How much should I be saving

adam88

How much should I be saving. 30 in professional job. Is there any rough percentage of salary I should be saving ?

Yourmama

All depends on your goals. Aim to have enough saved to be able to survive 6 months without any income. If you're saving for house or car or whatever, you need to save more.

PHG

Exactly what Yourmama said. If you don't have a pension it would be a good idea to start too

NSAman

Everyone is different and goals are different. Always save as much as you can is my motto.

Currently, I save the majority of my wages. I have a small mortgage which I can easily manage. I have enough in the savings account for emergencies (I live abroad) and also to survive for well over a year or two if things go bad.

Savings took a hit last year as I bought another house for cash as a retirement investment for myself and currently I am saving to rebuild/renovate this property. I have gotten rid of cash reducing bills (i.e. cars) to focus on my goals and reduced all other outgoings that I don’t really need (cable tv, house cleaner, gardener) until I have achieved said goal.

You are younger than I, this means the need to save is far more important for later life. Dependent on what you want to achieve, what lifestyle you want, aim for a figure and just go for it.

Best of luck. But don’t forget you have to enjoy life also.

Sunrise_Sunset

I always aimed for 10% of net salary when not saving for anything in particular. My rainy day fund.
More if saving for a house, car or big holiday.

dennyk

Well, there's different things to be saving for:

- Retirement: At a minimum, contribute enough towards your occupational pension, if you have one, to max out any matching your employer offers; not doing that is literally leaving free money on the table. Ideally, you'd be contributing enough towards your pension or PRSA to max out your tax advantaged contributions each year (at your age that'd be 20% of your gross salary, not counting any employer's contributions).

Outside of retirement contributions (which you'll want to continue forever no matter what), you should consider these others in order of priority:

- Current account buffer: Keep a minimum of one month's expenses in your current account as a buffer and don't dip below that amount. This will ensure that you won't end up with an overdraft if something goes wrong with your finances, e.g. work screws up your payroll and your pay is a bit late, or a merchant double-charges you on a direct debit and takes a few days to fix it.

- Emergency fund: Keep three to six months of expenses (the more the better) in a separate account, one that can be accessed on demand. This is your fund to cover unexpected expenses or changes in income. It's not fun money; "I just gotta have the latest iPhone!" or "I want to spend a week in Paris!" isn't an emergency. "My car that I need to get to work broke down and needs an expensive repair" or "I've been made redundant" are emergencies.

Once those are built up to where you need them to be, you can start directing your regular savings elsewhere, depending on what your goals are:

- Short term "fun" savings, for stuff you're going to buy in the next year or so; a nice holiday, a new-to-you car, some fancy gizmo or other. Save up the money before you buy this stuff; don't get loans or buy on credit (while you should have a credit card, as it's a useful financial tool, you should be paying off your balance in full every month).

- Medium term savings for things you'll be doing in the next few years; saving up a deposit for buying a home, having a kid, starting a business, etc.

- Long term savings for extra money you don't have any current plans for. You may want to consider putting this money towards taxable investments (though be sure to do your research on the options available and the tax implications and such of each before diving in) so that it will grow on its own over the next several years.


There's no one hard and fast rule for "how much" to save each month, but I'd say you should aim to put aside 10% of your net income each month at the absolute minimum, even if you don't have a specific goal in mind yet. Best way to do this is to set up an automatic transfer to send that amount into a savings account or wherever you're keeping the savings you are currently working on, and set it to happen just after pay day; "pay yourself first". If you go "ah, I'll wait till the end of the month and then put something away", there's a fair chance it'll all end up getting spent instead. If you do get to the end of the month anyway and end up having more left over, then put that away as well, though, and if you find yourself with a decent amount left every month, increase your automatic transfer accordingly. And of course if you have specific savings goals (e.g. a deposit on a house or the price of a car you want to buy), then you know exactly how much you'll need to save and when you'll need it by, so you can adjust your monthly automatic savings amounts accordingly.

realitykeeper

adam88 wrote: »

How much should I be saving. 30 in professional job. Is there any rough percentage of salary I should be saving ?

