That's because you're older and wiser. Like me, you've realised that expensive fads are just that. An utter waste of money leaving half of people with pretty much nothing.
42.3% of Londoners have less than £100 in savings
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That's because you're older and wiser. Like me, you've realised that expensive fads are just that. An utter waste of money leaving half of people with pretty much nothing.
got a letter today from the halifax about a "savings" account i have with them, due to the base rate going down this "savings" account i still have open with a whole £1 in it will have its interest rate dropped from 0.1% to 0.05% and to think when it used to be at 0.25% i questioned how they could call it a savings account lol
Its a western problem IMO.
One of the largest culture shocks I have had coming over to Asia has been the attitude to savings over here.
As a general rule of thumb most people will look to save at least 50% of their income every month irrespective of what they earn. Its probably pushed by the fact that there is no safety net over here. Education, medication, food,pension......there are no freebies, so you have to cater for yourself.
When I was in the UK. I used to save around 10% of my salary every month, the saving mentality though is contagious, and now I am pushing around 40% of the 'salary' I take from my own business.
One of the largest culture shocks I have had coming over to Asia has been the attitude to savings over here.
As a general rule of thumb most people will look to save at least 50% of their income every month irrespective of what they earn. Its probably pushed by the fact that there is no safety net over here. Education, medication, food,pension......there are no freebies, so you have to cater for yourself.
When I was in the UK. I used to save around 10% of my salary every month, the saving mentality though is contagious, and now I am pushing around 40% of the 'salary' I take from my own business.
You know that's not normal, right?
Yes I know. I think it's a combination of social issues plus enormous pressures put on her by her parents when she was younger. All of which has made too much of an inpact.
One Christmas we all put money together to get her a Kindle to try and give her something at least. Thats the only reason she had one in the first place.
Sounds Autistic.
We save very little, but have around 10k stashed for emergencies. We seem to go through phases of blowing money, then cutting back and saving again.
Luckily (for him) we have tried to instil the savings bug into our son, and although he only works at a fast food place, has several grand in a Santander 123 account already.
Living at home though he is very shielded from the costs of the outside world, and is shocked when he sees how little money his friends have.
Apart from living in a 'spend spend spend' culture, I think a lot of people in the UK rely on the safety net of free healthcare and benefits we have here. Some might be in for a nasty shock if they've ever worked for any length of time and actually try and claim said benefits.
Well that was what the other poster you quoted was highlighting investing is a bit different to what people tend to mean by saving (i.e. keeping some cash saved). Given that your criticism of 'saving' seems a bit misplaced as earning returns from it is a nice bonus but not necessarily the main point. Having a rainy day fund is rather useful and keeping less than £100 in cash as so many Londoners seem to do is pretty reckless.
Likewise saving for something like a deposit in the short term probably isn't the sort of thing you want to expose to say stock market movements etc..
Plenty of banks do have special deals on interest rates for regular savers which can remove the inflation issue.
I'm lucky as my bonuses tend to be significant so I tend not to save really. I am also lucky that mine and my wife's monthly salaries leave 'enough' over after I've paid off the fixed outgoings each month so having a few grand saved is not really something I need. I have various insurances in place against illness and loss of work so frankly my perspective is different on savings to say a 25 year old thinking about their first house and starting a family. I also have focused on debt removal and mortgage reduction so I have significant equity in my house I could call on worst case. My focus is on retiring and at 49 that is the plan for before my 60th. Property equity will help as will inheritance and I have several pensions built up over the years, the first since I was 17.
I also get how people can't save and live from pay check to pay check as I have been in that place too so can't really criticise. However if that has been the case for say 10 years then you really need a plan to change it, whether thats moving to a lower cost area, changing jobs to earn more or doing something else to get more cash. If you don't you'll look back and think why didn't I act and take the pain when I had the chance, I promise!
I also get how people can't save and live from pay check to pay check as I have been in that place too so can't really criticise. However if that has been the case for say 10 years then you really need a plan to change it, whether thats moving to a lower cost area, changing jobs to earn more or doing something else to get more cash. If you don't you'll look back and think why didn't I act and take the pain when I had the chance, I promise!
