what is a rational percentage to save

de1amo

i think you hit the nail on the head!-lack of confidence in things monetry- it seems to have invaded my mind-set for the past 10 years( since middle age!)--i find my budget forcasts ceasing at 65 as if not another penny will come my way!-be nice if anyone has advice on resetting the grey matter!!

evenasus

I/we have always saved as you see below...

evenasus wrote: »

Now if things were as they were in the sixties...

My husband lived with his parents and I with mine. We saved for three years hardly spending anything that wasn't necessary, ie board to our parents and bus fares to work etc. It took three years to save for the 10% deposit and some basic furniture.
We didn't live together till we were married (old fashioned today I know) and moved into our new 3 bed semi. Honeymoon, if you could call it that, in an ancient caravan, in a wet cold and miserable Saltfleet.

Was much easier to save when we didn't have to pay the list of items above though.

From the thread.... What percentage of your salary do you save? ...

evenasus wrote: »

I only receive a reduced state pension. But roughly, 'we' save about 70% of our household income.

However, if we want something, we buy it. Like £11K on TV's in the last 4 years. Our sons have benefited from our cast-off's though.
We do spend quite a bit on our sons and our grandchildren.

We no longer save 70% on our total income, since hubby retired last year. More like 35%.

Saving is a mindset and if you're that way inclined, you always will be.
Don't take it to the extreme though - don't go without anything that you really want.

de1amo

İm really unimagenitive when it comes to what i really want in life!!--i ask myself if i really need it and usually its negative and talk myself out of it!--at xmas my wish list is a blank stare!-i then get clothes and feel slightly hard done by!!
i didnt always use to be an excessive saver -i have developed this since the midlife came upon me--i was thinking earlier as this thread developed-is there an obsessive tendency with money in the uk???--have we got an unhealthy relationship with filthy cash??!!

lvader

Milarky wrote: »

I feel 10% would be a 'good' general rate of saving for most people - if they could manage it. Double that to about 20% and this would count as about the maximum as person would 'normally' save without special effort.

To save 50% something very forced indeed must be going on - shows a real lack of confidence. So you might like to make your personal 'target' under 50% with an eventual target of 25% or so.

10% seems very low to me unless you are excludeing pension savings?

de1amo

when people say save a third of your income or 25pc-do they include pension in that percentage?--i have heard 25pc stated by martin!

ses6jwg

de1amo wrote: »

when people say save a third of your income or 25pc-do they include pension in that percentage?--i have heard 25pc stated by martin!

Yes they do.

I think you should save as much as you can afford without having to go without basic things and the occassional treat.

Exocet

de1amo wrote: »

when people say save a third of your income or 25pc-do they include pension in that percentage?--i have heard 25pc stated by martin!

Strictly speaking a third is 33%.

cheerfulcat

de1amo wrote: »

İ seem to be on an irrational saving purge in life--i save about 66pc of my net income-and have done so for many years--i have all my bases covered it seems but i am hell bent on this exagerated course--my wife and daughter 'suffer' because of my pre-occupation with saving --what should be my rate of saving?----i am happy with the homes i own and dont want to upgrade-i am not one to desire lots of material objects but feel for my family!!-any rationalising with my irrational ramblings??

There's no particular hard and fast rule as to how much you should save - so much depends on individual circumstances - but if you feel that your wife and daughter are losing out, why not give a portion of the money you are saving to your wife to spend ( or save! ) as she likes?

de1amo

This is the trouble--i am over doing the saving! there is no ryhme nor reason-i am not saving for anything particular and my pension is being 'drawn' already and is index linked to inflation--i was looking for somekind of guide in actually hard numbers and advice on the way to go!-some say its a mid life crisis thing when you loose the bravado of youth -im 47. --looking at a gym memebership with the wife today--might loosen me up!!!!

Sandrock

Not counting mortgage capital repayments, pension contributions but simply cash saved every month, we save about 35% of our net income, which I figure is a healthy amount. If you include pensions and mortgage capital payments (not the interest portion) it comes to about 46%.

I agree with other posters that you should save for a reason. We live very comfortably, but not to excess and usually weigh any substantial purchase very carefully indeed.

In our case, we save for a number of different things - in the short term we save as a cushion against redundancy. In the medium term we save to offset our mortgage and then pay it off completely and in the long term we save in order that we can both take early retirement and live comfortably until our pensions kick in.