What %age of your household gross income do you save per year?

[gauss]

How do you do that? My plan allows me to only do 15% a year up to15,000 and my employer contributes profit sharing up to 15,000.

Some older Mega Corps allow After Tax contributions to the 401(k)s in addition to the more common Pre Tax contributions.

My Mega Corp allows up to 50% of Salary to be deferred into the 401(k) each year. The IRS limit of total contributions (currently $50,000/year in 2012) needed to be complied with. Only $17,000, however can be Pre Tax contributions.

 

[accountingsucks]

I am in the 41%+ category. Home is paid for and although I make a better than average salary, in alot of ways I live like a miser LOL. Best of both worlds. My car is 12 years old and I have no interest in replacing it for example. Works great, why would I?

I am hoping this will enable me to retire at 45 or at the very least enter the world of contract work at that age and ride that out until 50. There has to be some upside for living like this!

 

[ChadR]

I am in the 41%+ category. Home is paid for and although I make a better than average salary, in alot of ways I live like a miser LOL. Best of both worlds. My car is 12 years old and I have no interest in replacing it for example. Works great, why would I?

I am hoping this will enable me to retire at 45 or at the very least enter the world of contract work at that age and ride that out until 50. There has to be some upside for living like this!

ha ha @ your user name

 

[veremchuka]

I'm saving 38% but I'm retired. I double checked it because it seems so high but it is correct. When I was working I saved about 45% but then I had a mortgage to pay so that cut into what I could save. When I start SS it'll probably be back into the 45% range.

 

[bo_knows]

I'm saving 38% but I'm retired. I double checked it because it seems so high but it is correct. When I was working I saved about 45% but then I had a mortgage to pay so that cut into what I could save. When I start SS it'll probably be back into the 45% range.

How exactly does one "save" during retirement? Is your passive income high enough to pay for expenses and high enough to put 38% away? Nice.

 

[scrabbler1]

How exactly does one "save" during retirement? Is your passive income high enough to pay for expenses and high enough to put 38% away? Nice.

I answered similarly to veremchuka (#26) and for me the answer to your question is "yes."

 

[lightspeed]

It would be interesting to see what % people save based on income... Someone who makes $1m/year can easily save 50% of gross, but someone making $70K may have trouble doing that.

 

[W2R]

It would be interesting to see what % people save based on income... Someone who makes $1m/year can easily save 50% of gross, but someone making $70K may have trouble doing that.

I was thinking the other way - - that the guy making $1M/year is probably in a much higher tax bracket than I was with just a five figure salary, so for him a bigger percentage is skimmed right off the top before he ever see it. But either way, I'm sure that individual financial situations and obligations probably vary tremendously. Imagine the difference between my situation as a single, and that of someone living on the same salary with a disabled wife and six kids to support, and/or alimony, or caregiver responsibilities for aged relatives.

 

[ejman]

Where are the negative % options? Since I retired 10 years ago the money is coming out - not going in!

 

[Alan]

Where are the negative % options? Since I retired 10 years ago the money is coming out - not going in!

I'm impressed by the retirees on this thread who are still saving. I'm certainly in the "negative %" club.

Here is a thread from a few months ago where some retirees shared their actual withdrawal rates since retiring.

http://www.early-retirement.org/forums/f28/my-s-wr-59518.html

 

[A Bird In Hand]

About 37% if I include extra principal payments on mortgage (I do). 26% otherwise. Always looking for reasonable ways to reduce living expenses so I can increase my savings.

 

[veremchuka]

How exactly does one "save" during retirement? Is your passive income high enough to pay for expenses and high enough to put 38% away? Nice.

It's easy, LBYM just like when working. For example, my pension is a little more than $25,000. I have no mortgage as I paid it off 2 years ago 7 years into a 30 year. I bank and not spend approx $790 a month from my pension. That's 38% of my gross income and when I start SS that's why I said it'll jump to maybe 45%, I have to see what I actually get to know that answer.

 

[jimnjana]

I said between 1 and 5%. I was thinking "invest" when I answered the question and I would have answered zero if it was an option. The money we save is generally money that we are going to spend in the next 1 to 5 years. We save about 15%. This would be higher but we have decided to travel more now while we are young.

 

[web_diva]

wow, some of you folks are super-savers! I was just amazed at the number of respondants in the "41%+" category...

