At 33 years old how much are you supposed to have in your Savings Account?

I am a 33 year old male.. been working from mid of 2003.

I consider myself as a spend thrift and not careful with money. My saving habits are very poor.

I am wondering how much a 33 yr old person usually has in their Savings Account? and/or any other accounts.

Thank you.

i don't think anyone can tell you a monetary value of how much you "should" have. but i think it's a matter of how long you can last if you lose your job, can you buy things you need and things you want and still be ok, are you saving anything at all, do you have a 401k or any sort of retirement plan. it depends all on your job situation, your salary, your debt, etc.

i'm 26 and have all of $350 saved up. in cash in a hiding spot. i did have $400 but i took some out to go out of town. i'm trying to put it back and save at least $100 a month. i have never saved well. i buy what i want and go out of town spontaneously and then struggle each month to pay bills but i never learn. i'm trying though. right now my main savings account is the bank of daddy, which i really don't want to rely on, so i'm trying. i'm getting better but still don't have what i want to have or think i shoudl have if i ever fell into financial trouble, lost my job, or had an emergency come up.

There's no set amount to have saved up. It really depends on how much you think you should have.

My SO is 31 so he's close...umm he has a good job and so do I. But our saving account together is around 25K. We spend a lot too so we would probably have a lot more saved then that if we were "thrifty" and not spending on ourselves constantly.

Im guessing if we had our own accounts we would both have around 12K in there? Everyone is different though..some people just come from rich families...some dont have great jobs (the economy is pretty bad). And some people just dont save because you dont bring money to the grave right?

I'm 35 and I have about $650 saved up. I borrow from that probably every other pay period and put it back the other pay period. It's not a lot but it's better than nothing. If I REALLY was in a bind, I could go to my parents (had to do that recently for car repairs).

I do have a 401K from a past job (that has fallen greatly in value )

Thanks Hers.

The reason I am asking is because I was talking to a friend yesterday. She is 32 and mentioned that she has 20k in her savings acct ... I felt very surprised and started to wonder if I do not have good saving habits.

I do have 401K. My company provides it.

If I lose my job I would be doomed. That's my honest reply.

Hersmudders, ever think about keeping your money in the bank? Could be safer.

My SO is 31 so he's close...umm he has a good job and so do I. But our saving account together is around 25K. We spend a lot too so we would probably have a lot more saved then that if we were "thrifty" and not spending on ourselves constantly.

 

Im guessing if we had our own accounts we would both have around 12K in there? Everyone is different though..some people just come from rich families...some dont have great jobs (the economy is pretty bad). And some people just dont save because you dont bring money to the grave right?

oh man! how do you have $25K saved up? that's amazing!! I felt special having $400! what are you saving for? do you have just a really cheap place and you make a lot of money?

I'm 35 and I have about $650 saved up. I borrow from that probably every other pay period and put it back the other pay period. It's not a lot but it's better than nothing. If I REALLY was in a bind, I could go to my parents (had to do that recently for car repairs).

 

I do have a 401K from a past job (that has fallen greatly in value )

Ren if you don't mind what do you work as? I know that you live in CA. As you are aware the cost of living here is so damn high.

I don't think there's any right number. Do you own a house/have part of it paid for? Retirement account/401k? That means more than how much you have in your account. If you've got a plan for future income, that is the most important thing.

I was at work the other day when a coworker commented on this young girl with an ipod touch. My coworker, probably 35-40ish, said something about not being able to afford something like that. I'm thinking "Really? You've been working like 20 years & you don't have 200 bucks to buy an mp3 player if you wanted?"

Basically, my mentality is I like to have the money to buy something if I really wanted to. But usually I don't end up buying it, which is why I continue to have the ability to buy these things that I will never buy. Makes sense doesn't it.

I had the proverbial "emergency fund" saved up once...15K. Then the emergency happened (i.e. divorce). All gone.

It's hard to save money out here. Everything costs so much. Our car registration fees just doubled.

My SO is 31 so he's close...umm he has a good job and so do I. But our saving account together is around 25K. We spend a lot too so we would probably have a lot more saved then that if we were "thrifty" and not spending on ourselves constantly.

 

Im guessing if we had our own accounts we would both have around 12K in there? Everyone is different though..some people just come from rich families...some dont have great jobs (the economy is pretty bad). And some people just dont save because you dont bring money to the grave right?

wow, that's awesome Ac143. I envy you

I had the proverbial "emergency fund" saved up once...15K. Then the emergency happened (i.e. divorce). All gone.

Yeah, me too. Except I didn't have nearly as much, and it wasn't a divorce.

I had the proverbial "emergency fund" saved up once...15K. Then the emergency happened (i.e. divorce). All gone.

aww.. sorry to hear that Mutley... divorce always sucks...

may i know how you went about saving 15k?

