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

[Mer]

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?

 

The bank, of course.  There are so, so many reasons one should not keep money "under the mattress," and besides theft, a big one is that money minus interest or investment returns loses value due to inflation.  Bank savings accounts don't offer much in the way of interest these days, but Bank savings accounts (money market accounts) have the big huge plus of FDIC insurance.  So, the bank it is.  However, if you have the freedom to do so, one should consider investing some savings - get that money working for you.  I'm pretty risk-adverse, so my investing is pretty moderate on the risk scale.

[thanos27]

Cash at home may lose due to inflation but money in the bank that earns next to nothing is basically the same exact thing . The FDIC part ofcourse is the reason to keep it there  but the interest is a total joke . I was just researching online banks last night cuz im finally gonna pull out all my money from Citibank which earns a measly .30%  .  Horrible !       I have the highest interest savings /Money Market Acct and it sucks .  I recently found Ally bank offering .90 which should equal to 3 times the interest monthly that i get from Citicrap. Only like 4-5 yrs ago i was getting 5.00% for a savings acct from online CountryWide savings bank which was great . Then the roof caved in .    That was some good interest which in return paid off some bills every month .
 
Right now the smart thing to do  if someone has cash is to invest in real estate . Co-op Condo house whatever ,  with rates this low if you have the 20% that would be the way i would go . Stock market is too shaky  and real estate in NYC has showed the true test of time thru this economy barely budging .
 

[thanos27]

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

 
Student loans do suck and if anything those should be the loans that are interest free but ofcourse the avg man never catches a break .  By bud im guessing u mean Cigs ? or weed /    Either way cutting those out would save u alot monthly ,.  esp the cigs part if you smoke a pack a day like most do . Add it up , it gets expensive .    Eating home n making enough for leftovers  can save you alot in the end too .  I have a friend who is single , eats out every day lunch n dinner and he doesnt even go fancy or anything but ends up spending like $40-50 a day .   A month thats $1200+  /             Much much cheaper to cook at home .

[PJ]

Student loans do suck and if anything those should be the loans that are interest free but ofcourse the avg man never catches a break .  By bud im guessing u mean Cigs ? or weed /    Either way cutting those out would save u alot monthly ,.  esp the cigs part if you smoke a pack a day like most do . Add it up , it gets expensive .    Eating home n making enough for leftovers  can save you alot in the end too .  I have a friend who is single , eats out every day lunch n dinner and he doesnt even go fancy or anything but ends up spending like $40-50 a day .   A month thats $1200+  /             Much much cheaper to cook at home .

Your right ! i do need to eat home more often, esp. its so hard with so many good places to take out in Astoria.... i just bought a open indoor grill from Amazon  - its a start ! (i live in a studio basement apt, no gas).... next step is to consolidate my 2 student loans, reduce my smoking ...maybe even get a side job.....

[thanos27]

At least u r trying ...but cut the smoking totally . Use some of the extra money for a gym  and it pays itself .  Why would anyone pay to cut yrs off your life ?  Sorry not meaning to rip into you but its such a waste in every aspect .

[NY Yankees Dynasty]

I agree with Thanos , alot of younger people blow money very easily by smoking and drinking and always eating out . By the time they hit 30 , they dont have much saved and it only gets harder and harder .    I think by that age you should at least have 30k in the bank but it also depends on you situation . If you are married , you should have more , being that both people work and you split the bills . Life is expensive and yea  saving isnt easy .

[liddlemar]

at least 10k

[thanos27]

10k at the age of 30? Sorry but that's garbage.  people are ready to get married and have kids at that age . 10k at that point wouldn't even buy 9k. Maybe Im just thinking above but I would prefer to want to save more than just settle for less.

[liddlemar]

I thought it was a general question and not an HOW MUCH HAVE YOU SAVED?
 

[thanos27]

I guess Im just shocked at everyone's low standards in todays expensive life

[KidMurdock]

Frankly, I wouldn't take financial advice from anyone on an internet message board, and would instead look for a good financial advisor.

[James Maxx]

6 month salary, and when you lose your job be ready to downgrade your lifestyle.  No cigarettes, restaurants and bars.  All those are severely overpriced to begin with.

[thanos27]

A smoker will always smoke no matter what. I have friends who  r struggling for money and yet the husband and wife both smoke. I know so many people like this .Also others have the same problem eating out all the time then can't understand why they can't save any money

[beansiegal]

Are we talking savings as in you can touch it or savings as in retirement savings?  Big difference there. 

No easy answer to this question because of the various situations.  The school one being a huge one if you go to college.  Many people are faced either with loans or paying for school as they go and neither are cheap options.  In my situation, I grew up and went to school in Indiana.  Didn't move to NY until I was 25.  I can assure you that event part time wages are much lower there.  True, things are more expensive in NY, but if you live with your parents and don't have to pay for anything, you're going to save more money.  I was able to pay for a lot of school as I went, but am still paying off a loan.  I should have it paid off in full by the end of next year. 


I think the biggest mistake that most (young) people make is not maxing out 401K opportunities through their employer.  It's hard, especially if you have loans and you have an entry level salary, but there are ways to make it work.  Saving for retirement in general for young people is hard.  Even as a teenager, kids would be smart to put away a percentage of what they make into an IRA.  Try to max it out if you can, but that's hard when you're younger. 


But people should realize that everyone makes financial mistakes and what is done is done.  Learn from it and don't repeat it.  My biggest mistake was moving into a 1BR apartment by myself before I could properly afford it.  It ended up working out ultimately, but there were some tough months. 


With all that said, I think if you have $20K by the time you're 30, especially if your schooling wasn't paid for, you're doing a-ok. 

[Chris]

Looking back, it is a good idea to save money when you are young.  Before you know it, you are looking at retirement.  I can't remember how much I had saved by the time I was 30, but the company I worked for at the time had one of those matching savings plans. I think it was up to 4% of your salary. It wasn't a 1-to-1 match, but I think if I put in 6% of my own money, I would be able to get the maximum 4% from the company.  It was like getting 4% more salary and people at work stupidly didn't participate in the savings plan.


One other thing, since changed, is that in the 1980s when I was in my 20s, the government came up with or changed the IRAs.  You could put up to $2,000 in an account each year and it was 100% tax deductible. I did that three years in a row and that original $6,000 investment has grown quite nicely. Eventually they changed the plan.


Finally, I did lost my job in the dot.com bust in the early 2000s.  All I will say is, thank God I had money in the bank to tide me over.