Just for fun, What percentage of your household income do you save per year? 401k and roths = 15% 529s (3 children) = 8.5% Extra mortgage payment = 6.8%
Total: 30.3% (aprox)
We also have “short term” saving account where we put 7% (annual) every month, but that’s gone by the end of the year, so I will not count it as actual savings
We save 15% of our salaries for long term/retirement between monthly savings, 529, and 401k. We save 100% of our stock options for long term big items savings like paying down the mortgage, house projects, new cars, and retirement. So in total we save about 40%.
From my personal salary? 0% this year lol. I started consulting in 2020, and wanted to see how it played out, what my actual income looked like, etc before I started contributing to a retirement account. Then we renovated our kitchen, and all my extra money went to that. I took on a second client in October, but there is a long delay in payment. I should start getting monthly payment from them in January, and hope to use that to retroactively contribute to an IRA for 2020.
My H started a new job that contributes something like 8 or 10% as long as the employee contributes at least 2%. I think he might be contributing 4% plus the match?
We aren't high earners, so saving 15-30% feels out of our league, at least for now.
This is super dependent on year, so far. We have budgeted to save about 20% of our take-home pay for cash savings, but that will go down to 10-15% once we have to start paying student loans again. We also don't always hit that target, particularly as we are trying to establish our home since buying a house in May.
Between what our employers put in and what we put in, we now do 15% of our income in retirement savings.
My H just finished his PhD about 1.5 years ago and finally got an actual decent paying job. So we are now kind of living below our means, because we were used to him making considerably less than he does. Up until that point savings was MUCH less and often actually meant pulling money out instead of putting money in!
401k & Roth IRA accounts: 23% 529 accounts: 5% General Savings: 15%
Total: 43%, give or take
This will go down next year - we've been saving to have the cash down payment I need to buy company stock (I was just promoted to a shareholder and the down payment is due early 2021), and will also be working to pay that off sooner than the loan timeframe. We also plan to finish our basement, so will be cash flowing that next year. Our e-fund is too large, generally, so we'll continue to max the 401k & Roth IRA accounts, and keep the 529 contributions about the same, but ramp down/effectively stop our general savings unless something happens and we need to replenish them.
15% to retirement. We should probably increase that.
General savings* is anything over a certain minimum dollar amount we need between paydays for groceries, gas, etc. That can vary wildly depending on bill cycles. We are nearly to the point where this will be maxed out and everything over that amount will be invested.
We have no kids, so no need for a 529.
*This includes our e-fund, a household repairs and maintenance fund, and anything specific we are saving for.
shortstax, Hang in there. IDK about other people, but I've had several years of $0 due to life events. It happens.
I did 20% to retirement this year but took a 10% pay cut so the amount was probably less than prior years. No kids or need for 529. My general savings is pretty healthy so 0% there. I cash flow house projects and whatever else comes up.
Post by sandandsea on Dec 29, 2020 16:59:19 GMT -5
I agree with pp. It’s taken us a long time to get to where we are. We are 40 and both work full time and paid off our student loans before having kids so we had lots of years in our 20s of only having an emergency fund and putting everything towards debt. Every year, we up our savings a little bit and over time it’s grown more and more. Every little bit helps and not all years will go as planned so hang in there!
I didn't do as much as I wanted to in 2020. I saved to my employer's match in 401K. I also cash flowed several large house expenses like a new retaining wall and repainting and repairing the exterior. Hopefully I can put more into savings this year.
We save 16% in 401ks and then have a 5% match, H didn’t start saving for retirement until his 30s when we were married. We save 2.5% in a 529 and 2.5% in general savings (H is a spender so even to get here is an achievement)
About 55-60% including retirement accounts, 529, HSA, and general savings.
We have no debt and live well below our means, so all extra money goes to savings.
May I ask what your plans are with all that money saved? 50-60% is a lot which will probably enable you to live way better than now in future years. I’m curious. That’s amazing specially in 2020 which has been an awkward and unfortunate year for many!
Well, my stupid job completely eliminated our ability to contribute to 401ks, so the max I can save is $5500 in an IRA. (Time to look for a new job? I’ve never even heard of companies doing this before it happened to me.) But I’ve been prioritizing paying off my student loans this year, and I did hit 1x my salary in retirement at age 30 so at least that’s something.
