Okay so I love saving money and as much as possible I try and save a portion of my salary every time I get it. I'm not really planning on buying anything but I really want to save up just to be financially secured when the time comes. How much do you think should one save every month to be financially independent, let's in 10 years or so?
This is almost an impossible question to answer without knowing a lot of other things about your finances. The only answer would be; as much as possible. My advice to anyone saving is to look at investing smart. Property is an awesome investment where I live. I recently sold a house that I had owned for 12 years and made around 48k extra on the sale. It increased 4k in value for every year I owned it. There is no bank account that could have matched that. I used the money to buy a much larger property and hope to scale up the return even further next time. So i guess it's not how much you save, as much as how smart you save. Good luck
The simplest answer I can say is about 10%. We don't know your specific situation or your budget, but having a grand or two in savings is going to go a long way when you need it. When it comes to savings it also has to do a lot with your goals and what you're trying to accomplish. Are you someone who needs 6 months of emergency fund? Are you saving up for a big purchase? Do you want (X), (Y), (Z). You know the variables. That's what matters. The variables. Good luck!
It depends on a lot of factors: how much you earn, the size of your family, the sacrifices you'd need to make in order to get what you want [financial security] . . . among other things. If you can save 50% of the cash you make then that would definitely help in getting you closer to your targets. But the best advice always is "save what you can afford to" and don't deprive yourself of the good things in life. No one knows how long they'll live after all.
I would try to save as much as I can. If your company offers a 401k match, I would contribute to that immediately, if you aren't doing so already. Then, I would max out your Roth IRA. These would come straight out of your paycheck, so you will have less disposable income. However, contributing to these would set yourself up for a nice retirement. After doing this, I would pay off any type of monthly bills, like loans and rent, if you have any. Also, set some money aside for groceries. After doing all this, I would try to save at least 50% of what's left. This gives you some money to enjoy yourself once in a while but also allows you to save money for the future.
As much as possible is the best answer here. Save as much as you can, while making smart investments along the way. If you goal is ten years, then you will want to look for investments that you can cash out in 5-10 years with a decent gain during that time. Dividend investing might be something you would want to look into. You earn a check each quarter and you can reinvest it and earn more each time. I would say any money that you don't absolutely need to spend should be put into savings or some type of solid investment.
I've attended a financial awareness seminar a couple of years back and it was recommended in that seminar that one should have at least 3 types of savings. One for long-term investments or savings that you will not touch and intended for purposes like grand vacation, purchase of property, etc. Second is for emergencies or savings equal to at least 3 months of your monthly salary to be use for emergency purposes like when you got suddenly kicked out from your job. And the third type is savings for short term like for purchase of computers/gadget, etc... And about how much you have to save? It was recommended in that seminar for one to save 20 to 25% of what his/her earnings. For me this is more realistic (i.e. having a fixed amount to save) than saving as much as you can. Just my opinion though based on my personal circumstances.
Personally, I will always save the most that I possibly can without having to deprive myself of the things that I need. I will always put around £20 per month away towards Christmas, and also save any vouchers and bonus schemes towards that time of year as well. I put all of the money that I haven't spent by the end of the week (I get paid regularly) into my ISA, and leave it there until I need it for any reason. My savings are growing, which is great news because I am trying to save up for a house at the moment, so need all the money I can lay my hands on right now!
20% is what I would normally recommend. This should be split up among emergency funds, investments, retirement planning, etc, and not stored all in one place. And if you can save more than that, awesome! You never know when you may need extra money and don't want to have to dip too far into your savings to recover.
I would have to say what ever your comfortable with and able to hold on to. I have a chart that I use and it just tells me to say like 40.00 every pay period and by the end to the year I have plenty to use.I save like this for Christmas and for the holidays to buy gifts and little things for my family like for birthdays etc.
To be honest, I can't really think about where I will be in ten years. I might not even be alive anymore. So, I don't concern myself with saving for a future point in time. I always put some money aside for sudden emergencies, and over the years it has accumulated into a nice sum. Sometimes, I take small amounts out of this "emergency fund" to go on short vacations when stress gets to me, but usually I replace the money within a month or two. I like the feeling of having financial back-up if things go wrong, but I don't think too much about the future.
Because I've had financial ups and downs , I just save as much as possible without setting a monthly goal. If I was to set a monthly goal and then couldn't reach it, I would feel like a failure every month. So right now I'm on the "Do as much as you can afford." plan where I just save whatever's left over after my bills.
I save about 20% of my salary and I try to live within the 80% remaining. On that 20%, I invest some of it on the Stock Market and other investment to earn some passive income.
In my case, I try to save around $25 to $30 a month from my full-time job's income with the end goal of becoming financially independent in the next 5 years. I don't stop here, however. I try to vary my income sources by getting as many online gigs as possible in addition to joining various profitable offline ventures. If you really want to be financially free in a much shorter time frame than 10 years, then target a larger amount. Save $100 if you're up for it. But don't forget to invest that amount through stocks and mutual funds or putting up a business. It will take you some time to be financially free if you don't start investing.
I would always think in percentage terms, as that way it's not about fixed amounts but about the discipline being in place regardless of what your salary figure is. And it should also depend on your circumstances, age, career and so on.
I would say, regardless of your income, it should be at least 20% of it. You have to learn to live within 80% of your income and also try to squeeze the budget some more in order to divert more funds to your savings fund. You'll never know when you will need money, so saving as much as you can should be a priority. I know that changing the lifestyle you get used to is difficult, but think about this.. it is more difficult to live when life is testing you.. and you need money!!