 

[Danmar]

It's easy, LBYM just like when working. For example, my pension is a little more than $25,000. I have no mortgage as I paid it off 2 years ago 7 years into a 30 year. I bank and not spend approx $790 a month from my pension. That's 38% of my gross income and when I start SS that's why I said it'll jump to maybe 45%, I have to see what I actually get to know that answer.

i don't understand your objective of saving while retired? Do you want to leave a legacy? Perhaps spend more later? Think you just might need the funds in an emergency? Can't change your LBYM mindset? In our case we spend all pensions and dividends. I guess if the portfolio goes up we could call it saving? i don't.
While working we saved everything over our rather high spending levels and in the latter years this ended up being maybe 80% due to options and other incentive comp appreciation.

 

[FUEGO]

65% of gross (and my gross income in the denominator of the equation includes the employer match on DW's 401k).

That rate doesn't include the extra mortgage principal payments.

We max 2 401ks and 1 457, $5000 into a 529 plan, max $10000 into IRAs, $4000 forced savings into my pension plan that I will cash out, $9000 employer match into DW's 401k, and after tax savings once we max all other tax deferred savings. HSA some years but not this year.

Edited to add: some of the posts at the ERE forum are including wacky stuff like home equity and principal payments on debt reduction and who knows what else. Some look at total savings plus home equity (principal payments?) divided by net income after taxes. I can make crazy assumptions and get to an 89% savings rate if I am a little disingenuous.

 

[scrabbler1]

As an addendum to what I posted a few pages earlier, in the 4 years in the mid-1990s after I did a refi on my mortgage but not the years I bought a car or paid down chunks of my mortgage, and in those 4 years (1993-1996) I was still working full-time, my percent saved was between 33% and 41%. This excludes employer match in my 401(k) as well as earnings from anything in there and the allocated shares of company stock which would eventually explode in value and be used to finance my ER.

 

[Surewhitey]

We saved the greater of 2 incomes for the past 8-9 years after paying off the house.
Maxing the 401k's ($34k-ish), DW had a deferred comp plan for 2 years and socked $75k/yr in that. Put the rest in taxable accounts...probably averaging $3-4k / month there.
Been ER'd for almost a year and its interesting to note our NW has increased appx. $4k monthly and I'm good with that...

 

[ejman]

The stupendous savings rates I've seen posted has led me to conclude that someone must have achieved a 100% of salary savings rate. i.e. managed to consistently save their entire paycheck over their entire (or most of) working careers by (presumably) living of other's income (government, relatives, hand outs etc). So let's hear this side of things. Has anyone achieved 100% conversion?

 

[ikubak]

We usually save in excess of 50%. Last month we stashed about 65%. Non ER focused people would find that savings rate to be crazy, but I actually think it should be higher. I just don't get a lot of joy out of spending money.

 

[sunrise]

I save approx. 22% of gross; 30% of net. Max my IRA (7.5%) and the rest (22.5%) goes into personal investments / savings (no 401k at my job). Any bonus is directed to savings as well.

 

[Ronnieboy]

It's easy, LBYM just like when working. For example, my pension is a little more than $25,000. I have no mortgage as I paid it off 2 years ago 7 years into a 30 year. I bank and not spend approx $790 a month from my pension. That's 38% of my gross income and when I start SS that's why I said it'll jump to maybe 45%, I have to see what I actually get to know that answer.

i don't understand your objective of saving while retired? Do you want to leave a legacy? Perhaps spend more later? Think you just might need the funds in an emergency? Can't change your LBYM mindset? In our case we spend all pensions and dividends. I guess if the portfolio goes up we could call it saving? i don't.

I was curious too, especially if it is 'can't get out of the LBYM mindset'. How do you get out of that mindset/would you want to?

Or if you are 40 y.o. and foresee needing money for 60+ years and pension is not COLA'd.

 

[veremchuka]

Quote:
Originally Posted by veremchuka
It's easy, LBYM just like when working. For example, my pension is a little more than $25,000. I have no mortgage as I paid it off 2 years ago 7 years into a 30 year. I bank and not spend approx $790 a month from my pension. That's 38% of my gross income and when I start SS that's why I said it'll jump to maybe 45%, I have to see what I actually get to know that answer.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Danmar
i don't understand your objective of saving while retired? Do you want to leave a legacy? Perhaps spend more later? Think you just might need the funds in an emergency? Can't change your LBYM mindset? In our case we spend all pensions and dividends. I guess if the portfolio goes up we could call it saving? i don't.


I was curious too, especially if it is 'can't get out of the LBYM mindset'. How do you get out of that mindset/would you want to?

Or if you are 40 y.o. and foresee needing money for 60+ years and pension is not COLA'd.

My objective is not to save while retired, my LBYM lifestyle results in not needing to spend what I take in each month and so I redirect it to savings. Since I paid off my mortgage 2 years ago I have virtually no cash (unexpected need to replace my car last fall took out a lot of savings, paid cash of course) so I do want to build up a reserve.

