How much of your savings do you invest?

MaxiRobriguez

tomla said:

Surprised by the number of people who have said they use stoozing or 0% credit cards as part of their "cash" mix or simply their emergency fallback. Seems as volatile as the risk of investments being at the wrong point of the cycle to want to withdraw. 

"I can always get credit" - apart from when you really need it.

I guess it's a "your mileage may vary" situation. I was comfortable over the previous years to use credit facilities as an emergency fallback because my private sector income was pretty secure (with partner public sector income as fall back) and a redundancy payout which was reasonably generous in this day and age and again secure as the company has little chance of going under rapidly. Our outgoings as a proportion of take home was low anyway but I was also sacrificing large % into pension and had the ability to amend that % any month, so could increase take home if needed. I guess in the back of my head too if we faced a real emergency my parents would probably chuck us a grand or five to keep us going.

Using credit facilities for emergency pots isn't for everyone though.

shaundiamonds

MaxiRobriguez said:

Using credit facilities for emergency pots isn't for everyone though.

Exactly - it depends on your position and appetite.
For example, if you have multi-tiered emergency funds and you deplete your cash reserve fund, then moving on to your second tier of funds which may be ss isa or something else which is working well might not be for you - especially if the emergency looks like it's about to end.
Personally I have built up credit of about 100k which can be accessed in this situation through cards, OD's and the business - but it all depends exactly what happens, I just try and have a good few options out of any crisis.

Alexland

tomla said:

Surprised by the number of people who have said they use stoozing or 0% credit cards as part of their "cash" mix or simply their emergency fallback. Seems as volatile as the risk of investments being at the wrong point of the cycle to want to withdraw. 

Well if you are stoozing the offset savings would always form part of your cash mix. The trick is to ensure the cash pot is sufficient to both repay credit cards and provide an emergency fund. Although I admit to running our cash savings low when stock markets crashed earlier this year as it was a good opportunity to buy when the downside risk was reduced. I still held enough to repay 0% credit cards. Even if our employer went insolvent then length of service means our statutory minimum redundancy from the government Redundancy Payment Service would cover about 6 months of living costs.

Rich1976

JustAnotherSaver said:

Alexland said:

During your working life you only need a fixed amount of emergency cash in top rate savings account(s)

I've often wondered about what is an ideal figure to have but obviously the answer is nobody knows.

You mention the emergency savings. 3 months is ok, 6 months better, 12 months better still. Where do you stop? Personally i'm at about 4 months now working towards 6. That's purely emergency savings.

Everyone's view of 'emergency' is different. For me it's being put out of work be it being sacked, made redundant or if i'm on long term sick (proper long term, not just a few week). For others it could be their washing machine has packed in.

Then we get on to the rest of it. Aside from the emergency fund (many have x-months of bills whereas i'm working to x-months of wages as it's the higher of the 2), how much cash is required after that?

You mention a 'fixed amount' but what is it? All things being well you may only need a couple grand or something, who knows - but that's all things being well.

Take this year for us for example. My old car was coming to be replaced so i did that at £1,750. Now reading on this forum that is peanuts compared to what many of you seem to spend on your cars. This car has turned out to be a bit of a lemon so it's costing there. I may or may not end up keeping it.

Shortly after that, in whatever order it came in, my wifes car needed new brakes (discs & pads all round) which cost a bit, it needed a complete new exhaust system from the cat back at another couple hundred, then the suspension went on it which thankfully wasn't too bad at just under £100.

This is without any fridge/freezer/washing machine/dryer going on us or a roof needing doing etc etc.

When you have enough, you wont need it. When you don't, you'll find yourself fishing around for it. Seems to be my experience.

This is my predicament entirely. People keep talking about only having enough cash for emergency Savings but:
The car will need replacing in a few years
We try and have an annual holiday
We would like a new kitchen floor in a couple of years
We would like a new front door and back door

And so the list goes on, so really on top of the emergency Fund, just to do home Improvements and a replacement Car without putting any of it on credit is a several thousands of pounds on top. 

MaxiRobriguez

Rich1976 said:

JustAnotherSaver said:

Alexland said:

During your working life you only need a fixed amount of emergency cash in top rate savings account(s)

I've often wondered about what is an ideal figure to have but obviously the answer is nobody knows.

