What's a good level of savings?

The Backwards Man wrote: »

Nobody has been dug up yet for not paying the undertaker.:)

:pac::pac::pac:

29 married and 2k saved. Just bought a house so that sucked all the savings up. Save a similar amount to OP 1k per month. Will build up emergency fund that will pay all bills for 6 months. (6k) Anything more than that will be invested. Having 20k liquid sitting in your bank account is silly unless you expect you might need to use it at short notice. Well done on saving that much tho!

Aka Ishur wrote: »

29 married and 2k saved. Just bought a house so that sucked all the savings up. Save a similar amount to OP 1k per month. Will build up emergency fund that will pay all bills for 6 months. (6k) Anything more than that will be invested. Having 20k liquid sitting in your bank account is silly unless you expect you might need to use it at short notice. Well done on saving that much tho!

Invested in what though?

Spanish Eyes wrote: »

Invested in what though?

Leaning towards AVC's but may split with Vanguard funds.

We had about 45k saved up last summer.
Then we got approved for a mortgage so most of the money went on deposits, fees and furnishings.
Once that was finished we started again and are up to roughly 15k.
We save about 1k a month as well.
Just became parents as well so the savings will be called upon at some point.
Have a few holidays a year, 2 cars and all bills paid on time.
Sense of security always feels nice.

dxhound2005 wrote: »

I would say they have no mortgage. But they would want to be able to demonstrate to any prospective lender that they can save €1000 a month. If they can't do that how could they repay a mortgage?

Back in another lifetime people had to save a set amount each month for two years with the building society (banks did not offer mortgages back then) in order to be even considered for a mortgage. And they had to have 20% of the value of the house saved. It was necessary in a world where mortgage interest rates were typically 15%.

I think you're right. Depends on the house price and where it is of course but I guess you'd be looking at figures like 1k a month for anywhere half decent in Dublin.

Yes, hard to believe now that 15% interest rates were a reality at one time here.
I own my little house outright but if I was getting a mortgage today I'd still aim for having at least 20% savings to put down on a house. My parents instilled in me the value of saving my money not spending it and I'm very glad they did.

DoYouEvenLift wrote: »

They're their priorities. If saving and making money were their priorities I'm sure they'd be doing that provided they're hard, or more importantly smart, workers. A lot of people who think they can't save money really could but they just have bad spending habits which are easy to fix with a bit of will power. A good example is people who go out for lunch everyday and spend at least €5, that all adds up and right there is an extra €100/m needlessly spent when they could prepare much better food and for cheaper at home and bring it in with them.

I take your point about small things adding up, but being a hard or smart or however you want to phrase it... worker doesn't always equate to riches no matter how frugal or canny a saver you are or how much you prioritise savings. Some jobs are great but just don't pay that well. The arts for example...ask me how I know :roll eyes: not in that area full time any more now though.

You should check out Mr Money Mustache - a great blog about personal finance and financial independence. It is based in US but makes sense anywhere.

Saving 1000e a month is great - saving more than 50% of your income (as you seem to be doing) is even better. Very impressive.

Keep building your money pile but also get some targets. What do you want to do with your money - saving for a deposit, building a rainy day fund, pension? Depending what your plans are you can then decide whether you can invest it long term/forever (stocks)or short term/a few years (high interest savings account).

KBC do an instant access account offering 3.5% interest on regular savings of up to E1000 a month until you reach E50,000. Keep piling your E1000 a month into that and you might actually have some DIRT worth claiming back if you eventually buy a house.

A couple of years older than you with around double your balance. Living with family at the moment and about to go back to work after caring for a sick relative for a few months. When I live by myself I can manage to save €1k -€1.5k a month with minimal misery.

No mortgage or kiddos.

lcwill wrote: »

You should check out Mr Money Mustache - a great blog about personal finance and financial independence. It is based in US but makes sense anywhere.

Saving 1000e a month is great - saving more than 50% of your income (as you seem to be doing) is even better. Very impressive.

Keep building your money pile but also get some targets. What do you want to do with your money - saving for a deposit, building a rainy day fund, pension? Depending what your plans are you can then decide whether you can invest it long term/forever (stocks)or short term/a few years (high interest savings account).

KBC do an instant access account offering 3.5% interest on regular savings of up to E1000 a month until you reach E50,000. Keep piling your E1000 a month into that and you might actually have some DIRT worth claiming back if you eventually buy a house.

dirt? Claim back? Wha?