn't online with a few days. That figure I quoted would be pretty much my own personal savings and any interest/ dividends from bank/ credit union accounts. I have not received any inheritance in my life thus far. To be fair my parents are very easy on me, I do my share of work around the house but am asked for little or nothing for electricty, bins, TV, license and the like. I do know and appreciate that other people my age have to contribute much more towards these bills and even pay rent if living at home with parents. I should have also mentioned that I did take a year out of college and work full time before my final year in college. What did seem to help bump up my savings big time was the government SSIA. Towards the end I was contributing the maximum possible.

Thanks for pointing out that the average industrial wage is somewhat out of date Protocal but even so I would be a bit sceptical of this figure as a measure in 2007.
 

Thanks burmo. I do think as you mention that people who had little when they were young appreciate the value of money much better alright. In general I do feel that people of our generation who are struggling to pay for the beemer, round the world trip or massive credit card bill are those who were handed everything on a plate in their youth. I do say in general though and do realise also that it can be a bad idea to generalise. Many people are sloppy with their money though and are just too plain lazy to shop around for even expensive items. I do think that the cheap, easy readily avialable money to all insundria is a thing of the past

Many people around the country and indeed further afield in the same boat regarding getting their fingers burned in the Equity Funds bruno if its any conselation to you. Around the same time as my SSIA was maturing the investment branches of the banks were making every effort to push these products as much as possible.

Regarding myself and investing in Equity Funds its probably a case of once bitten, twice shy but I'm sure if you do your research and are careful in your investment decisions there is definately good money to be made in the future.

Not the most interesting reading but I will certainly have a look at the guarnteed bonds that you provide a link to burmo and much appreciated.
 

Just to clarify pator and as per Protocol's assumption the 105k figure I quoted includes the money which I have contributed to the Evergreen Fund. This encashment value of my Evergreen Fund is now 26k but I have invested 34k in it. So my savings would now total about 113k if the value of that particular investment had not gone up or down...hope that makes it a wee bit clearer. As I previously mentioned though I do not have any other income sources apart from the day job and the figure does not include inheritance/ gifts etc. I should have probably mentioned in my initial post that I did take a year out of college before my final year and was working full time during it which helped along the way also.

I do think it is a bad idea not to treat yourself from time to time. Take a holiday, upgrade the car, new plasma screen, whatever floats your boat. I know for me if I didn't treat myself once in a while it would just not be worth it. But you need not necessairly spend big on a constant basis to enjoy life either or absolutely have to have the best of everything. What really gets me is this idea of borrowing to the hilt and way beyond your means to buy such items. I see with many of my neighbours and some friends for example, its not good enough to make a sacrafice and have a rough driveway for a couple of years after building but it has to tarred before they move in and add to the debt of the already massive mortgage.
 



I know this is a generalisation but I have gotten some more first-hand opinions on this subject over the past two weeks from discussing this topic. I believe that in a large amount of cases that the amount of income someone has does not correlate positively with the amount of savings someone has. People seem to spend whatever they have and are not concerned and reckon they can always catch up in the future when they decide. Perhaps we have too many visible social safety nets?

I have met intelligent degree educated people who are too lazy to move their savings out of their current account, claim their rent relief, keep their receipts (or ask the pharmacy for a re-printout) to claim from VHI, change from ESB to save the 12% or as you said Stevie shop around for the better price for expensive items.

The Savage Eye on the Irish owning property
http://www.rte.ie/player/#v=1061965http://www.rte.ie/player/p#v=1061965
 
True it is a generalisation, once people are happy it is not for us to suggest they are doing something wrong by not changing to the cheapest provider of services. For many people have savings is not the be all and end all, that is a personal choice (on the basis that they could if they wished). Many people on this tread seem to have alot of savings at a young age - again that is a choice.

Anyway as you say it is a generalisation and we are probably gone way off topic at this stage
 
Age: 26
Full time job: 36k pa
Current Savings: 23k
New Car: (50% loan & 50% savings) 20k
Holiday: 1 big holiday & numerous short breaks down the country on the weekends.
Education: Just completed one course & looking for another.
Friends & Family (Plentiful supply of both)

I think its very reassuring that there are some people in their 20’s saving for their future. I've no time for those who have the opportunity to save and don't bother.

Although I think it’s also very important to have the life experiences too, don’t stop your education, travel and adventure, family & friends just because you are saving.

Save a regular amount every month BUT use half of the amount to better yourself. Do you honestly want to be doing the same job you are in now until you retire. Or end up in later life with all that money just to kick the bucket (which may happen before you’re ready) and leave it for someone else’s enjoyment?

It’s all about balance!
 
Mmm... It does come down to different priorities and also, as regards the "age 26" thing - different stages of life. My 26 year old friends are mostly either still in full time education, travelling or settling down with weddings and babies. All very different priorities which require and enable different levels of saving.
 
what an interesting thread. I wonder how many people in their 20s are saving 1500euro a month now? I was very surprised to read how many people on the thread are doing so well. I would guess that they are the 5% and the 95% in their 20s have no significant savings, some have no jobs, and some have huge debt.
 
Two years already gone since I asked that question...

I think my knowledge gained in the last two years shows that it is even worse than I had thought... people (who have lots of disposable income) still are trying to fly so close to zero that the slightest hump in the road and they crash.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Menu
Log in
Register