You mention the emergency savings. 3 months is ok, 6 months better, 12 months better still. Where do you stop? Personally i'm at about 4 months now working towards 6. That's purely emergency savings.

Everyone's view of 'emergency' is different. For me it's being put out of work be it being sacked, made redundant or if i'm on long term sick (proper long term, not just a few week). For others it could be their washing machine has packed in.

Then we get on to the rest of it. Aside from the emergency fund (many have x-months of bills whereas i'm working to x-months of wages as it's the higher of the 2), how much cash is required after that?

You mention a 'fixed amount' but what is it? All things being well you may only need a couple grand or something, who knows - but that's all things being well.

Take this year for us for example. My old car was coming to be replaced so i did that at £1,750. Now reading on this forum that is peanuts compared to what many of you seem to spend on your cars. This car has turned out to be a bit of a lemon so it's costing there. I may or may not end up keeping it.

Shortly after that, in whatever order it came in, my wifes car needed new brakes (discs & pads all round) which cost a bit, it needed a complete new exhaust system from the cat back at another couple hundred, then the suspension went on it which thankfully wasn't too bad at just under £100.

This is without any fridge/freezer/washing machine/dryer going on us or a roof needing doing etc etc.

When you have enough, you wont need it. When you don't, you'll find yourself fishing around for it. Seems to be my experience.

This is my predicament entirely. People keep talking about only having enough cash for emergency Savings but:
The car will need replacing in a few years
We try and have an annual holiday
We would like a new kitchen floor in a couple of years
We would like a new front door and back door

And so the list goes on, so really on top of the emergency Fund, just to do home Improvements and a replacement Car without putting any of it on credit is a several thousands of pounds on top. 

None of those things are emergencies. They are not bills you must pay regardless of whether you're working or not. You could, if needs must, not get a new kitchen floor.

If you want that stuff, save for it, but the more of that stuff you want, the more it limits your contributions towards investing. If it helps, you can amortise the costs and simply consider it a monthly bill. You should still have money left over which can be redirected towards longer term investing goals.

Rich1976

MaxiRobriguez said:

Rich1976 said:

JustAnotherSaver said:

Alexland said:

During your working life you only need a fixed amount of emergency cash in top rate savings account(s)

I've often wondered about what is an ideal figure to have but obviously the answer is nobody knows.

You mention the emergency savings. 3 months is ok, 6 months better, 12 months better still. Where do you stop? Personally i'm at about 4 months now working towards 6. That's purely emergency savings.

Everyone's view of 'emergency' is different. For me it's being put out of work be it being sacked, made redundant or if i'm on long term sick (proper long term, not just a few week). For others it could be their washing machine has packed in.

Then we get on to the rest of it. Aside from the emergency fund (many have x-months of bills whereas i'm working to x-months of wages as it's the higher of the 2), how much cash is required after that?

You mention a 'fixed amount' but what is it? All things being well you may only need a couple grand or something, who knows - but that's all things being well.

Take this year for us for example. My old car was coming to be replaced so i did that at £1,750. Now reading on this forum that is peanuts compared to what many of you seem to spend on your cars. This car has turned out to be a bit of a lemon so it's costing there. I may or may not end up keeping it.

Shortly after that, in whatever order it came in, my wifes car needed new brakes (discs & pads all round) which cost a bit, it needed a complete new exhaust system from the cat back at another couple hundred, then the suspension went on it which thankfully wasn't too bad at just under £100.

This is without any fridge/freezer/washing machine/dryer going on us or a roof needing doing etc etc.

When you have enough, you wont need it. When you don't, you'll find yourself fishing around for it. Seems to be my experience.

This is my predicament entirely. People keep talking about only having enough cash for emergency Savings but:
The car will need replacing in a few years
We try and have an annual holiday
We would like a new kitchen floor in a couple of years
We would like a new front door and back door

And so the list goes on, so really on top of the emergency Fund, just to do home Improvements and a replacement Car without putting any of it on credit is a several thousands of pounds on top. 

None of those things are emergencies. They are not bills you must pay regardless of whether you're working or not. You could, if needs must, not get a new kitchen floor.

If you want that stuff, save for it, but the more of that stuff you want, the more it limits your contributions towards investing.

