How much should you have saved by the time you hit 30?

[Karma 1224]

Random thought.

Approximately how much should you have in your saving account by the time you hit 30?

[Choppra]

This is tough to say.

I can say I'm turning 30 and I live check to check right now.


It really depends on what you're trying to do.


If you don't plan on getting married and having kids, I would say about $20k.  I can say that a few of my friends at 30(my age) have that in the bank but arent planning on getting married or having kids. 


Once you do, its gone quick and then you start over to save for a house/apartment to own.  Which then disappears too.

[King of Long Island City]

Answer would really depend on a variety of factors. What are your financial goals? Debts? Other assets? Do you have kids? When do you want to retire? Where do you want to retire?


Best advice would be to sit down with a reputable financial planner.

[thanos27]

By the age of 30 if you dont own anything like a house or apt and have no kids while single i would say abt 35k-40k . Now ofcourse there are alot of factors like ...did you pay for your own schooling > ? College and Masters ? Do you have loans to pay which dont allow you to save as much ?  I didnt so i had no excuse but to save .  Also how good is your job ?   If you are pulling in 80-100k and dont have 30k in the bank , you really have no excuse .  There was an MTV show on TrueLife how people who had good jobs that they eventually lost , and mean really good jobs at a young age , while they didnt save anything . Once those jobs were gone , they lived check to check cuz they never saved much .   If you are pulling it in  , MAKE sure you save it too .
I think no matter what you are trying to do , you should be able to save something . I dont get how people who say they live check to check  go out all the time on weekends and more , smoke cigarettes , eat out all the time and cant budget . You dont need a financial advisor for common sense .

[thanos27]

I actually saved 50k by the time i was 21-22 yrs old . My goal was to buy a house and i saved everything i could . I was dead set to get my bank account up every week . I had a huge goal and was set to do it . My big luck was that i lived at home so i had no excuse . I didnt pay any real bills , food was for free and so was laudry . No rent either so if i didnt do it i only could blame myself .

[Choppra]

I actually saved 50k by the time i was 21-22 yrs old . My goal was to buy a house and i saved everything i could . I was dead set to get my bank account up every week . I had a huge goal and was set to do it . My big luck was that i lived at home so i had no excuse . I didnt pay any real bills , food was for free and so was laudry . No rent either so if i didnt do it i only could blame myself .

You're a good example of what you should do if someone is in a similar situation.  I unfortunately wasn't.  Paid for most of my school on my own.  Depended on credit cards to live and I can say that in 2 months I will be 100% debt free (minus school loans).  I'll finish paying those when I'm 60 and have learned to deal with it.


After that, getting engaged, then married, then house then kids.  So..yeah 401k is something I will have to depend on.  Let's just hope the economy doesn't tank when it comes times to retire.


Don't get me wrong, I live VERY comfortable and rarely live beyond my means.  I just have accepted the fact that its too difficult to save with what's coming in the very near future.

At a minimum, I think 20k from 22 years old to 30 is accurate.

[thanos27]

So you are getting engaged and then married , like its in the works ? or just saying down the road thats what you want to happen one day ?   Cuz you also said you want a house and kids too . Im not trying to be mean , but if you are living check to check how in the world can you get a house , esp in Astoria where prices never fall .EVER / 
 
I still think by 30 you should have more than 20k if you arent paying off big loans . School should be done and if work is pretty much set , then 20k doesnt sound like much .  If someone would lose their job and be unemployed close to a year , they would go through that 20k pretty quick on rent and bills . Maybe sooner than a year .  Thats why i dont think its enough . People get hurt or sick and could miss time as well , thats why its good to have for a rainy day .

[odenhal]

 $37.00

[Choppra]

So you are getting engaged and then married , like its in the works ? or just saying down the road thats what you want to happen one day ?   Cuz you also said you want a house and kids too . Im not trying to be mean , but if you are living check to check how in the world can you get a house , esp in Astoria where prices never fall .EVER / 
 
I still think by 30 you should have more than 20k if you arent paying off big loans . School should be done and if work is pretty much set , then 20k doesnt sound like much .  If someone would lose their job and be unemployed close to a year , they would go through that 20k pretty quick on rent and bills . Maybe sooner than a year .  Thats why i dont think its enough . People get hurt or sick and could miss time as well , thats why its good to have for a rainy day .

Well, I'm check to check currently but that will end soon.  Pay raises / debt paid off 100% in the next few months.  After that I won't be.  But all my money will be going towards engagment / wedding (with her helping with the wedding of course).


Also, I live check to check but I do it because I'm trying to eliminate debt.  That will change soon.  The point I was making is that you save for each step in life right?  Ring (if your a guy).  Then a house (Def not in Astoria, moving to LI or Jersey probably).  Then after that you have kids.  Which is very expensive.  I'm just generally speaking.

[thanos27]

Smart to get out of debt first . Any credit cards and anything that adds up interest , you wanna get paid off quick .
Yea i know what you mean , kids are a huge expense but thats life . IF you choose to have them . In my case they came in pairs . TWINS.So double the expense and i cant hand down any toys or clothes either . Really sucks . lol 
Moving out of Astoria makes sense ,  houses are really expensive here but nice areas of LI arent cheap either and the taxes are killer . Then again you do get good schools .   I would only suggest not to pay those taxes untill your kids start those schools though . I have friends who got married , moved to LI right away and paid taxes like that for yrs and yrs and didnt get what they paid for (schools) until many yrs later . If you add up the yrs , they paid a ton that couldve went into savings before the kids were born .

[Choppra]

Smart to get out of debt first . Any credit cards and anything that adds up interest , you wanna get paid off quick .
Yea i know what you mean , kids are a huge expense but thats life . IF you choose to have them . In my case they came in pairs . TWINS.So double the expense and i cant hand down any toys or clothes either . Really sucks . lol 
Moving out of Astoria makes sense ,  houses are really expensive here but nice areas of LI arent cheap either and the taxes are killer . Then again you do get good schools .   I would only suggest not to pay those taxes untill your kids start those schools though . I have friends who got married , moved to LI right away and paid taxes like that for yrs and yrs and didnt get what they paid for (schools) until many yrs later . If you add up the yrs , they paid a ton that couldve went into savings before the kids were born .

Definitely having kids but taxes outside of queens are high everywhere (from my choices at least).   Its just something you have to live with.

[Karma 1224]

Almost a year later. Hope everyone is doing well.

Next Question:
Is it safe to keep all your money in the bank? or under the mattress?

[thanos27]

How abt in the bank but in a safe deposit box ?

[PJ]

Just hit 30 but after monthly student loans, car insurance, rent, utilities, food, small credit card and bud.... im about broke.

[Mer]

Suze Orman (and others) recommend having at the minimum a rainy day fund of 8 months worth of living expenses.  I learned that lesson very quickly during 2007/2008 (the year my then company went downhill) and finally learned how to save due to the threat that I could lose my job at any time.  Happily, that did not happen, but within a year I was able to feel a bit more prepared if the job loss had come.