Average amount of savings for a 30 year old...

misskl · 3 April 2014 at 1:37PM

Ok, so I know this question depends very much on circumstance, but I'm trying to get a general picture of what is considered 'average' in terms of how much a 30 year old (no mortgage) has.

I'm almost 30, and slowly getting out of debt, but have a VERY minimal amount of savings. I've always been boom/bust when it comes to money, and I love spending money- a habit that will have to change!!

I wish I could do a straw poll amongst my friends to see how much they all have saved up, but I don't feel I can (we keep our finances so under wraps in this country!)

Basically, I'm clueless. But I'm thinking as a good start, to have:
Emergency fund: 3-6k (six months expenditure)
House deposit: 10k
Fun fund (holidays, etc): 2k

I'm basing this on the average UK salary, which I think is 25k.

Any advice??

Thanks

lazer · 3 April 2014 at 1:46PM

At 28 I had about £20k

At 31 I have about £4k - but in between I bought a house and got married, so the savings disappeared an am in the process of saving again.

Not really svaing towards anything, simply saving 10% of my income every month and then anything above this I manage to save is extra, and can be spent doing up the house, holidays etc

Spuggy200 · 17 April 2014 at 9:01AM

I'm 30 also (well, for 3 more months I am) and have £500 debt (bad debt from living out of the country and didn't realise). I have just got married and moved house - as above, all savings emptied - and am route to make 2014 my saving year too.

I am going to be a lurker on this forum but your thread title made me pipe up. I look forward to seeing your debts go and your savings go up.

Swampy3k · 18 April 2014 at 8:14AM

I am 29 (30 in Feb), on a 28k salary and my debt is listed below, so either i'm pushing ahead of wayyyyyyyy behind on others on here

will be keeping a beady eye on this post I think...

ShiftThisDebt · 19 April 2014 at 11:13PM

I'm 30 and have nothing. Well, that's not strictly true, I do have 42p left in my ISA ;-)

Our 20s have been hard in terms of cash...we had a daughter in our teens, and between me and my wife, spent 8 of the next 12 years at uni/retraining. Then in the last 3 years we have added two more children to our family so money has always been tight for us!

Now we're both just 30 and we really are looking at our 30s (and beyond) as the time when we save some serious cash!

Come August this year, we'll both be working full time once again but both on decent salaries. Our goal is to pay our debts off within a couple of years and then save, save, save!

Carl31 · 21 April 2014 at 8:26PM

People have savings for a purpose usually, they're not an indication of performance or success, hence I can't see there being an 'average'

Also, why worry what others have? People may have loads in the bank, but may equally have loads of debt? Or may have loads in the bank, but live a quiet life that could bore you to tears.

I think you should worry more about whether you are making the most of your earnings in the best way for now

rageagainstessays · 21 April 2014 at 9:44PM

davie-g wrote: »

I am 29 (30 in Feb), on a 28k salary and my debt is listed below, so either i'm pushing ahead of wayyyyyyyy behind on others on here will be keeping a beady eye on this post I think...

I thought there was another number in your mortgage figure then; I thought, how did he manage that

Swampy3k · 29 April 2014 at 11:12PM

ooft, glad not!, could you imagine those repayments lol

biscuitbob · 30 April 2014 at 10:52AM

I think more important than the amount someone has (obviously very dependent on circumstances as we've seen in previous replies) is the amount you save regularly.

I've been looking into how much is reasonable to save, and apparently the general rule is, of your net pay, 50% should be essentials (house, food), 20% lifestyle expenses (TV subscriptions, nights out) and 30% 'financial priorities' like saving, or paying off debts if you have any. Another school of thought is that you should save about 20% of your net pay.

I'm happy with this as my husband and I save about 25% of our combined net pay (about £1k per month) and have done since we paid off our debts last year. So we have about £15k of savings at age 28, however this is affected by the fact that we bought a house and got married quite young, so were in debt for ages, and also have lent money to family members.

Hope this helps in your quest to find the ideal savings amount

misskl · 1 May 2014 at 9:13AM

Thank you, that is really really helpful.

As I'm now single and want to buy a house, I think that I should be focusing more on %, like the last person mentioned, than actual totals in the bank as it is of course relevant to what you are earning.

Once my debts are paid off, I'm going to aim for:

20% savings towards house
10% lifetime/emergency savings

And live off the 70%, as well as using it for fun things.

I can't thank the people on this board enough, I have had a serious lightbulb moment this year on how much my debt was not just impacting my life but my self esteem, and how working towards becoming a financially stable person will be the best change I have made in years.

Thanks!:T

nolongerindenial · 11 May 2014 at 10:58PM

Well ive started to save earlier this year just before my 30th, my starting balance is ~ £-131,000 and my goal is to have at least £1 in savings by my 40th..

I should mention in that its my belief there is no point having any savings until you have no debts..

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