I never said they were emergencies. I am saying these things we are trying to save up for.
Yes the kitchen floor or new doors are not emergencies,  they are nice to have and not essential by any means but when you have a house you do replacement things after many years that start to look their age.

shaundiamonds

Rich1976 said:

MaxiRobriguez said:

Rich1976 said:

JustAnotherSaver said:

Alexland said:

During your working life you only need a fixed amount of emergency cash in top rate savings account(s)

I've often wondered about what is an ideal figure to have but obviously the answer is nobody knows.

You mention the emergency savings. 3 months is ok, 6 months better, 12 months better still. Where do you stop? Personally i'm at about 4 months now working towards 6. That's purely emergency savings.

Everyone's view of 'emergency' is different. For me it's being put out of work be it being sacked, made redundant or if i'm on long term sick (proper long term, not just a few week). For others it could be their washing machine has packed in.

Then we get on to the rest of it. Aside from the emergency fund (many have x-months of bills whereas i'm working to x-months of wages as it's the higher of the 2), how much cash is required after that?

You mention a 'fixed amount' but what is it? All things being well you may only need a couple grand or something, who knows - but that's all things being well.

Take this year for us for example. My old car was coming to be replaced so i did that at £1,750. Now reading on this forum that is peanuts compared to what many of you seem to spend on your cars. This car has turned out to be a bit of a lemon so it's costing there. I may or may not end up keeping it.

Shortly after that, in whatever order it came in, my wifes car needed new brakes (discs & pads all round) which cost a bit, it needed a complete new exhaust system from the cat back at another couple hundred, then the suspension went on it which thankfully wasn't too bad at just under £100.

This is without any fridge/freezer/washing machine/dryer going on us or a roof needing doing etc etc.

When you have enough, you wont need it. When you don't, you'll find yourself fishing around for it. Seems to be my experience.

This is my predicament entirely. People keep talking about only having enough cash for emergency Savings but:
The car will need replacing in a few years
We try and have an annual holiday
We would like a new kitchen floor in a couple of years
We would like a new front door and back door

And so the list goes on, so really on top of the emergency Fund, just to do home Improvements and a replacement Car without putting any of it on credit is a several thousands of pounds on top. 

None of those things are emergencies. They are not bills you must pay regardless of whether you're working or not. You could, if needs must, not get a new kitchen floor.

If you want that stuff, save for it, but the more of that stuff you want, the more it limits your contributions towards investing.

I never said they were emergencies. I am saying these things we are trying to save up for.
Yes the kitchen floor or new doors are not emergencies,  they are nice to have and not essential by any means but when you have a house you do replacement things after many years that start to look their age.

I think day to day "things I want for the house" are a bit out of the scope of emergency savings. 

MovingForwards

On average I save £400 a month as cash into different savings pots, £100 into my SIPP, a bit into my S&S ISA and I overpay my mortgage each month. I'm now also building up a small DB pension.
I'm building up cash savings after buying my home this year and not having much of a pension pot. I've worked out my financial plan for next year.
My aim is to get a comfortable amount of savings behind me over the next 5 years, clear my mortgage in 10 years from when it was started and increase my pension payment each year, making larger payments after the mortgage is cleared.

someone

My job security is somewhat risky (startup) but I have quite low monthly expenses and not a home owner. I have removed 12% cash which is for a short term liability (stoozing) and my pension (as I have two Defined Benefits and one Defined Contributions which is hard to fairly compare). 

73% CASH broken split as

• 66% Cash (ISA/LISA)
• 11% Cash (NS&I Tax Free)
• 23% Cash Other
  

27% S&S ISA approx 50% Equity Blended

• 1/2 at 40% Equity Blend
• 1/2 at 60% Equity Blend

Including that DC pension that would be around 66% Cash, 33% S&S

The cash elements of the ISA/LISA are starting to become a bit of a pain (can't have them held by the same provider due to FSCS protection limits). I note that my equity provision is probably too low. I usually review my ISA in March/April and think some of that will move to my S&S ISA as an ISA transfer. Short term I've updated my monthly payments to 100% Equity.

someone

I notice that some home owners posting here still have sizeable savings. Curious was this the norm back in the days of "normal" interest rates? Maybe hard to really compare as back in time things like interest only mortgages/endowments where common.