When did you start seriously saving.

[HobbyDave]

When did you start saving?
How old are you?
How much do you have?

I think we (DW and I) started saving around age 22 (right at college graduation), probably putting a low percentage into our 401k's. We weren't really serious though, and the 401k's got turned off from time to time, depending on financial issues we were encountering. I'd say we got serious around age 25/26ish and set the 401ks back to maximum.

We are both 29 right now, and we have somewhere in the neighborhood of $220k combined between 401k/IRA/taxable accounts, and we have around $70k in home equity as well.

We currently max both our 401ks, and save something around $1k monthly in taxable accounts.

 

[Nords]

I was a great saver in high school because I enjoyed earning & depositing the money, although I had no clue what to do with it after I deposited it. I never had the free time (or mobility) to spend it.

During college I was much more successful at spending my high-school savings. I think it was a 4:1 ratio-- four years to earn it, one to blow it.

After college (May 1982) I had a plan-- I owed the Navy five years but they didn't particularly care how I spent it beyond the traditional first-tour requirements. I backed up the timeline from May 1987 for a submarine tour, the schools & training, and some leave to determine that I should take seven months of temporary duty before starting the nuclear pipeline. It made a lot of sense to spend that time near my spouse-to-be while she finished her college.

Unfortunately the entire Washington/Baltimore/Annapolis area was pretty expensive even back then and I was maxed out on an ensign's budget. I even chose the one-bedroom apartment without the balcony to save $10 and drop my monthly rent to $355 in a part of Alexandria had definitely not yet been subjected to the benefits of gentrification. I spent a lot of time working on my temporary-duty project, working out, reading, and anything else that was free. I only ate out or spent large chunks of money when I was with my spouse.

I was totally oblivious to the personal-computer revolution and the bottoming out of the stock market. But I was able to save $50 from every biweekly paycheck. I still didn't have any idea what to do with it, although in 1982 it wasn't hard to find a checking account paying 10% interest...

The whole concept of LBYM, saving, investing, & asset allocation didn't really get organized until four years later when we were married and on shore duty with the time to do the research & make the decisions. I doubt that would have happened if we hadn't married.

 

[jIMOh]

I was in college for 7 years. Durring that time I did save, but only $20-$50 per month. When I turned 27 I started putting away $10,000/yr. Today I am 34, and put away $23,000/yr, and have $184,000 saved.

I wish I had started puting serious $$$ away at 22. After reading "Millionair Next Door" I realized that I am not as far as others my age simply because I got serious about saving 5 years too late. Thanks to college.

When did you start saving?
How old are you?
How much do you have?

Did any of you start seriously saving $$$ at 20 or 22?

34 yo (started at 24), and have about $135k in tax favored accounts (401k and Roth). I also have home equity.

 

[OKLibrarian]

Always been a saver, though most of my money in high school went to long-term goals like trips/computer for college. through college I saved enough to pay about 30% cash for my first car. saved a LOT through my early 20s during my telecom stint, but it pretty much all went back out the door on frivolities like food and shelter when I got laid off, aside from about 20K in misc. retirement accounts. the next three years when I was working the welfare office we couldn't do much more than live paycheck to paycheck and keep the emergency fund (barely) topped up. We've only had excess income for about a year and a half, and we've been squirreling away every penny. I feel a lot like a late bloomer on this front compared to many of you because of those early setbacks (we're 30/31 and only have about $50K net worth), but we're going to keep living like college students (aside from owning a house) for as long as we can put up with it to try to catch up. fortunately we're not big spenders, as long as we stay out of Borders and the comic shop respectively.

 

[runchman]

I can remember as a little kid, maybe 9 or so, I had these little cardboard booklet-like things that you shoved your dimes or quarters into a slot, and next to the coin it showed what your total was.

I also remember being very upset when I learned that my mom had sent money to the bank that I had saved up and given her to deposit. Thought that she had sent it away and I'd never see it again!