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I grab all the receipts from cash machines and have a nosey at the balance. Any big numbers I save the receipt to write my phone number on the back for any women I meet.
It's quite shocking how many people have just withdrawn every last whole pound out and left with 4.66
It's quite shocking how many people have just withdrawn every last whole pound out and left with 4.66
I class myself as a 'super saver'. Won't comment on my savings but it's quite a lot. In fact, the lady with the 75k and Kindle and myself should talk
Anyway, I'm doing it to pay off another mortgage and then I'll consider semi-retirement. if I didn't have a goal in mind I wouldn't do it.
When my salary hits my account, I straightaway start moving money around. I know my fixed costs to within 10 bucks. That goes to the 'House' account. Next I'll move the bulk of it to a savings account and the rest is mine. While I don't leave myself a lot to spend in the eyes of some of you wastersp) on here,
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Each to his own though. Having lots of savings relatively young in life makes me happy and sets me up well for a (already) stress free future. As long as you're happy and doing what's right for you.
While it is great that you do save putting excessive amounts into cash, when you're young, isn't always a good idea - especially now you've got a house. Overpaying a mortgage is probably a bad idea too given interest rates - it is likely the cheapest loan you'll ever have bar credit card offers.
Discounting say a rainy day fund it might be worth looking at where you'd be financially if you'd invested in a tracker fund, or picked a combination of trackers or managed funds over the past few years. You'd probably be better off by several thousand $.
It's sad that we have to horde things to provide for a rainy day. In hunter gather times we didn't need to do that. Now we have nothing on hand that doesn't require a money transaction, and a typical household can't go more than a few days without having to stock up again. We are truly slaves to the system and there's no going back.
I'd check the small print if I were you, while I'm sure you'll get a decent lump sum if ever made redundant as you seem to be a high earner if you've literally got no savings at all and some freak unexpected event happens that means you can't work you might still need at least something to last a month or two until the insurance is sorted. You don't want to be liquidating say stock market investments to temporarily cover the mortgage payments.
That wouldn't be a problem in my circumstance for reasons I won't bore you with but my wife alone earns significantly more than our mortgage payments and my 'left over' on a bad month will cover 'some' mortgage payments. I plan for worse case rather than hoping it doesn't happen and be careless and my insurances are very good too.
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Hoarding is more advanced than having to go out and find food tomorrow, regardless of factors like the weather; our state of health; how easy food might be to find etc.
I think we are all as much slaves to the system as we choose to be. Once you earn enough to cover things you truly need like a roof over your head; food; electric etc., the rest is disposable income that you can choose to give into temptation and desires.
For example, a courier needs a motor vehicle to deliver enough items per day to earn a wage, but many people choose to run a car for journeys less than five miles.
Whats always amazing about peoples savings is that its almost entirely unrelated to salary. Its like the benefits argument. Some people will live well on them and never get into debt whilst others are pennyless within days of getting money in their account.
Its all about how much you spend and whether you feel saving are more important than having a bigger house/flat, a better car or more holidays etc.
There are plenty of people on silly money who still manage to be in debt.
Its all about how much you spend and whether you feel saving are more important than having a bigger house/flat, a better car or more holidays etc.
There are plenty of people on silly money who still manage to be in debt.
I've noticed people who earned less save more, and those who got into a great job straight away saved less. This is after speaking to friends and family. I think those earn more then what they are comfortable living on, have more disposable income, thus saving less for a rainy day or what not.
£7500 in my "spending account" and a fair bit more than that in my savings account. I completely panic when I get below £6000, stop spending money on stuff I don't need, cut my shopping down, stop buying clothes and games etc.
I had to work extremely hard to condition myself to save, i'm a spender naturally. Just something in my head now about that £6000 figure!
I had to work extremely hard to condition myself to save, i'm a spender naturally. Just something in my head now about that £6000 figure!
That's a fair point and I have thought about it, but right now is just the wrong time due to being so close to achieving a certain goal. Risk is not something I can tolerate too well the next 6 months. However, some of my money is sitting in a termed deposit account at around 3.6% for the next 6 months payable on maturity which will be a tidy sum I suppose
But I hear you, it's something I've done some reading on and will certainly look at this time next year.