average savings

[bow-tie]

I think we're hitting around 40% of Gross, give or take a little.

Geez, some of you guys are great savers. 
I'm hitting 16% pretax with 5% match.  1 income, new baby at home. 

I think it depends on where you are in your career and income ranges.  If your pay raises are growing faster than your spending increases, that can go a long way in boosting that percentage of net/gross income saved.

 

[eridanus]

I save 20% of income. When I was working full-time, I saved about 45%.

 

[HFWR]

25% of gross + 6% match, give or take...

 

[boutros]

Due to changing jobs I was not eligible for 401k for first year but this allowed me to save to build house. So this year it will be around 18%. Historically around 35% of gross about 10 of the 35 coming from employer match/profit sharing, which should resume next year.

 

[Silhan]

Now we're on the house hunt and talking seriously about kids.  To get a single family home of a livable size around here we're going to have to take on a 400-500K mortgage 

For the past couple of years, we (me, wife, & son) have been renting and saving about 40% of gross income.  However, in a few weeks we'll be the proud owners of a $400k+ mortgage and our savings will be reduced to about 20% of gross income.  Although apartment living facilitates a higher savings rate, it does take its toll in other ways.

 

[CCdaCE]

I save approx. 8% of my after tax.  Plus, I stash 4% of my gross and wife does 2% of hers.  We both get a match up to that point.  So, 4+4 and 2+2  for a total of 12% gross and adjusting my after tax savings back to gross...

8 after tax is ...8/.8 ...approx. 10% gross...

A grand total of 12+10%=22% gross.  If you can handle my "fuzzy math".

I can't afford to be poor, I'm just "Puh". 

-CC

 

[elroy]

32% of gross income saved.

 

[macdaddy]

Nice

I wonder when the TSP will give us the Roth Option?

Yeah Psyop I thought you might be jealous. I don't know how long they will let the roth options on the big accounts remain. Compared to the 4k/year roth iras, it's sheltering so much money that it feels like fraud somehow. Plus they will all start to adjust with inflation next year.

 

[Meadbh]

I save about 30% of gross income, 50% after taxes. Looks like members of this forum are very disciplined savers.

Watching CNN after Katrina I saw Aaron Brown interview John Edwards. They were discussing the financial resources available to the people affected by the hurricane. Edwards noted that the mean NW of US families overall was ~$60K, that the mean NW of a Hispanic family was $8K and the mean NW of an African American family was $6K. Since Oprah obviously skews the mean, there must be many, many families with a negative NW.

I found these statistics absolutely frightening. How can so many people who live paycheck to paycheck ever hope to be financially independent, or to do something special for their kids? If they are in this position in a country with high employment, they must be slaves to debt.

Made me feel very fortunate........

 

[azanon]

I'm saving in the neighborhood of 18-20% of gross household income specifically for retirement (not counting matching), with all money going in tax-advantaged plans (TSP or Roth).

 

[maddythebeagle]

40% (max into 401k type plan, roth, and the rest are taxable investing...dividend paying stocks) plus will have something from a defined benefit pension when retire and mortgage paid off around 40...). Getting some nice increases in household income this summer and fall...so might increase the amount....

 

[mosaic]

those who dont save at least 10 percent of gross income are in for a real shocking future. A future filled with anxiety and desperation. I dont know if I could sleep at night not having a solid nest egg.
Freedom is all I crave and my savings allow me to follow my chosen path and persue my dreams on my owqn terms. It sure feels wonderful to awake and know that I could drop out of society, vacation for several yrs and still be sitting on solid ground. I often try to scare my friends into saving as much income as they can. Mind you to each there own..... cheers from west coast of Canada..

 

[Donzo]

I saved approx. 35% of my income before taxes in 401K and after total - invested pretty aggressively in stocks/re. It took 23 years to RE. Now I need to start spending my money.......a weird experience but worth the freedom!

 

[Robert the Red]

We (DINKs in the DC area) save about 45% of our pre-tax income (counting matches into the TSP).

But to my mind, a more interesting figure is how much different people live on. Our yearly expenses, not counting mortgage interest and principal, are about 35K. Mortgage payments about 26K. If we made 100K, we could hardly save as much. If we earned more, we'd probably save most of what didn't go to taxes -- so I feel comparing savings rates is a little pointless.

 

[Barnstormer]

Sad to say only 29%. I thought it was much more!!! Oh well, momma always needs a new pair of shoes. I got to learn how to re-sell them all on ebay.

 

[bongo2]

We are SITCOMs (Single Income, Two Children, Oppressive Mortgage).

Then I guess we are SIFCOMs (just doesn't have quite the ring).

We saved about 45% of gross last year. Trying to claw our way back up to the 50% we were able to save as DINKs, but our 44% marginal tax rate means I don't think it can happen.

It goes without saying (but I will say it anyway) that we have a highly non-representative sample here. Not only of the US, but likely even of the readers of the forum.

 

[accountingsucks]

I am saving $45,000 per year on a salary of $68,500 (plus 4% match) so 66%

Edit....

I should clarify how I get to this number - I take home $4000 after taxes per month

--I put 700 a month into RRSP thru work (8% me, 4% work) right off my cheque
--Receive 350 a month from live in girlfriend
--2,500 a month in savings on top of the 700 quoted before (my expenses are in the $1300 monthly range as no mortgage balance left on home)
--3,000 or so in tax refunds based on above that goes right into savings again

I actually have about $40,000 in unused RRSP room so if I max that out I'd be looking at about a $15,000 tax refund as well which would mean I'd save just under 90% of my gross salary from work in the year I caught up.

 

[Mwsinron]

Doing well about 35k a year. We have enough I think. If in 7 more years the market gains or loses 0 percent we will be fine. My luck it will be some crap ass 7 year bear market and will drag us on Anything made will be gravy and hopefully a 5 yr ER woo woo

 

[polloloco]

Saving approximately 25% of the gross salary and all of bonuses.

 

[jmcconnor]

Now saving about 90% of net income monthly:

$1000 - Roth and mutual funds

$500 - CD/savings

Of course it can be easy when you're in the military, heheh.

 

[Mudd]

We are saving nearly 30% of gross.  Duel income, 2 kids

8000 Roths
5000(includes match) 401
5200- 457
That's retirement.

13200 Cash-ING- Once we get Cash up to 35k, I'll increase 401/457/College funds.

4000 a year ESA's for kids
1000 a year 529's

Also adding $100 a month to mortgage.
With direct deposit, this has been less painful then I ever imagined it could.

Mudd

 

[OAG]

2004 Gross 66%; after taxes 75%, 2005 Gross 75%; after taxes 82%, 2006 Gross 48%; after taxes 61% (relocation costs, sold home, bought home etc., late 2005); projected 2007 Gross 67%; after taxes 79%.

 

[NinjaPigeon]

About 51% of gross for me this year.

 

[WRBT]

Using CCdaCE-math (tm) we're at about 62% of gross.

This is a pretty recent development as we've been mainly banging away at the student loans and mortgage for the last ten years. Now we're debt free and even though reducing debt has similar effect on net worth I must say it's far more satisfying to have all resources directed at the asset accumulation column instead of both.

 

[SonnyJim]

A tick over 50% of gross.