What would you consider reasonable savings?

[Uppatreecuppatea]

At 48?

Without much of a pension. And a teenager. Single mum. Scared!

If your account is in credit you're doing well

£1 would be good

I like to have enough in my savings account to cover at least a month of outgoings although I don't at the moment

It dependa on your outgoings.

Can you afford to save something every month?

Do you have pensions? I don't have a pension. I am divorced and have very little and worry so much about money.

£100,000.

Remember you can't compare yourself with anyone who's in a family where both partners work. It's the equivalent of you living with someone and your or his earnings are saved each month.

In an ideal.world id have two months salary in the bank.

this isnt an ideal world

38 here.

No teenager.
No savings. At all.
And from talking to friends, that's the norm.
We did have savings 3 years ago before things got stupidly expensive and we had to start using savings to pay for expenses like dentist, car service, broken washing machines etc - things that used to be able to come out of spending money.
Now wages just stretch to cover expenses.
It sucks.
But be (re)assured - lots of people are in the same boat.
Savings are a luxury.
So long as you are making ends meet month to month you're doing fine.

Star are you serious? That means I've got just 3 years to make a huge amount of money!

I have no income. I have started my own business and have been working on that for a few years. I don't claim anything (although I probably could). I am trying to earn my own money but it's been slow to come.

Two working parents and two kids in this household. No savings.

Stargirl1701 - nice amount, unrealistic for most people.

Back in the real world...

OP, this gets talked about a fair bit on MSE website, where the rule of thumb seems to be to try to build up savings to the equivalent of 3 months outgoings. A huge amount for many of us, but gives you a idea.

Any savings are good - if you have any surplus income to save, I would aim for the 3 months thing. But just 1 month is good - 3 months great for job loss or illness situation, but 1 month great for a cushion for unexpected problems - e.g. Boiler breaking down.

Doesn't it have to equal a pension though? I don't have anything like that saved but I do put £250 a month into a pension. My employer puts in around the same.

stargirl, if you can't be helpful, don't bother posting

OP it is frightening, isn't it ?

an acceptable rule of thumb on many financial websites for savings is 3 months of outgoings

are you anywhere near that ? Could you try, slowly but surely, to get to that point ?

I agree, 3 months expenses saved up is a good starting point.
Given the current economy this would be a wise thing to do, but pretty much impossible too.
Don't panic, save if you can, cut back if you haven't already.
People also tend to think of savings as a vast/reasonable sum put away each month, often forgetting that a small amount also builds up. Just sayin'...

I'm like Mr Micawber - if I can save sixpence then I'm doing well !!

But, it's not just savings is it? Savings would be 6x your monthly net salary. A savings plan that is your pension would have to be immense. It needs to pay for your entire retirement - 30 odd years? What is the minimum you would need then?

My ISA has 2 pence in it! What tiny bit of savings there were have been decimated thanks to redundancy :(

This is quite an interesting report
www.newsroom.hsbc.co.uk/articles/savings_intentions_for_2012/attachment
To be honest I have no idea how much our pensions are worth. I wouldn't feel comfortable without having at least net 3 months salary in savings.

We have three months wages for both salaries in the savings bank. I don't have a pension but my DH does. We also have a bit extra in the account at the moment for house renovations but usually its fairly slim pickings.

I'm currently earning around 25% of my usual annual salary as I'm studying. I hope when I'm employed again I will be able to pay towards a pension.

this is a good page with some different ideas on how to slowly build your savings, its better than nothing and every little bit helps www.savingadvice.com/articles/2013/01/10/1013660_52-week-save-money-challenge.html

OP, it doesn't make sense that you could claim but don't. Why not claim what you're entitled to and save it?