To think every woman should have at least £20,000 in savings she can access independently?

[AmusedPlumMember]

I’m going to be quite direct here.

I personally think every woman should aim to have at least £20,000 in savings that she can access independently, whether that’s in an ISA or another account. For me, it’s about having a level of financial security and not being completely reliant on anyone else, even in a committed relationship. I know that won’t be achievable for everyone at all times but as a principle it feels important.

AIBU to think that’s just sensible or am I being unrealistic?

The child trust fund policy, which could have given all adults a reasonable amount at 18, disappeared with very little opposition. Alas.

Yep, ideally all women would have an emergency escape fund. (Except obviously they can’t 🫩) But even better, they should have well funded refuge services, access to housing if needed, police would be better trained to spot and deal with VAWG, etc, but that would involve funding social and public services to a much higher degree. Even better than that society takes VAWG much more seriously and deals with the root causes.

In an ideal world or a fantasy world that would be lovely but speaking as a single parent (child grown up now) I sometimes struggled to pay for food, keeping the roof over our heads and juggling the bills used to give me sleepless nights. I had one terrible year when I ran up a lot of debt that took me ages to clear, but oh the relief when I did. Only managed to start saving very much later in life, I am sure there is nothing unusual about that.

I was told many years ago, to always have ‘running money’. I have always lived with this rule. Maybe not £20,000 to begin with but I could always access money to get out of a situation. Initially just a credit card that I never really used but had the ability to in an emergency, a small amount of cash. Then a small deposit account, and now more than enough to get my adult children out of trouble if they came to me.

Tone deaf @AmusedPlumMember

If you could send me the application form for how I apply for this sum of money that would be super.

I currently have about 50 quid until pay day and my husband has lost his job. So.

I wouldn't have put my family's financial security at risk for the sake of having personal savings. And of course we'd have needed £40,000 in savings for me to be entitled to half of that if we'd divorced.

Laughably out of touch.

I think every woman should have <insert the thing I have> to really be considered a functioning human, as a minimum.

Yes but if you’re married it’s difficult.

Only way around it is giving it to a parent to safekeep.

But there is still a period while not working that needs to be covered.

Yep I call it my 'Vex Money'. So if I hate my job I am not forced to stick it out. I have had this in the past a few times where lack of a financial buffer really forced me into decisions I would not have made otherwise.

I am nowhere near £20k but working on a 6 month expenses buffer. It's going slowly....

Ideally every woman should try and have financial independence to enable to them to get out of a situation if need be, but the reality is that people can’t always save a lot of money if they have a lower income and a lot of outgoings.

Not every situation is the same. Some people are just scraping by through no fault of their own.

I honestly wonder what planet some mumsnetters live on!

I am 51. My DH (65) works full time. I am on PIP. We have a mortgage to pay. We have bills to pay. We are on a low income. We have absolutely no savings. If the car breaks down or the washing machine goes kaput or anything like that, we have to buy on credit and scrape to find the money to pay it back over the next few months.
We cut our own hair. Rarely buy clothes. Cannot afford the dentist or opticians. We have a small food budget. We run one car but limit it to one tank of petrol a month.

Where, pray, are we supposed to get the money for savings? Let alone 20k for me personally!!

😂Maybe this will be followed by a thread entitled "I think everyone should have a holiday home where they can go and relax"

This would indeed be a problem.
Maybe women should be allowed to have a higher savings threshold for UC than men; given the misogynist society we still live in and the fact women are always at higher risk of violence in a relationship.

100% agree many women rely on a man and continue working part time even when the children grow up and then if the husband leaves they are bereft but yes being trapped was never part of my plan

If I could go back or if I was young today I would give this serious thought

sometimes known as "running away money"! lovely idea but almost impossible to achieve, sadly. I am still amused by the memory of a train guard asking me when I once bought a single ticket to Nottingham "running away, my duck?"

Where possible, all women would have at least £20k in their personal bank. They would also have a wonderful DH who was supportive, generous, hard working and earned 6 figures so he could also have £20k for himself.

Where possible, the woman would also be a size 10, cook from scratch, never feed her two perfect DCs UPFs and hold down a high flying charity job which was wfh and enabled her to do the school run.

Where possible, she would also have someone in to do the ironing so that woman (the ironing lady) could where possible, save up enough money from ironing to have her own stash of £20k for herself.

Have I forgotten anything? Sounds like Utopia 😇

no - ideally you should have either a considerable amount more or under 16k so you can claim benefits if you fall in hard times. But realistically most women do not and cannot save that amount.

I think every woman needs a “fuck you fund”. The exact amount can vary, but she needs to be able to escape an abusive partner without worrying about how to provide basics like food and shelter.

its actually the thing I would suggest parents save for their children instead of contributing to weddings. Just set aside a bit of money in case your child ever needs it one day.

Family/charities/benefits can bridge a gap if needed. Being able to get a job and work your way out of that is more important.

Not quite the same, but I have told my young adult son and daughter that they should establish a career before they have children if possible. Without a doubt.

I earn much the same as my DH and could support myself if we split