If I need money for expenses I can tap tax deferred or a Roth but I prefer to not touch them. My reason is to leave as much as possible for my sister because she will need it, I don't. She could live on very little too but she will not have a pension, does not have a 401k, has 2 low paying jobs but because she also was taught the LBYM lifestyle she manages though not as comfortably as I do and she'll never be able to retire.

I've been a frugal person all my life and a LBYM person so this is not easy to change nor do I wish to change. I like saving money. If I need to buy something I will but I don't buy gadgets just because they are new and shiny. Our parents grew up in the depression and they were poor so we learned to use it up, wear it out, make it do. I grow a lot of the food I eat though there are times I'd like to take a break from the work. I could afford to but I like gardening and I grow some things I couldn't buy. I heat my house with a woodstove and save a ton of money on oil (the average person spends more on oil or gas in one month than I spend for the entire winter season) not that I can't afford oil I just like heating with wood and I'm a lot warmer. Along with the LBYM is a self sufficiency mentality that drives me.

I don't see myself spending much of my nest egg though at times it is nice to fantasize about squandering money on something like an expensive car, maybe one day. I never owned a nice car, always bought used cars, only purchased 2 new cars (and that was in the early 70's) so that's an option. I don't care to travel but maybe one day, who knows, I view the world as a dangerous place so I do my traveling to far away places via TV. I'm a homebody and seldom go anywhere. I like the isolation, I'm divorced no children. I live out in the country so there's nothing to do here anyway but there are cities not far away, they don't interest me.

Very few people would enjoy my lifestyle but I do. People wear me out, I prefer to be alone and that doesn't cost much. This all comes naturally to me, I don't struggle to save money. No surprise this is how I was able to FIRE.

 

[W2R]

My objective is not to save while retired, my LBYM lifestyle results in not needing to spend what I take in each month and so I redirect it to savings. Since I paid off my mortgage 2 years ago I have virtually no cash (unexpected need to replace my car last fall took out a lot of savings, paid cash of course) so I do want to build up a reserve.

If I need money for expenses I can tap tax deferred or a Roth but I prefer to not touch them. My reason is to leave as much as possible for my sister because she will need it, I don't. She could live on very little too but she will not have a pension, does not have a 401k, has 2 low paying jobs but because she also was taught the LBYM lifestyle she manages though not as comfortably as I do and she'll never be able to retire.

I've been a frugal person all my life and a LBYM person so this is not easy to change nor do I wish to change. I like saving money. If I need to buy something I will but I don't buy gadgets just because they are new and shiny. Our parents grew up in the depression and they were poor so we learned to use it up, wear it out, make it do. I grow a lot of the food I eat though there are times I'd like to take a break from the work. I could afford to but I like gardening and I grow some things I couldn't buy. I heat my house with a woodstove and save a ton of money on oil (the average person spends more on oil or gas in one month than I spend for the entire winter season) not that I can't afford oil I just like heating with wood and I'm a lot warmer. Along with the LBYM is a self sufficiency mentality that drives me.

I don't see myself spending much of my nest egg though at times it is nice to fantasize about squandering money on something like an expensive car, maybe one day. I never owned a nice car, always bought used cars, only purchased 2 new cars (and that was in the early 70's) so that's an option. I don't care to travel but maybe one day, who knows, I view the world as a dangerous place so I do my traveling to far away places via TV. I'm a homebody and seldom go anywhere. I like the isolation, I'm divorced no children. I live out in the country so there's nothing to do here anyway but there are cities not far away, they don't interest me.

Very few people would enjoy my lifestyle but I do. People wear me out, I prefer to be alone and that doesn't cost much. This all comes naturally to me, I don't struggle to save money. No surprise this is how I was able to FIRE.

+1 Well said!

I probably spend a little more than you do. I live in the city, I buy useless shiny doo-dads sometimes (like my iPad), and I *did* buy a brand new Toyota Venza in 2010, after all. Still, like you I save money in ER simply because I am blissfully happy with my present spending level. I am buying everything that I want (much less need). I just don't want that much right now. The most valuable thing to me is time and I have oceans of time now that I am retired.

So why save money in retirement? I dunno. Just used to doing it, I guess. Besides, it might make up for my conservative asset allocation, or might even help to lessen the impact upon my portfolio that could be caused by the next market crash or (knock on wood!) Katrina II, should that ever happen. When I croak, some will be left but that doesn't distress me. At that point I'll be dead as a doornail so I won't care.

If I see something that I want, I promise I'll buy it.

 

[Ally]

We both still work and save 25%.