Do lots of people have these sorts of savings? Or am I bloody right?!

[moneuapme]

I feel like utter shit after a meal with friends at the weekend. We all have decent jobs but I am still a long way down the ladder after re training. We don’t usually talk about money but will go to nice places for a dinner etc which I can afford easily too. But it turns out that 4 out of the other five of them are saving between 1k to 1,500 a month and already have over 50k savings?! The other woman there said she has no savings and I just said I had some but not that much. The truth is I have 2k to my name and save around 150 a month usually. I earn 53k. I feel really stressed and worried about the future now as I have nowhere near the security they are talking about. I have tried to keep telling myself this week that that’s surely unusual but is it? Have I just massively fucked up somewhere? Last week I felt really content and lucky and now I just feel like a failure.

Seemingly quite a lot of people on this thread couldn't care less if they have no savings and think those of us who do, live joyless lives.

so depressing about own circumstances

rather than depressing that not everyone is depressed about their circumstances

On that sort of salary I’d hope to be saving £700-£800 a month into savings I didn’t touch. On top of fairly high pension contributions and savings for yearly expenses

Things can change so quickly.

After my second maternity leave in 2018/19, I had to leave my job (cost and time of commute wasn't feasible with two under 3) and it took me five months to get another. We had wiped all of our savings and were in our overdrafts... We've since managed to build up £25k in savings.

I think it might be a good idea to examine why you've reacted this way. Is it because suddenly you feel like you've lost some status? Or have they made you realise that you're not as secure as you thought? Or have you realised that you'd like to feel more secure?

A pp mentioned it's a good idea to have 6 months income in savings.
Can you invest the savings you have in something so they at least keep pace with inflation?
Can you reduce your outgoings?
Increase income?

I am really surprised people talked so freely about their finances, I know your friends but the details shared are very specific. We are mid and later fifties and have no mortgage. DH is chucking extra money in to his pension per month which takes him below the higher rate tax band. We had quite a few years where we could max out our ISA allowance each as we paid off our mortgage so quickly. This has never ever been discussed with any family or friends. Obviously we bought when housing was substantially cheaper, house has gone up 400% as area has improved a lot. You would have zero idea we have money.

Are you a single parent? I think that is key.

Late thirties.. DH high earner.. I am average earner.. 2 kids.. 1 in nursery still.. save £0 a month

@Namechange944 no I don’t have dc

I haven’t read the full thread to be fair, but I would guess some people would feel worried that others have savings while they don’t; others might not care.

I’m mid forties but only on 27k (NHS) so that would be most my wage! i save around £300 ish maybe more at the end of the month. But we have a small mortgage that’s being overpaid and no kids i can live within my means

I’m happy with that on my wage! I have over £10k buffer and partner has own finances and more savings as earns more than me.

😆

kind of relevant op

bloom hell it’s been like drawing blood from a stone

That’s my reading of the poster’s comment, yes.

Honestly most people are only three missing pay packets away from bankruptcy. I wouldn't listen to them as life throws up all sorts for us all as we get older. For example I'll health or caring responsibilities off the top of my head. All have the ability to eat into what savings we have. Id imagine 50k won't last long paying the mortgage and bills if you end up on long term sick leave.

We probably have enough for between 3-6 months of bills. However we are prioritising saving separately to replace bathrooms and a kitchen so our emergency fund would look considerably lower than some of our friends. Everyone's priorities are different. We probably could have put more into savings and got credit for the house projects but doing what we are feels a little safer during present times.

ah, i was interested in the poster themself though but 🤷 but thanks

Honestly don't worry about others and how much money they have. Just do you. Save what you can. Your circumstances could be completely different in a few years. What other people with their money is their business and usually a complete mystery. I know several people with loads of savings and loads with none. It really doesn't matter. Enjoy your life..(but do save for a pension)

My friends with significant savings have all been given the money by parents/ grandparents, they haven’t saved it.

Oh sorry, when you said "two of us have children", I presumed you were talking about yourself.

Do you live by yourself? Obviously living expenses are higher when you only have a single income.

I think to see if you can save any more, you need to add up everything you spend each month and see what's left and where you can cut anything.

We have a lot of savings. However we pushed and pushed to pay our mortgage off (at a time you could link your mortgage to your savings) and we have saved like mad since.

Our house is very average and not very big. I know lots of people who have really overextended themselves to get bigger and bigger houses with massive mortgages. They have to have big fancy cars as well.

However DH was unwell a few years ago and if we had extended ourselves we would have been in the shit. The financial security we have is important to us.

Every time someone comes along to say react defensively that those with saving must be dull penny pinching miseries.
Nope

I sleep extremely well at night knowing I have my savings safely tucked away and it allows to me to enjoy life and what I do spend money on.
It's not all or nothing

I’m 41, currently a mature student plus working part time. I have just over £2k in savings (recently had to dip into to replace my car) and no pension at all.
I don’t know anyone in a position to save that amount each month, and I’m only really aware of people of my parents’ generation (70+) who have that size of savings put away.

There is generally a long time between retirement and care home fees (if they are incurred at all).

I want to enjoy my early retirement years and have decided to put a little more aside during my earning years which I can afford. I also want to give my dcs a leg up on life with house deposits.

If you are using 'Life is for the living now' as a reason not to save, sounds like a miserable retirement on the state pension.

We worked hard to pay our mortgage off early, we were earning more than we could have dreamed of, kids were grown and gone, so minimum of 2.5k pm went on mortgage.
We had no holidays, no expensive meals out, all for the greater good.
We retired very early - I was 54, husband was 59. He died 3 months after retiring.
There has to be a happy medium - forget how much people are saving, enjoy your lifestyle now, without being ridiculous, and save what you can.

Life is for living 😉

Because a lot of people on here earn a lot of money. And prioritise saving. Same with OP's friends I guess.

Does the £50k figure include retirement savings, or is that in addition?