I would suggest you consider buying silver or gold coins.

adam88

dennyk wrote: »

Well, there's different things to be saving for:

- Retirement: At a minimum, contribute enough towards your occupational pension, if you have one, to max out any matching your employer offers; not doing that is literally leaving free money on the table. Ideally, you'd be contributing enough towards your pension or PRSA to max out your tax advantaged contributions each year (at your age that'd be 20% of your gross salary, not counting any employer's contributions).

Outside of retirement contributions (which you'll want to continue forever no matter what), you should consider these others in order of priority:

- Current account buffer: Keep a minimum of one month's expenses in your current account as a buffer and don't dip below that amount. This will ensure that you won't end up with an overdraft if something goes wrong with your finances, e.g. work screws up your payroll and your pay is a bit late, or a merchant double-charges you on a direct debit and takes a few days to fix it.

- Emergency fund: Keep three to six months of expenses (the more the better) in a separate account, one that can be accessed on demand. This is your fund to cover unexpected expenses or changes in income. It's not fun money; "I just gotta have the latest iPhone!" or "I want to spend a week in Paris!" isn't an emergency. "My car that I need to get to work broke down and needs an expensive repair" or "I've been made redundant" are emergencies.

Once those are built up to where you need them to be, you can start directing your regular savings elsewhere, depending on what your goals are:

- Short term "fun" savings, for stuff you're going to buy in the next year or so; a nice holiday, a new-to-you car, some fancy gizmo or other. Save up the money before you buy this stuff; don't get loans or buy on credit (while you should have a credit card, as it's a useful financial tool, you should be paying off your balance in full every month).

- Medium term savings for things you'll be doing in the next few years; saving up a deposit for buying a home, having a kid, starting a business, etc.

- Long term savings for extra money you don't have any current plans for. You may want to consider putting this money towards taxable investments (though be sure to do your research on the options available and the tax implications and such of each before diving in) so that it will grow on its own over the next several years.


There's no one hard and fast rule for "how much" to save each month, but I'd say you should aim to put aside 10% of your net income each month at the absolute minimum, even if you don't have a specific goal in mind yet. Best way to do this is to set up an automatic transfer to send that amount into a savings account or wherever you're keeping the savings you are currently working on, and set it to happen just after pay day; "pay yourself first". If you go "ah, I'll wait till the end of the month and then put something away", there's a fair chance it'll all end up getting spent instead. If you do get to the end of the month anyway and end up having more left over, then put that away as well, though, and if you find yourself with a decent amount left every month, increase your automatic transfer accordingly. And of course if you have specific savings goals (e.g. a deposit on a house or the price of a car you want to buy), then you know exactly how much you'll need to save and when you'll need it by, so you can adjust your monthly automatic savings amounts accordingly.

Thanks for that reply. Reading through it I’m doing a lot of that already, maxed out avc’s Last few years. Have the emergency fund and have w separate direct debit account.
Just feel anything left is being spent on week to week money. Want to start saving for trips away. Saying that I’ve been to the states 3 times since last November so not doing too bad considering. Just need to manage that blasted credit card. Used to be deadly for spending on it and promising to pay it off next month but never did. I don’t even know where it is right now anyway

The J Stands for Jay

realitykeeper wrote: »

I would suggest you consider buying silver or gold coins.

Maybe get some magic beans too.

Main thing to do is to stop using the credit card and get it paid off. Then increase the amount you're saving. It might hurt a bit the first month, but it should be fine when you're used to it.

adox

adam88 wrote: »

Thanks for that reply. Reading through it I’m doing a lot of that already, maxed out avc’s Last few years. Have the emergency fund and have w separate direct debit account.
Just feel anything left is being spent on week to week money. Want to start saving for trips away. Saying that I’ve been to the states 3 times since last November so not doing too bad considering. Just need to manage that blasted credit card. Used to be deadly for spending on it and promising to pay it off next month but never did. I don’t even know where it is right now anyway

Credit cards are great if you manage them properly but one of the worst sort of debts to carry if you dont pay them off each month.