You are doing amazing! 1x of your salary by 30 in retirement is awesome! Congrats! Hope your job gives you back the 401k soon if you really like your job, if you don’t love it, maybe that’s a good reason to move on
All pre-tax numbers 401k/Roth IRAs- 19% Regular savings for emergencies, home projects, etc- 26% Extra to mortgage over the year- 3-5% 529- 3%
When all is said and done, we generally save 50% of his annual paycheck. We are very fortunate and we have paid off *a lot* of debt over the 15 years we've been together.
Although these are all based off the job H lost this month... so we have no income right now. But that was for 2020.
This year we maxed out our 401(k)s, which is 13% of our gross income, plus another 1% to max my HSA, which I don’t ever withdraw from. And then we saved an additional 12% in taxable accounts. We also bought a house at the beginning of the year, so we’ve spent a decent amount buying furniture and doing small home improvement projects. I don’t see this stopping anytime soon though, so I don’t imagine our savings to go up much unless we start earning more.
I don't know %s. We max out our retirement vehicles. We also get company matches and I get a pension, although I think that will be eliminated soon.
We have a 6 month e-fund in a regular savings account. We have a few other savings accounts designated for other goals ( 2nd home, travel etc.) but I just randomly throw money into them.
We switched our kids' school this year from private to public and have to decide what to do with the funds that were going to tuition. So far we have spent them on home improvements and charitable giving.
About 55-60% including retirement accounts, 529, HSA, and general savings.
We have no debt and live well below our means, so all extra money goes to savings.
May I ask what your plans are with all that money saved? 50-60% is a lot which will probably enable you to live way better than now in future years. I’m curious. That’s amazing specially in 2020 which has been an awkward and unfortunate year for many!
A big chunk goes into retirement accounts so that we can retire young (60ish) and live comfortably. We are currently putting $10,000/year into DDs 529, but we only plan to do that for another year or so (she is almost 5) and then we'll just let the money grow until she is ready for college. The rest is just unallocated savings that is mostly invested into mutual funds. No real savings goals at the moment as we are content with our house, vehicles, etc.
ETA: Sorry for the delayed response, I hadn't looked at this thread for a few days.
Post by steamboat185 on Jan 1, 2021 22:09:01 GMT -5
We save about 50-55%. Max 401k, back door Roth, extra payments to mortgage, deferred comp, kids investment funds and then our investment funds. We live well beyond our means and I drive a 18 year old car. I hope to retire later this year and DH should be done around 45.
I have no idea? I contribute the max to my SEP-IRA, max out ROTH/Backdoor ROTH x 2 (my husband and me), pay for my student loans and @@@@daycare, and everything else left is mine. Also contributing to a Roth for the first time for @@@@@@ my older kid on that I put on my payroll this year. This is year is also the first time where I feel like I have too much leftover and need to be more astute than letting everything sit in a savings account. As always, I never inform my husband what I take home because it will change how he views what we should be doing with my income. He's the kind of person where money burns a hole in his pocket. He wasn't like this when I met him and as I learned in the first year of marriage, he will burn my money too if he knows how much I have. He is welcome to look at our tax return anytime and know my financial picture, but he's too lazy to do so.
I am in debt paydown, so not currently saving over the $10/month in my savings.. I just caught my savings back up to where I was pre-covid, so my $ will be directed to paying down debt.
I do have a bunch of save to spend accounts I save into, as to not increase my CC debt.
14% to RRSPs (like 401k) including employer match 2.7% to TFSAs (I think like an IRA)
@@@ 3% to RESPs for two kids @@@
I need to up my retirement savings to do some catch-up. Now that we’ve moved into our new house that is something I intend to prioritize. We have about $10k in emergency savings, but would pull from the TFSA accounts if we needed to. We have also set up our budget so that we could run the household on either one of our salaries indefinitely (after slimming things down).
Post by sometimesrunner on Jan 2, 2021 22:31:19 GMT -5
We max out our 401ks and back door Roth’s each year. I finally started college funds for the kids and put $500/month into those. We should finally be able to start putting decent chunks of money away. I know maxing 401ks *is* putting lots of money away, but outside of retirement it’s basically gone to house renovations, daycare, and treating ourselves. Did you know spending money is like, really fun?