So I guess I had a pretty early introduction to savings. I remember my little passbook thing that we'd send in with our deposit, and it would come back stamped with my new balance.

Guess it's time for me to get my 11-year old daughter started....

- John

 

[aaronc879]

I started contributing 10% to my 401K as soon as I was eligible at age 20. At age 23 I added a fully funded roth IRA. Then at age 24 I started to max both 401K and Roth. I only make 45K/year so there's very little left after that for taxable accounts. Maybe some day?

 

[SLC Tortfeasor]

I also sometimes spend so much time obsessing about saving and investing and asset allocation that I tend to lose focus on my job and my career. I need to be better about that.

I know that you and I are not the only ones with this problem. Maybe there should be a thread or maybe a whole section of threads dedicated to the theme of how to focus on working hard right here, right now, rather than daydreaming about 15 years from now.

Today, in particular, I could use a support group!

 

[justin]

Today, in particular, I could use a support group!

Like an internet-based support group for internet addicts?

 

[SLC Tortfeasor]

That would

Like an internet-based support group for internet addicts?

Yes, that would be ideal! I would definitely participate in all the online meetings!

 

[trixs]

Well lets see..

Started out when I was 16 years old with $1000 that I earned washing dishes. Promptly lost all of it on some company that died during the bust. Joined the military and had no idea what to do with the meager paycheck they present me with. Started playing with random trading and eventually just ended up buying value stocks that are depressed..

Currently 25 with about 120k invested on an E5 salary lol.. Talk about not having anyone to contemplate investing with!

-trixs

 

[clifp]

Probably about 15 or 16. I took some of money I earned plus my grandparent;s generous gifts and bought 3 Chrysler bonds for about $2,500 that were going to mature when I was a junior in college. I remember the yield to maturity (I don't think I knew the fancy term back then ) was more than 10%.
Unfortunately, Chryslers business went from bad to worse shortly after I bought the bonds. The broker said he thought Chrysler would pay back the bonds, and Lee Iacocca was becoming very popular, so I held on.

My serious savings didn't start until right after college, but by 24 I had Schwab account, an IRA, 401K, and house with 13% mortgage.

 

[dmpi]

I was 24 when I got my first real job. I lived at my Parents house for a few more years. With no rent it was a lot eaiser to save.

 

[Calgary_Girl]

I guess I've always been a saver....even as a little kid I enjoyed rolling coins and going to the bank to deposit my change

I opened an RRSP (similar to a Roth) when I was 19 and have always tried to contribute the max. to my RRSP and my company's pension plan. Luckily, DH has always been a saver too since he was raised by a single mother and they didn't have much money.

Today, our net worth is slightly over $1.25 million. We have zero debt and own our home free and clear...I'm 34 and DH is 37.

 

[RetireEarly50s]

Had a little bit in my early 20's but really started at age 25 bought a new house and met with an advisor and started saving about 10-15% of my income. Too busy having fun up until 25 and then decided it was time to get on track. Now age 33 with about 170K (home equity included).

 

[YVR-Terri]

At my parent's strong recommedation, started maxing out retirement accounts as soon as I was eligible (15 y.o.) and when I moved out and had other expenses, I still kept putting in about 10% every year. When my income spiked a couple of years ago (up 60% in one year) I maxed out again and started investing in non-retirement accounts as well. I'm 28 now and just hit the 100K mark across both accounts in March.

It's funny that so many are opposed to management positions, I actually am in project management and like it a lot better than anything else someone will pay me to do. Part of the appeal is that if it's my problem, I have the ability to fix it, rather than relying on some (other) incompetent manager to address the problem. Plus if/when I get bored I can move as soon as the project is over without the stigma of "job-hopping". Longest I've ever stayed in one job is 3 years, and one of the reasons I left is that it was shifting from a project based role to a more operational role that I wasn't interested in doing.