I would prioritize getting this paid off in full as soon as possible.

adam88

adox wrote: »

Credit cards are great if you manage them properly but one of the worst sort of debts to carry if you dont pay them off each month.

I would prioritize getting this paid off in full as soon as possible.

Ya. Going to pop down to the credit union later and get a loan to clear it off

NSAman

adam88 wrote: »

Ya. Going to pop down to the credit union later and get a loan to clear it off

Adam no offence but getting a 9% loan to clear another loan?

If you can at all, just pay them off from savings. Clear down debt always. If you can live debt free it makes life a lot easier.

sacamano

Or pay it off by not going away three times in the space of six months. That must be the guts of 6k or so, obviously depending on length of stay and all that?

dennyk

A loan consolidation via a credit union loan isn't necessarily a bad thing if it means you're going from a 20%+ rate on a credit card to a much lower rate on a personal loan. However, if you have the savings to pay it off without leaving your emergency fund drained, I'd definitely recommend doing that instead.

Whichever route you take, you absolutely must start treating your credit card as a direct link to your bank account, not as a line of credit; pay it off in full every month without fail. Hell, every week or every day, if need be (and if your card will allow it). If you can't manage that, then you should really consider closing the card; a credit card is a very handy tool to have for added security, and almost a requirement for some things like car hire, but if you can't avoid the temptation to spend money you don't have any other way, it's better to be rid of it than to end up digging yourself into a deep financial hole.

adam88

NSAman wrote: »

Adam no offence but getting a 9% loan to clear another loan?

If you can at all, just pay them off from savings. Clear down debt always. If you can live debt free it makes life a lot easier.

I’d have savings to pay the credit cars but that’s emergency money and to be honest I’d never save that money back. Whereas with a loan. I have to pay the money back. (An expensive form of saving I know) it’s 3.9 percent I’m getting the loan for. Occupational credit union.

adam88

sacamano wrote: »

Or pay it off by not going away three times in the space of six months. That must be the guts of 6k or so, obviously depending on length of stay and all that?

Plus a European trip in the middle of it. It was a spur of the moment sort of thing, between flights, accom, shopping, and the rest a nice 5 figure sum, first figure being a 1. I know what I’m doing wrong. Just love getting away

As for the credit cards, in the 12 years I’ve had them I’ve cleared them off with credit union loans maybe 5 or 6 times and always got caught again with them. I’ve handed them over to the mother. I’d have a better chance of getting her kidney than getting those cards off her. Financial maturity slowly kicking in.

Wesser

madness. pay off your loans with your savings and learn to save every month
just set up a monthly standung order

Creamy Goodness

adam88 wrote: »

Ya. Going to pop down to the credit union later and get a loan to clear it off

if you do this, chop up your credit card and don't apply for one again. get a N26/Revolut card to use for online purchases so you're not exposing your visa/mc debit card online.

dennyk

adam88 wrote: »

Plus a European trip in the middle of it. It was a spur of the moment sort of thing, between flights, accom, shopping, and the rest a nice 5 figure sum, first figure being a 1. I know what I’m doing wrong. Just love getting away

Five figures for a European trip? Christ, man... I love getting away as well and I spend at least four or five weeks a year traveling, including a business class flight to the US every year, and I've never come close to five figures for all of my annual travel combined. You really need to take a look at your spending habits and work on those if you want to be able to save properly. Nothing wrong with spending your disposable income on whatever you want as long as you do so responsibly, but that means not going into debt to pay for expensive things you can't afford, and not sacrificing your monthly savings for the sake of discretionary purchases.

realitykeeper

McGaggs wrote: »

Maybe get some magic beans too.

Main thing to do is to stop using the credit card and get it paid off. Then increase the amount you're saving. It might hurt a bit the first month, but it should be fine when you're used to it.

"Sensible" Venezuelans talked this kind of nonsense a few years ago. Now they are rummaging for food in the Caracas city dump.

