How much do you save??

Used to save a paltry amount (100 a month) because I was in the BO and wasn't making much. Hoping to increase that too 3-400 a month this year.

This does not include my 401k match

3k a month as a 1st yr analyst

Around 40% of gross give or take a few %.

Anywhere from 10k to 15k a month.

I'm aiming to save about 1/3 of my monthly net. With my first salary that means I need to careful with excesses in the 1st year but from year 2 it ends up being fine with my current lifestyle

As an analyst I was saving around 5-10% of gross. Wife and I are now saving about a third. Percent will go up as our incomes go up. We also are still paying down significant graduate school debt between the two of us. Lifestyle inflation definitely happens, but you should still have your savings rate go up, it just never goes up as much as you expect unless you are really strict.

I'm probably at like 10-15% in stocks per year, with 5% or so in cash

Around 15-20% of the wage

Curious to know how you guys set financial goals for yourself... Banana for your thoughts!

I target about 40% of take-home each month (with a minimum of 30%) and 50% of net bonus. That's on top of 10% into 401k and not counting any equity compensation.

I'm really scared and vigilant of lifestyle creep. It can happen so easily and naturally.

10% into 401k contribution. Then save 40% of monthly take home pay.

10% pre-tax into 401K 15-20% of post-tax per paycheck 90%+ of post-tax bonus

All-in, including 401k etc. I'm at about 15 - 20% of gross income.

I currently don't save anything. Embarrassing, I know. Savings has been something that I need to get better on. I used to save ~30%-40% of my paycheck, but for some reason I've never gotten back into the mindset after my startup failed and I lost everything.

My current overhead and lifestyle basically has me living paycheck to paycheck. For younger monkeys out there, I'd warn you not to fall into this trap.

aiming for 75%, currently around 50% on a better month.

Roughly 16.8% of gross pay goes to savings and I put 15% of gross in a ROTH 401k. I'm not a huge spender but I don't live like I'm poor either. live in a low COL city.

For anyone struggling to save, I suggest: - mapping out your monthly expenses - EVERYTHING. Rent, utilities, gas, groceries, phone bill, gym membership, spotify, netflix, haircuts, weekly lunches, etc (I do 1 weekly lunch a week that I budget for). Definitely limit how much you eat out unless your firm gives you $25 a day if you stay past 8pm or whatever. ALSO: think of large 1-time annual expenses such as: car insurance, renters insurance, contacts, car tag renewals, presents for family, oil changes etc -- add these all up and divide by 12 - add this number as "expenses" in your budget. You're effectively amortizing large expenses to account to for so you don't blow your savings with things you should've known you had to pay for, just not on the monthly

• aiming for a minimum of 10% 401k contribution, 15% is best if possible.

• putting a % of your paycheck directly into a savings account. My employer lets me direct deposit my check up to 4 different accounts. The rest should go into a checking account. I'd try to put at least 10% of your gross pay into the savings account if possible.. if not, start small and increase over time. Each raise, you should increase your % that goes directly into your savings account - my entire raise this year went into increasing my savings % - perfect way to avoid lifestyle creep.

• Once you have an idea of your fixed / mostly fixed expenses (i.e. groceries will vary by a couple $ a month, same with gas), figure out your monthly free cash flow - which i define as 2 bi-weekly paychecks that go directly into your checking, less your budget. This is how much "Spending money" you get a month - try NOT to spend over it. If you only get $150 a month of FCF to spend , don't buy 3 rounds at the bar for your 5 buddies or it'll be gone in 2 nights.

• Now, 2 bi weekly paychecks x 12 months = 24 pay stubs. The other 2 will be used for unexpected expenses - they ALWAYS fucking happen. god damn. I like to mountain bike and just dropped $200 unexpectedly on repairs/tune-up.

I don't care if you're a big baller making $500K+ or whatever a year. You're still broke if you spend $500,001 a year.

EDIT Other useful tips:

• NOw that you have your budget, you need to track your spending. I like to put EVERYTHING I possibly can on ONE credit card (and pay it off in full every month). This makes tracking your spending incredibly easy. In fact, the only things I don't pay via credit card are rent, water, and gas (heating).

You should update your spending in excel once a week if you have time. literally takes 5min - take credit card balance and subtract your CC statement amount = spend to month (you might want to start tracking on the day of your credit card statement date - mine is the 15th so that's the "new month" day for me. Also, periodically check to see if you're under budgeting for "semi fixed" expenses, namely groceries and gas.

If anyone's interested, I have an excel template that I can share if you PM me. IT's nothing too elaborate but It's easy to use.

people forget to realize/mention -- it all depends on how long you want to/expect to live.

some people prefer the short fast life some people prefer the long leisurely life.

it seems like most workers assume they'll live to ripe old ages (70+) ^ a fact which bothers me. you could die tomorrow.

Around 40% post tax. Lining up a savings account to be used in case of "life," and maxing out a Roth IRA, as well as investing in a 529 account for grad school.

