Average Saving Per Year???

[Enuff2Eat]

Everyone said an average American do NOT save enough. I beg the difference in this forum. There ain't nothing average about the members in this forum.

So with that said, what is your Average Saving per Year??

1) Cash
2) Retirement (401k, IRA..)
3) Investment (meaning incomes goes into taxable account)
4) Kids education (429 plans...)

% Total saving vs. % Income Earned

[kumquat]

As a retiree, % Total saving vs. % Income Earned is either 0 or negative. Oh, well, C'est la vie.

[Bestwifeever]

Yeah, we're pretty much done with saving too -- we're accidental savers now.

[Kronk]

1) Cash Huh? Cash?
2) Retirement (401k, IRA..) $50,200. S Corp individual 401k ($16,500 individual plus $18,000 company contribution). $10,000 ($5,000 apiece) Roth IRAs. $5,700 HSA account.
3) Investment (meaning incomes goes into taxable account) Probably $15,000 or so.
4) Kids education (429 plans...) No kids


So, roughly $65,000 in savings. Income earned is tougher since I'm paid as a consultant and run payroll through an S-Corp. Expected expenses this year are around $45,000 -- plus DW's classes for her Master's ($9,000). Anything over that total of $119,000 is probably for taxes of some sort.

[Bikerdude]

I'm retired so no planned savings. If my portfolio has a good year and earns more than I can spend then I guess you could call that savings, others might call it keeping up with inflation.

[tiuxiu]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kronk 401k ($16,500 individual plus $18,000 company contribution).

Holy crap!

[bbbamI]

Retired...so we're no longer saving money. I try to save on expenses...so does clipping coupons count?

[FinanceDude]

Quote:

Originally Posted by bbbamI Retired...so we're no longer saving money. I try to save on expenses...so does clipping coupons count?

I "only" have been clippingn coupons since 1986........

[bbbamI]

Quote:

Originally Posted by FinanceDude I "only" have been clippingn coupons since 1986........

Wow...you must have been just a toddler that year...

[Alan]

This is our last year accumulating.

I looked back over the last few years as I do do keep track of saving for ER as a % of income and it was running at ~50% thru' 2007 when last child graduated and it was 62% in 2008 and running at 65% ytd 2009.

[ziggy29]

Quote:

Originally Posted by tiuxiu Holy crap!

Keep in mind this was a "solo" 401K, where it's often easier to get a large "company match" (which just comes off the top of your pay as a 1099-based contractor). You can put in the usual $16,500 like an employee, but take even more out as an "employer match" if you're self-employed.

Not many people working for other employers are going to be getting an $18,000 company match.

[Culture]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ziggy29 Keep in mind this was a "solo" 401K, where it's often easier to get a large "company match" (which just comes off the top of your pay as a 1099-based contractor). You can put in the usual $16,500 like an employee, but take even more out as an "employer match" if you're self-employed.

This is how my wife and I manage to tax defer $70K last year. I limited out the solo 401k ($46k) and she put in $24k. You can really go crazy if you set up your own personal defined benefit plan. You tax deferred savings can essentially become unlimited. However, this involves lots of overhead with specialty consultants ($$$) and I have elected to not pursue this option.

[Kronk]

Quote:

Originally Posted by tiuxiu Originally Posted by Kronk 401k ($16,500 individual plus $18,000 company contribution). Holy crap!

Yeah, that's the nice part about an individual 401k. You get to put in your normal 401k amount, then add 25% of your W-2 salary as a company match. I pay myself 6,000/month, or 72,000/yr so 18k is 25% of that. I think the federal limit is $49,000 combined and there are probably others on the board who come closer to that than I do.

[nun]

Annual income 139k

Retirement saving (403b, 457, other) 45k
After tax saving 6k

%age saving = 51/139 =37%

If I include my mortgage principal payment of 31k the %age goes up to 59%

[ikubak]

Gross annual income this year is going to be about 120K. We'll save between 50K and 60K.

[rkser]

Well, approx numbers

IRA - 6 + 5 = 11

401k - 20.5 K + 15.5 + 4% match say 1200k = 37

Taxable - Say 40 to 60 = 50

(529 are saved & done)
__________________________________________________ ___________
97 K

[yakers]

DW & I are retired, our only real saving is she works a few hours now & then with local school and I put that amount into both her and my Roth so its kind of like a transfer from our pension/IRA to Roth, but not significant $. Younger son is starting third year of college so we are running down the education saving account.
Some times the portfolio goes up, sometimes it goes down.

[calmloki]

I play such silly games with money that it's hard to tell. To be expected of someone who tried to learn math by assigning faces and characters to the numbers and viewing each problem as an action in a story. Not good in grade school. or out.

I make money disappear from my sight: convert twenties to hundreds and they are out of play in the wallet. Bundle hundreds and squirrel them away and they don't count - except for special projects or dire need, like working on the '56 Chevy or a down payment.

I try to call savings only "new" money - interest doesn't count on money already saved or already loaned out. Appreciation on stock (Ha!) doesn't count. Only new rent money that is raked out of the rental account and invested or stuck in a savings account counts. Rent received as cash that goes direct to the cash pile doesn't count, except in Quicken and on the taxes. Screwed up system, but in keeping with my early childhood.

Given all that, it looks like we save about 40% of our taxable income according to my system, more according to any normal system.

[W2R]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Enuff2Eat Everyone said an average American do NOT save enough. I beg the difference in this forum. There ain't nothing average about the members in this forum. So with that said, what is your Average Saving per Year?? 1) Cash 2) Retirement (401k, IRA..) 3) Investment (meaning incomes goes into taxable account) 4) Kids education (429 plans...) % Total saving vs. % Income Earned

1) Cash - - see 3) below; nothing stuffed in the mattress
2) $22,000 to the TSP, $6,000 to my Roth IRA
3) $18,000 my taxable accounts include cash
4) No kids at home

If the average American does not save enough, that begs the question of exactly what is enough? I think that what I choose to save is enough, but would someone else? Do I even care?

[hthighway]

$41k PRE-TAX:
Pension (CalSTRS): 8%
403b: 12%
401k: 17%

$10k Roth IRA's (2)
$6k 529 Plan
$20k Investments
$10k Cash Accounts

Total Savings in 44% of income


By the way, this is my 1st post
Been reading the forum for a while now