Ren if you don't mind what do you work as? I know that you live in CA. As you are aware the cost of living here is so damn high.

I work as a tech writer for a start up software firm.

Thanks Hers.

 

The reason I am asking is because I was talking to a friend yesterday. She is 32 and mentioned that she has 20k in her savings acct ... I felt very surprised and started to wonder if I do not have good saving habits.

 

I do have 401K. My company provides it.

 

If I lose my job I would be doomed. That's my honest reply.

understandable. one of my clients lost his job recently and had to let me go, and that's $136 a month that i lost (pretty much my cell phone bill and a couple tanks of gas) so that put me in a bind. Still, I don't worry about it. I don't know why I don't worry about money.

Renny, I don't want to put it in a bank--sometimes I overdraft and they will take it out of my savings AND charge a fee to take it out. Cheaper than an overdraft fee but i still don't want my savings messed with. I like having it where I have it. i never was able to sav as much as i have saved now b/c of having it in a bank. too easy to transfer it out if i need it. in my room, i forget about it, hoenstly.

oh man! how do you have $25K saved up? that's amazing!! I felt special having $400! what are you saving for? do you have just a really cheap place and you make a lot of money?

Um we saved up and bought a house & now we're saving for our wedding. Which I refuse to spend our saving on our wedding lol..But about half of that will be gone by July. We both just have been really lucky to find great paying jobs.

I don't think there's any right number. Do you own a house/have part of it paid for? Retirement account/401k? That means more than how much you have in your account. If you've got a plan for future income, that is the most important thing.

 

I was at work the other day when a coworker commented on this young girl with an ipod touch. My coworker, probably 35-40ish, said something about not being able to afford something like that. I'm thinking "Really? You've been working like 20 years & you don't have 200 bucks to buy an mp3 player if you wanted?"

 

Basically, my mentality is I like to have the money to buy something if I really wanted to. But usually I don't end up buying it, which is why I continue to have the ability to buy these things that I will never buy. Makes sense doesn't it.

I don't own a house. I rent an apartment. My company provides me 401K.

I haven't thought about a future plan for income yet...

understandable. one of my clients lost his job recently and had to let me go, and that's $136 a month that i lost (pretty much my cell phone bill and a couple tanks of gas) so that put me in a bind. Still, I don't worry about it. I don't know why I don't worry about money.

 

Renny, I don't want to put it in a bank--sometimes I overdraft and they will take it out of my savings AND charge a fee to take it out. Cheaper than an overdraft fee but i still don't want my savings messed with. I like having it where I have it. i never was able to sav as much as i have saved now b/c of having it in a bank. too easy to transfer it out if i need it. in my room, i forget about it, hoenstly.

That's cool. I find that I save money easier if I have a savings acct at a NOT so easily accessed bank and I don't have an ATM card for that acct so all the banking has to be done AT that bank (and they don't have convenient hours

BTW, that's so cool you are a petsitter. When I lived in the Midwest I had a petsitter come in to check on the guinea pigs daily when I went on vacation or on business. They'd feed the pigs, play with them, and keep the cage clean. Petsitters are very necessary.

wow, that's awesome Ac143. I envy you

 

DONT...if we lose our jobs we are SCREWED! Thats why I want to keep it as emergency funds.

 

Unemployment here is like 200 something a week...woah

Savings is pretty subjective and misleading. I think a better valuation is to determine net assets. Someone might have $100 savings, because they put all their money on their mortgage.. and hold $200,000 in equity.

My wife and I are 26. We have about $50k in home equity (maybe less with housing market crash ), about $5k in retirement fund, and about $35k in savings and gauranteed investments.

Some of our friends have a LOT more than us.. crazy amounts in investments.. I'm not sure how they do it - I guess from inheritance and whatnot.. we have had to earn every penny tho - nothing given to us. Right now, with having a family, my wife is not working until further notice, so with only my income, our savings have basically ceased to grow.

Um we saved up and bought a house & now we're saving for our wedding. Which I refuse to spend our saving on our wedding lol..But about half of that will be gone by July. We both just have been really lucky to find great paying jobs.

oh man, that's great. i just remembered you have a huge house wiht like 5 bedrooms or something. that's incredible.

may i ask what your method for saving is? like a certain percentage each paycheck, etc? you don't have to answer if that's too personal.

DONT...if we lose our jobs we are SCREWED! Thats why I want to keep it as emergency funds.

 

Unemployment here is like 200 something a week...woah

Sad thing is, we can save all we want and if we lose our jobs, that can wipe us out completely, since with job loss can come loss of health insurance and all that stuff.

Really you should just start putting away money every month, or take out 100 from every paycheck and toss it into your savings, if you can. Over a few years, as you said you've been working about 6, 100 bucks out of a paycheck would be ~15k. I mean its not a bad start.

I think it's more important though to put money in your 401k and a Roth IRA.