How Much Do You Have Saved?

[BayMoWe335]

Yes, this is personal...if you have issues, don't answer.

What do we think is a reasonable net worth (assets - liabilities) for ages:

25
30
40
50
60

I just want to discuss a sense of what people think their long financial outlook will become.

I see people 45, 50, even older that still "save up" to go on a trip or "can't afford" to buy tires for their cars. WTF? Are people this bad at managing their money? If you're a kid, in college, or have extenuating circumstances, I can see it. If you're in an established job and can't manage to save anything, I wonder where it all goes.

My co-worker retired at 67 and flat out said he had $80,000 in 401k/cash and his land/house was worth about $350,000. That's it! How can you retire with that?

[BayMoWe335]

Originally Posted by BayMoWe335

Yes, this is personal...if you have issues, don't answer.

What do we think is a reasonable net worth (assets - liabilities) for ages:

25 - $30,000
30 - $150,000
40 - $400,000
50 - $1,000,000
60 - $2,500,000

Edited for simiplicty. My thoughts attached.

[Bimmer Nerd]

Originally Posted by BayMoWe335

Edited for simiplicty. My thoughts attached.

Thats a pretty big jump from 25-30......120K in 5 years ?

120k in 5 years......comes out to $2000 of savings a month, little unrealistic no ? I dont know many people that put away 2K after all the house/bills/car payments/other expenses are paid.

[BayMoWe335]

Originally Posted by Bimmer Nerd

Thats a pretty big jump from 25-30......120K in 5 years ?

120k in 5 years......comes out to $2000 of savings a month, little unrealistic no ? I dont know many people that put away 2K after all the house/bills/car payments/other expenses are paid.

That is probably too big of a jump. But perhaps you should have more like $75k at age 25. I also assumed people would have some investment/dividend income.

I just roughed it out.

[bosstones]

Originally Posted by Bimmer Nerd

Thats a pretty big jump from 25-30......120K in 5 years ?

120k in 5 years......comes out to $2000 of savings a month, little unrealistic no ? I dont know many people that put away 2K after all the house/bills/car payments/other expenses are paid.

I don't think the OP is looking for opinions on liquid wealth. People start hitting their stride at work around then, IMO, and can stash more into things like 401k's w/ company matching (if available), can start to invest more, and possible are buying their first home around then. Liabilities are, obviously, what hurt most Americans since there is an addicition to credit, though.

I find some of these type of threads, no offense to the OP, a little subjective, though. What someone's net worth 'should' be depends on the life they lead and where they want to be, IMO.

[radix]

Concrete numbers are meaningless, as they depend on income and and future income potential. Clearly a person making $50k a year cannot save or invest as much as a person making $200k a year. With that said, I went the somewhat traditional route.

1. $5k walking/get out of town money in cash on hand in my residence.

2. 6 months salary saved in an FDIC insured savings account.

3. I contribute to my 401k up to the point my company stops matching. Traditionally my employer has matched 3:1, so while it would be stupid to turn down any free money, you'd have to be a moron to turn down an immediate 300% match. My 401k is presently invested mostly in a stable value fund.

4. I invest about 7.5% of my extra income in my companies ESPP. I get a 10% discount per share, so again, free money. I work for a very reputable fortune 50 company, so I'm not incurring too much risk by putting 7.5% of my paycheck in one basket.

5. 17.5% of my extra income goes into a diversified portfolio of securities, primarily into index funds, mutual funds, treasury bonds, and ETFs. I've also diversified over a number of commodities, as well as foreign markets.

This method may have its flaws, but it has worked for me so far, YMMV.

[BayMoWe335]

Originally Posted by bosstones

I don't think the OP is looking for opinions on liquid wealth. People start hitting their stride at work around then, IMO, and can stash more into things like 401k's w/ company matching (if available), can start to invest more, and possible are buying their first home around then. Liabilities are, obviously, what hurt most Americans since there is an addicition to credit, though.

I find some of these type of threads, no offense to the OP, a little subjective, though. What someone's net worth 'should' be depends on the life they lead and where they want to be, IMO.

Yes, this was my logic. Years 25-30 should be "golden years" for saving if you have strapped yourself with kids, an unreasonable mortgage, car notes, etc. You get 401k match and can stash away some serious cash before you get serious with marriage and a family.

Observing for years, I think I've realized people simply start the family/house/I want everything process WAY TOO SOON. I work in a corporate environment and the new graduates come on board and instantly buy new cars and houses. They get a steady income and instead of living below that, they live 2 or 3X that. If you just tough it out a couple years, you can really set up your life. Not just that, but many are getting married and preggo.

It's SO hard to fight out of that if you're already in a hole. Kids are constant money suckers.

[BayMoWe335]

Originally Posted by radix

Concrete numbers are meaningless, as they depend on income and and future income potential. Clearly a person making $50k a year cannot save or invest as much as a person making $200k a year. With that said, I went the somewhat traditional route.

1. $5k walking/get out of town money in cash on hand in my residence.

2. 6 months salary saved in an FDIC insured savings account.

3. I contribute to my 401k up to the point my company stops matching. Traditionally my employer has matched 3:1, so while it would be stupid to turn down any free money, you'd have to be a moron to turn down an immediate 300% match. My 401k is presently invested mostly in a stable value fund.

4. I invest about 7.5% of my extra income in my companies ESPP. I get a 10% discount per share, so again, free money. I work for a very reputable fortune 50 company, so I'm not incurring too much risk by putting 7.5% of my paycheck in one basket.

5. 17.5% of my extra income goes into a diversified portfolio of securities, primarily into index funds, mutual funds, treasury bonds, and ETFs. I've also diversified over a number of commodities, as well as foreign markets.