From day 1, I basically planned to save 0% of salary and 100% of bonus. Started out at 70k base - spent it all The 80k - spent it all Then 90k - spent it all

And so on Now, I'm basically at the point where I live a lavish life (business class on long distance, 5 star hotel, 3 vacations/year, random tech gadgets) and still can't spend the $150k base so I'm forced to save. Currently saving about 20-25% of that

well i consider my drinking habit to be a form of saving money so i end up saving ~40% of gross.

I would highly consider anyone who would want a starting guide on how to save, read the book,

"The Index Card". I bought this book after listening to NPR News on a Weekend Edition where the author was on the show talking about savings and finances. I thought it was interesting and decided to purchase it. It helped laid out a guide line on how to save in increments over time. Understandably, majority of the people on here are financially savvy, in terms of concepts/terminology. However, it is still a good starting point.

Saving wise, I aim to save at least 10-15% of my pay after taxes and budget my spending so I can throw the rest into my ROTH IRA Account. So...between $150-300 monthly.

At the moment around 30%...increased from 20% cause of opportunities and eh... "reasons".

Did not really rise that number up before but i am now earning enough that i don't need to cheat my own goals or instantly would feel any kind of financial pain as part of daily life.

For what it's worth, I too spend my base almost completely, though now that I am single again it's proving to be difficult. Obviously, I max out my 401k contribution (my income is too high to contribute to an IRA, unfortunately), it would be silly not to considering the employer match. After that I split my bonus more or less evenly between various investments (at the moment I am sitting on a 7-figure pile of cash, which is pretty sad) and donor-advised funds for that warm-and-fuzzy.

Like a boss.

Retirement included, I save between 35-40% of my gross. I don't waste money and I don't live lavish, so it allows me to spend money and buy things I want.

-20%

During my early days, my MD said, "Spend Your Paycheck, Save Your Bonus."

Every month I save 30% of my salary, then the 70% is what I use for my expenses. I'm working as a Web Designer at Petstreetmall which is an online store that sells pet supplies.

Putting $1k/mo in my brokerage account (I'm staying liquid for b-school or house down payment) and also saving ~$150 per month to get the employer 401k match. This all translates to ~23% of my gross monthly income (yep, I make about $60k). Some months I save less than $1k but I catch up with my tax return and the yearly performance bonus.

I'm hoping to keep saving 20% of the gross until I hit a level where I don't need to spend the remaining 80% and can save the extra.

1.5yr analyst (non-IB); live at home in a low COL city.

~58% of my gross income (this 'savings' figure includes both retirement savings i.e 401k/Roth, and normal savings)

~18% of gross if excluding retirement savings.

about one third of gross last year. looking to get up to 50% asap.

40-50% of net (equal to c.30% of gross) + 5% into pension with 10% employer contribution. Total "savings" including pension + employer come to c.75% of net or 45% of gross.

I'm excluding mortgage on this even though I guess you could say the capital portion counts as "forced investing".

Living in London for reference. Does not include bonus.

Who cares, bang bitches.

I am targeting 30% of my AGI - this does not include contributions to my 401K. I guess I live frugally.

40% of my gross income

I put 25% into a 401k and save a decent amount in cash each month. 70.5k salary, live in a borough

currently spend every penny I get, which is pretty bad.

Starting out saving 15% of gross is fantastic. I've been a proponent of delayed gratification my entire adult life and I am now old enough to be able to report, categorically, that the practice works as prescribed.

Learning to live below your means and paying yourself first is a near bullet-proof plan for having a successful financial future.

Someone on these boards put it quite eloquently several months ago when they typed: "I only spend money on things that will make me smile on my death-bed." I thought this was quite a profound view of life with regards to frivolity. Keeping up with the Joneses with the McMansions is out, the sharing economy has displaced the previous generations' perception of rugged individualism. Millennials wanting to DO more as opposed to OWNING more is changing the complexion of our society,..... but I digress.

I max out ROTHS for both my bride and me ($13,000/yr.), max out my HSA ($6900/yr.), currently deposit $500/month is my taxable retirement acct (won't have access to 401k until next Jan.), and put $300/month is savings acct. However, both kids' college is already paid for, house is paid for, autos paid for, ie. zero debt so I can afford to save about 20 - 22% gross. Obviously, I'm in a different financial situation than many on these boards as I probably have a couple decades on most members.

That said, a major congrats to everyone out there who is actually saving for their future and making it a priority. You will thank yourself in the future.

Trying to pull ~25% but it proved hard in the beginning (stupid investments in furniture, etc.)

1 year into the real world: Max out 401k/IRA 2k/month into Wealthfront Reasonable, but not lavish of lifestyle. Wish I did have a little lifestyle creep.

I was never good in savings.

In a regular month/year: 58% of take home pay 6% gross pay in 401K 6% gross pay in 401K matching 100% of annual bonus (20-30% of salary)

I'm frugal, but not cheap. A few things that help me save loads.. I stopped partying a while ago, I don't eat out excessively, I live in a modest apartment, I drive a modest car, and I don't buy materialistic things. The only thing I find myself splurging on is travel, which I seldom ever have to buy outright because of good travel deals and travel points/miles.