 

[saluki9]

At my parent's strong recommedation, started maxing out retirement accounts as soon as I was eligible (15 y.o.)

Wow, and I thought I was a money geek in High school!

 

[kumquat]

DW and I never started saving, we just quit spending.

 

[JustCurious]

Today, our net worth is slightly over $1.25 million.

Is that Canadian?

My net worth is over $5 million (rupees).

 

[rw86347]

Well lets see..

Started out when I was 16 years old with $1000 that I earned washing dishes. Promptly lost all of it on some company that died during the bust. Joined the military and had no idea what to do with the meager paycheck they present me with. Started playing with random trading and eventually just ended up buying value stocks that are depressed..

Currently 25 with about 120k invested on an E5 salary lol.. Talk about not having anyone to contemplate investing with!

-trixs

wow ... good job!

 

[chris2008]

Started when I earned my first real money at about 18. (At that time I also started to work in a bank, so I saw a lot of other peoples finances... At that time my parents also gave me some shares and the money on a savings account that my granddad started as "school funds" when I was born and that they continued after his death. It was like 15K - quite convincing argument.)

I am 48, we have saved about 12x our expenses p/y + mortgage-free house+ have contributed to 2 pension schemes (German system).

 

[Calgary_Girl]

Is that Canadian?

My net worth is over $5 million (rupees).

Yes, that's Canadian...what else would it be? Are you going to retire with your rupees?

 

[bright eyed]

yesterday? or feels like it!

parents are up to their eyeballs in debt, we never got an allowance and got money whenever we asked! setting me up for very spendy habits!

only good thing i ever did was start my 403b early when i started working and increased every time i got a raise etc. so now i'm at about 20% gross...now working on saving the after tax and spending less!

 

[JustCurious]

Yes, that's Canadian...what else would it be?

U.S. Dollars.

 

[SteveR]

I always had some money in my savings jar as a kid...my brother was always getting into it so I had Santa bring me a small combination safe for Christmas and I managed to keep the combination safe from him for years. Even my parents would borrow a few bucks from me between paychecks.

I have very little income in college with part time jobs and college expenses so no savings...but lived very very cheaply.

After college I got my first full time job and stayed at home for a few months to save for a car downpayment. After I married I found out that two incomes does not necessarily mean more money available to save...in fact it meant less money and more bills. Long story short...after 17 years the marriage ended with $>150K in debt and no savings.

Paid off the debt over a period of 3 years and then started saving and investing...this was in 1993. We were FI in 2002 and took ER and moved. Things happened and I kept working but will ER on May 18, 2007 and will never "have" to work again.

 

[Meadbh]

I guess I have "always" been a saver. I was born in the anniversary month of a local bank and as a promotion they gave every baby born in the city that month a savings account with a nominal deposit. That was a good start. The next milestone was when I began to work at summer jobs; I saved for university tuition. Result: no student loans on graduation.

During internship and residency there wasn't much time to do anything except work and collapse. It was almost unsurvivable, but I lived at home and there was no time to spend money, so I was able to buy a car outright at the end of internship and sock away money for a home deposit during residency despite modest earnings. I travelled a lot during my fellowship training so not much saving occurred during that period.

When I became an attending (age 32) the first thing my academic partnership did was to send me off to MD Management (www.mdm.ca) for a financial consultation. This is routine during orientation. I immediately learned the importance of saving for retirement without a pension and began contributing in earnest to both taxable and nontaxable accounts. Thanks to my savings during residency, I was able to put a big deposit on a modest home and pay off the mortgage within 18 months. I still live there. No boat, no horse, no pool, just LBYM.

Next milestone was a law enabling me to establish my medical practice as a corporation. Lots of tax deferred savings. And it forces me to save for the long term. Two years ago I had an inheritance and since then I find I am actually a more disciplined saver. That's because I can see the RE light at the end of the tunnel, and it's not an oncoming train!