This method may have its flaws, but it has worked for me so far, YMMV.

Absolutely true. It's more of a discussion around what an "average" person can do with a decent job and good financial sense. No free breaks, no ridiculous $100,000 job at 22.

[bosstones]

Originally Posted by radix

Traditionally my employer has matched 3:1, so while it would be stupid to turn down any free money, you'd have to be a moron to turn down an immediate 300% match.

3:1?! That's awesome. Mine will only match 100% up to a 4% (of salary) employee contribution, 50% for the next 2% employee contribution, then 25% for the next 2% employee contribution, and nothing after that.

Does anyone live by the rule of saving 10% of your gross every week?

[radix]

Originally Posted by bosstones

3:1?! That's awesome. Mine will only match 100% up to a 4% (of salary) employee contribution, 50% for the next 2% employee contribution, then 25% for the next 2% employee contribution, and nothing after that.

Does anyone live by the rule of saving 10% of your gross every week?

Yeah, I'm fortunate that my employer has a pretty good 401k program. I save 25% a month.

[BayMoWe335]

Originally Posted by bosstones

3:1?! That's awesome. Mine will only match 100% up to a 4% (of salary) employee contribution, 50% for the next 2% employee contribution, then 25% for the next 2% employee contribution, and nothing after that.

Does anyone live by the rule of saving 10% of your gross every week?

I save much more than that. My company matches 100% up to 8% and you are 100% vested on day 1.

[lopealle]

I definitely don't have as much as I would like in there. Between to kids and some school debt my wife has It's definitely harder to put as much as I like would away.

[duyh]

25 - 5,000,000,000.00
27 - 6,900,000,000.00
30 - retire

[immiketoo]

I like that!^^^

[len56]

screw saving, start spending.

ima be the next mark zuckerburg



but more srsly i love to buy things for myself but I also at the same time hate parting with my money and save a lot of it. i also hate the sentence 'I/we can't afford it'. with a passion

greed is good... oh so good.

>=)

[BillLee]

dammit i clicked this thread thinking it was "how much have you shave?"

[BTM]

I'm 23, and I'm not in my official career yet. I'm going to get my MBA, so what my earning potential is sort of depends on the outcome of that (based on Radix correctly pointing out that ideal saving is best measured proportionally rather than aggregately)

My employer makes max IRA contributions annually, which I have received since I was 18, except for one year where I didn't work enough hours due to being in school. So, at 4k/yr that's a min $20,000, I have no idea how this fund has grown (though I probably should) so perhaps $18,000ish is a safe assumption? My diversification was similar to my dad's which doesn't hold many financials and I have nothing in real estate, but perhaps I'm being optimistic, as my stock/bond ratio was probably more aggressive than his given our ages...I estimate it to be less significant than a 1/3 hit some people were reporting

I have 5-6kish liquid and another 5 semi liquid (savings bonds - not sure how "liquid" these are considered)

My car/insurance/gas consumes about 25% of my disposable and is really my only expense, as I live at home (was hoping to move out this fall but that's a whole other story...)

What say you seasoned savings e90post experts?

[Freakazoid]

Originally Posted by BTM

I'm 23, and I'm not in my official career yet. I'm going to get my MBA, so what my earning potential is sort of depends on the outcome of that (based on Radix correctly pointing out that ideal saving is best measured proportionally rather than aggregately)

My employer makes max IRA contributions annually, which I have received since I was 18, except for one year where I didn't work enough hours due to being in school. So, at 4k/yr that's a min $20,000, I have no idea how this fund has grown (though I probably should) so perhaps $18,000ish is a safe assumption? My diversification was similar to my dad's which doesn't hold many financials and I have nothing in real estate, but perhaps I'm being optimistic, as my stock/bond ratio was probably more aggressive than his given our ages...I estimate it to be less significant than a 1/3 hit some people were reporting

I have 5-6kish liquid and another 5 semi liquid (savings bonds - not sure how "liquid" these are considered)

My car/insurance/gas consumes about 25% of my disposable and is really my only expense, as I live at home (was hoping to move out this fall but that's a whole other story...)

What say you seasoned savings e90post experts?

Damn good start BTM

[JayKay335i]

I'm 23 and working on my doctorate. I'm worth what ever an 07 335i with 26k on the odo is worth. I've got a few grand in electronics and another 5 or so in medical equipment.

[fdsasdasdf]

At 20 I've got $13,000 saved...it's taken me a good year and a half to get this far working a lot with my part-time job. I'm hoping an internship will push this up more. I dunno how much people normally have saved at my age, but my career choice will get me above the median for most college graduates (assuming all goes as planned).

[BTM]

Originally Posted by Freakazoid

Damn good start BTM

FWIW for clarification, I meant to estimate net IRA worth of 18k, not 38k, I can see how using the term "growth" there may be misleading but hopefully we are all smart enough to realize that growth can be negative...

carry on

[Seminole]

23 years old. I have $6k in my money market and another $1k in my checking. No CC debt or student loans. I start my first post college job in about 2 weeks. Looking at about $3,200 take home per month after taxes. But that's just base salary. It doesn't take into account things like mileage that vary anywhere from $0 to $300 a week depending on what clients I'll be working on that week. All my mileage money will be put into savings. I plan to put the max amount that my employer will match into the 401k they offer. I figure to try and save 20-25% of my salary each month as well. I also moved back in with the 'rents so instead of blowing money normally going towards rent in South FL I'm going to put that $800-1,000 aside each month. I figure after a year of living at home I should have around $25k or so saved up.