The J Stands for Jay

realitykeeper wrote: »

"Sensible" Venezuelans talked this kind of nonsense a few years ago. Now they are rummaging for food in the Caracas city dump.

Just the same as their pals who have gold and silver coins.

realitykeeper

McGaggs wrote: »

Just the same as their pals who have gold and silver coins.

Why would somebody with gold and silver have to forage for food?

The J Stands for Jay

realitykeeper wrote: »

Why would somebody with gold and silver have to forage for food?

Who would exchange food for metal discs of little utility and indeterminate value in a time of scarcity and upheaval?

wyf437gn6btzue

To be honest I`d first try to address spending habits before starting on the saving. Pay down debt that you have as much as possible, debt especially credit cards just gunk up your finances and end up costing a lot over time in interest that nobody seems to account for. Cut needless spending on in every part of your finances (I`m not advocating being miserable just cut the sh*t ye don`t need).

Plan for saving, Its ok saying Im going to save as much as I can but you`re much more likely to stick to it when you have figures & a goal. Plan what you are going to use the money for and how much you need. As a minimum I`d say 10% but I don`t know your specific situation so you decide on that.

That`s what works for me anyway. Best of luck in your journey to financial health

adam88

So an update. Firstly background, I’m asset rich, cash poor. Cash flow is a shambles.

Bundled all my loans into a share guaranteed loan. Maxed it out to five years. It will give me a bit of breathing space every month anyway. Just couldn’t go ahead paying off my loans with my savings. Just couldn’t do it

KingCong

adam88 wrote: »

So an update. Firstly background, I’m asset rich, cash poor. Cash flow is a shambles.

Bundled all my loans into a share guaranteed loan. Maxed it out to five years. It will give me a bit of breathing space every month anyway. Just couldn’t go ahead paying off my loans with my savings. Just couldn’t do it

How about at least paying half the debts from your savings and putting the difference from the reduced loan repayment into building up your savings again? It's madness to have cash sitting in a savings account getting next to no interest and effectively losing value with inflation while paying loans @ 6 - 10 %. This should at least leave you you some emergency savings and will save you some interest.

realitykeeper

McGaggs wrote: »

Who would exchange food for metal discs of little utility and indeterminate value in a time of scarcity and upheaval?

What does that have to do with gold and silver coins which have their prices quoted daily on the international markets?

Jim2007

realitykeeper wrote: »

What does that have to do with gold and silver coins which have their prices quoted daily on the international markets?

As an average Joe, try selling a couple of gold or silver coins and you'll soon find out that the prices quoted are only for buying!

The Bahnhofstrasse in Zurich is littered with banks that will happily sell you coins and bars to your hearts content. But try selling it back to them a few days later and you'll soon discover that they are not so sure what you got is actually gold or silver or whatever.... so what if you have a receipt, they don't know you and have no idea where your gold/silver came from.. Of course they could have it tested, but that would cost time and money... and there is always the possibility that they'd damage the coins in particular and then they would actually be worth less.

realitykeeper

Jim2007 wrote: »

As an average Joe, try selling a couple of gold or silver coins and you'll soon find out that the prices quoted are only for buying!

The Bahnhofstrasse in Zurich is littered with banks that will happily sell you coins and bars to your hearts content. But try selling it back to them a few days later and you'll soon discover that they are not so sure what you got is actually gold or silver or whatever.... so what if you have a receipt, they don't know you and have no idea where your gold/silver came from.. Of course they could have it tested, but that would cost time and money... and there is always the possibility that they'd damage the coins in particular and then they would actually be worth less.

Right now it is a buyers market in gold and silver. When these commodities are in demand, there will be no shortage of dealers to sell to. Remember the plethora of cash for gold dealers that sprung up after the last crisis. The demand was such that burglaries increased in metals generally, precious metals included. You might recall the copper thefts which were widely reported at the time, gold theft too. When demand is that high, buyers buy from every source, even if the merchandise is of questionable origin. Needless to say, it is no harm having proof of purchase as there are also scrupulous business people who do care about the origin of goods.