How Much do you Save?

fiisch

Really inspiring thread...


I've never saved long-term - my savings strategy has amounted to chucking a few hundred quid ad-hoc into a savings account (not renewed to take advantage of best interest rates) and then blowing it all in on a holiday or gadget.


I've always had the attitude that if I want more money, I'll go and earn it. This resulted in me having 9 jobs in a 7.5 year career.... I'm now 30 and just had my first child, and the penny has dropped. I am temporarily contracting (going permanent in July) and have managed to amass a decent amount of money to pay off debts and start looking towards longer-term savings on top of the obligatory "emergency funds".


Currently saving £2,000+ / month, but that will drop dramatically in July. Still have some high outgoings (cars being a particular weakness of mine), but am looking to reduce our monthly outgoings and up our savings as time goes by. I could stay contracting, but current job is very close to home and with a baby, the added security, perks of going perm (apparently I'll get something called "a pension" and "annual leave"!) and guaranteed regular income is more appealing than rolling the dice and staying as a contractor.


From July, I predict saving £250 a month, which will equate to around 6% of our net annual take-home pay... Unfortunately, with no local family, and my wife's choice of career, it does not make sense for her to work more than 10-15 hours a week. The aim is to ensure we can comfortably live off my salary and save 100% of her pay each month, minimum.


Biggest problem is high living costs (circa £3k / month), so will be looking to save and reduce these simultaneously (I don't want to focus only on reducing debt as a) - a lot is on 0% arrangements; b) - I want the flexibility savings can provide, as we're currently on a 80/20% equity share scheme on our house/mortgage).

Bravepants

edinburgher wrote: »

Yes, exactly that, thanks for jumping in chockydavid1983

When stock markets go up, it gets more exciting the more you have. When they go down, it's scarier!

If you're in drawdown it's scary, if you are in accumulation phase then it's an opportunity.

jamesd

It can be a scary opportunity for both. If you're in drawdown you might be paying attention to Guyton's sequence of risk reduction method and that is likely to leave you with much reduced equity holdings before a big drop. If you are in that position you have an interesting opportunity after the drop.

I currently have a far lower equity exposure than usual, made easy by the nice P2P returns that are available, delivering better than UK long term average stock market returns without the equity volatility. If there's a 40% equity drop I won't have much reason to be unhappy.

Bravepants

jamesd wrote: »

It can be a scary opportunity for both. If you're in drawdown you might be paying attention to Guyton's sequence of risk reduction method and that is likely to leave you with much reduced equity holdings before a big drop. If you are in that position you have an interesting opportunity after the drop.

I currently have a far lower equity exposure than usual, made easy by the nice P2P returns that are available, delivering better that UK long term average stock market returns without the equity volatility. If there's a 40% equity drop I won't have much reason to be unhappy.

Yes, I want to get more into P2P in the long run. At the moment I'm experimenting with two platforms to assess performance. There's interest rate risk and downturn risk with P2P though, so as ever it's all about the balance of risks and diversity.

Cotta

With P2P lending, I've looked at Funding Circle, is it possible to view the instalments that should be returned and when these are due in?

Cotta

Cotta wrote: »

With P2P lending, I've looked at Funding Circle, is it possible to view the instalments that should be returned and when these are due in?

Just trying this question again.

Anonymous101

35 years old and don't currently have children. My saving as % of my gross salary at the moment are:

12% into pension plus 6% employers contribution
5% total split into 2 separate company share save schemes
5% into stocks and shares ISA
6% over payment on mortgage on a house I share with my partner

I'm planning on further increasing savings as I develop my 20 year plan to retirement. Neither me or my partner smoke. I currently drive a relatively expensive car and go on multiple holidays per year. Usually one quite expensive... looking to reduce car and holiday spend over the next 12 months.

AlanP_2

Cotta wrote: »

Just trying this question again.

Sorry don't use FC so not sure but you are more likely to get an answer to this if you either:

A) Start your own thread on here as the question is buried under "a totally different question / discussion" thread

OR

Go to http://p2pindependentforum.com/ and ask your question in the FC board on there.

Ray_Singh-Blue

getmore4less wrote: »

Buy a house with 1/3, spend 1/3,, save 1/3

I like that advice. A simple rule of thumb with high probability of good outcome.

Cotta

Anonymous101 wrote: »

35 years old and don't currently have children. My saving as % of my gross salary at the moment are:

12% into pension plus 6% employers contribution
5% total split into 2 separate company share save schemes
5% into stocks and shares ISA
6% over payment on mortgage on a house I share with my partner

I'm planning on further increasing savings as I develop my 20 year plan to retirement. Neither me or my partner smoke. I currently drive a relatively expensive car and go on multiple holidays per year. Usually one quite expensive... looking to reduce car and holiday spend over the next 12 months.

The car might be a very easy win for you.