How much do you have in savings?

[kiana2015]

As we are practically all anonymous I don't see this should be an issue with bro g honest. I've never really felt the need to save much, lately I'm starting to regret that, luckily I'm still under 30. No idea what a 'reasonable' amount of savings would be considered

Don’t want to give exact numbers but we have 6 months expenses plus another £5k slush fund for anything unexpected such as work to the roof etc.

We are early 30s and it’s not good financial sense (I.e. not tax or interest efficient) to be holding large sums of cash savings at our age, much better to plough it into pension or paying off the mortgage so this is what we do. Holiday “savings” are kept separate and are part of the monthly budget.

These threads are rarely helpful as everyone's circumstances are different, but seeing as you asked:

I have c. £1.6m in savings and investments (including a private pension/SIPP)
DH has about the same.
We also jointly own outright (no mortgage) a house worth c. £1.5m.
Will also get state pensions and some old occupational final salary pensions when we retire (within next 5 years).

We are clearly very fortunate, but much of this is due to the fact we were able to start saving and investing in our 20s. Both came from working class/lower middle class backgrounds. Only £90k due to inheritance.

[NB, yes the username is satirical]

When I was in my 20s I only ever had enough to pay for my next holiday. (Apart from pension. I’ve paid into pensions since I was 21)

started saving properly in my 40s. Now in 50s. We have £50k in cash savings and aim to have the mortgage paid off by age 60. Hopefully to retire (thanks to paying into pension since age 21) at about 62/63 by which time our savings will be £150k.

suggestions if starting with a target of 3 months net pay and then working towards 6 months are a great way to get started.

I’ve managed to save £140k in five years largely due to switch to WFH and health issues meaning my life is a lot smaller now and rarely drink etc. Was very lucky to join civil service in 2019 pre covid and seen some really significant pay increases in 5 years. Mortgage on £300k house will be finished in 18 months then I am hoping to retire at 55 using my savings alongside modest pension income to see me through to state pension age.

It’s been an absolute slog working at times with two chronic illnesses and then a small stroke in 2020 and just recovering from extensive hysterectomy following a cancer scare - I’ve never managed to have the children I so longed for either so while the savings are nice to have it has come with downsides

Me to but a lot of that was from an inheritance.

Out of curiosity, do people consider owning mortgage free (or mortgaged but with lots of equity) rental properties the equivalent to having savings? It’s a debate DH and I have frequently as I’m more comfortable with savings I can see and he would prefer having money invested in property.

@CoastalCalm

Well done particularly with the struggles of ill health on top of it.

I also don't have children.

Equity is one thing but personally, I don't think you can rely on it until the property is sold.

36 and 37yo.
10k accessible (spent it all on house purchase last year).
300k ish investments.
But mahoosive mortgage, eek.

So, overall, it feels OK but is realistically minus figures, I suppose.

What is it you do in the civil service @CoastalCalm

I work in a finance department as a G7

Currently less than 1k as it's always been my ambition as a single mum, with zero maintenance from the father, to make sure I helped DS to buy his first home. I did that but then got quite ill with something that the NHS wouldn't pay for so I had to go private.
BUt having said that I have a very good pension and own my own home so I should be able to make up the savings quite quickly.

I’ve got 95k in investments & premium bonds. Still have a small mortgage, but may pay it off when my current deal runs out. I have a DB pension that will pay 48k a year at retirement.

£15k cash
£40k ISA
£100k premium bonds

I am 53, and OH is 56. We both work part-time. We both have decent pensions for when we reach 60.

Only considered property other than our own home to be the equivalent of savings/ investments. The thinking is that you will always need somewhere to live, so although you can downsize it's not really the same as an investment property.

Until recently I had a mortgage free rental property as an investment which was returning an average annually of 6-8% over a decade. That's just been sold as all the new regulations and changes mean it no longer makes sense financially as there are better investment vehicles with less hassle and risk.

I have £7k savings and £180k mortgage. I also have £2k joint savings with my partner but that is a savings pot for holidays and car insurance. Doesn’t seem like enough, I’m 38 and my plan is to keep saving and pay the mortgage off early but it’s a long way off.

45 on £80k... I have £4k in savings.
DP is 50 on £120k no savings.

About £1m in savings, investments (not including our home), and pensions between me and my husband (33/34). No kids, which helps. Been saving for around 10 years but most of the money was accumulated in the last 3 years - pay rises + investment income. Top tips are save early as compounding and investment returns snowball and live below your means - we have a nice life but we try to save by not having a car and buying a smaller house than we could afford.

@Gettingbysomehow

That's amazing, well done. It's tough financially being single, let alone as a single parent.

^ This was absolutely how DH and I accumulated the savings we now have. We started saving/investing in our 20s by not spending everything we earned. Some of our friends maxed out on holidays and cars but we did things more modestly. I came from a background where we just had 'enough' money, but no spare, so I was super-cautious about saving.

The economics are different for today's young people though as housing costs have risen so much in proportion to income levels.🙁

When I was young, free and single I had 3x months of outgoings as a basic level, aimed for £10k in the pot before any frivolous spends. Now I'm wishing id put more into pension etc. I managed to have about £50k saved when I met my husband, all of which went into our house deposit.

I now work part time around the kids, new savings are 'our savings' (currently about 3k), my pension pot is shit, I have very little financial autonomy and I hate it. I love spending time with our kids and don't want to work simply to pay for them to be in breakfast/after school/summer club, but feeling financially stuck is horrid.

If I could go back to my 20's I'd put more in pension, get some stocks and shares and max out some isas which I'd see as 'mine' rather than adding them all to the family pot. Could have been a lot smarter with my funds. Shoulda, woulda, coulda.

Oh I wasn’t including that in my answer - because it wouldn’t be immediately available if we lost our jobs etc. I’d count that as a separate income stream not savings, myself - appreciate you could make the case in either direction.

Property won’t make the massive profits it might have done ten years ago. We didn’t make a profit last year due to major works in the block. In a good year, we make 2.5% profit after tax. Financially we’d probably be better selling up and paying off our own mortgage. I don’t know if I’d take out a BTL mortgage in the current climate.

Yes a lot of our friends who earn less than us spend more than us then complain of being skint/not earning enough. I have some colleagues who have hardly saved anything on £200-£300k a year. My regret is not saving more earlier now that we see the benefits of investing early. People have different expectations these days with instagram and the like.

I agree though that housing is a massive problem for my generation and wages in our industries have not risen as much in comparison to house prices. The days of having a good life on one income are largely over.

Mid 40’s no children, we have about 250k in investments, 120k in regular savings/current account. 210k left on the mortgage but our house has gone down massively, about 180-200k. We also have a property abroad, mortgage paid off on that - 300k. That’s let out to family and that rent just covers the property bills and service charge.

Early 30s. About 30k savings plus investments, equity and pensions.