Average savings and income for ~26 year old?

burmo

Registered User
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Hi everyone,

I would be very interested to know is there any research information available showing the average savings and/or income per person vs age?
 
This may help, but does not directly answer your question ...

CSO publish average earnings:
See [broken link removed]

PostBank do a quartely savings survey:
See
 
Thank you. Any idea why the most recent CSO figures are 2006?

Found new postbank quarterly report:
 
This last report states that the average saved is around €305 / month = €3660 / year.

It also suggests that the average person will save 13% of income next year. At the average industrial wage (~33k?) that also works out about €3,600.

Is this the norm do you reckon for people who don't have a mortgage? Is there a rough rule? I heard 1/3 living, 1/3 entertainment and 1/3 savings before...

I know if you don't have debt at the moment you're already ahead of a lot of people... just wondering where the average asset level at ~26 is. Any ideas?
 
i would be interested to know this too, and also how much would the average 26 year old actually have in savings. my friends all have 50k plus which i think is amazing, or is this just the norm?
 
They all have 50k plus at 26? Irish? Male / Female? Saved by themselves? Very unusual for me... the only person I know who has more than €2k euro is a guy who has €20k (who doesn't even bother to put in on deposit). Everyone else calls their 1-2k savings.
 
all are around the 26/27 age mark, all girls. i got a shock when we were discussing it as i thought when people were saying they had savings they meant maybe under 10k at least - and that would be doing well. well done to them for having figures like 45k, 50k, i wish i could do it.
 
That's very heartening for me to hear as I never usually meet any similar age Irish people who set money aside for their future. One more question, city or country bred?
 
Personally I would be enjoying my life (travelling, socialising, etc.) at 26 rather than trying to save as much money as possible.

I've only been saving for about two years now (I'm 31) and most definitely don't regret my hedonistic 20s! I live a fairly simple (but comfortable) life now so I am able to save a lot of money per month - about six times the average quoted above.
 
Speaking from my own point of view and I am 28 year old male and have approx 105k Euro saved give or take a few hundred. My savings would be somewhat higher apart from the fact I have contributed approx 34k to a BOI Life Fund and over the past 18 months or so it has taken a serious hit and has a current encashement value of approx 26k. I only started working full time in 2004 and am now pretty much on the average industrial wage give or take. I do admit I am somewhat cautious with my money but do spend enough to enjoy life. Not a smoker or serious drinker but would seldom miss meeting up with friends at the weekend for a few scoops. I have lived away from home over the years but am now back home. Granted its not ideal for someone my age but it doesn't put me out too much either. Probably my biggest cost is running a car, petrol, tax, insurance, maintenance, etc. I am not afraid to get my hands dirty though and have learned to service it myself (not too difficult) and carry out certain other work on it. I do tend to look for the best savings accounts and will shift my money around at the drop of a hat to maximise returns. For example when I heard on the radio earlier this year that there would be a high probability that Credit Unions would not be paying their members dividends this year I shifted my savings there into a higher return deposit account. Plan to buy a house within the next five years but dont intend to indebt myself to a bank for the next 30 odd years...no sir, if I do take out a mortgage it will be five year term at the most.

My parents are far from wealthy people and what pocket money I did get was small and I think I grew up to know the value of money better than most of my friends . Most of my friends seemed to get the latest gadgets and computer games at the drop of a hat which wasn't the case for me.

OP suggests a typical allocation of one third of earnings allocated between living/ entertainment and savings for the typical 26 year old which I don't think is the case. Firstly I believe there would be more 26 year olds servicing loans than putting money towards savings but I may be wrong on this. I work in Financial services sector where you might expect colleagures to be people that are that bit more savvy with their money than most. However, still up to this day the norm seems to be the new 30k mini or beemer every second year and 2 or 3 holidays a year to the Carribean/ Australia/ South Africa and the like among colleagues my own age or thereabouts
 
Would just like to add also that "the average industrial wage" is a figure I would be highly sceptial of and would not attach too much significance to. Would it be more realistic to use the median figure as oppossed to mean. Also average industrial wage does not take into account th many people on social welfare and hence why I would be inclined to discount any significance of the figure.
 
Earnings data are not part of the Census.

Here are some links to CSO earnings data:


General webapge with some data and links:
[broken link removed]

Links to specific data series:
[broken link removed]

Recent general earnings report:
[broken link removed]
 
At age 30 I had 120k in savings, but that includes a 45k inheritance.

When saving for a house, I used to save 700-1000-1200 pm.

Across my friends now, all aged 30-36, some are unemployed / students, and so would have just 5k in savings, others have up to 120k in savings.
 
Speaking from my own point of view and I am 28 year old male and have approx 105k Euro saved give or take a few hundred.

I only started working full time in 2004 and am now pretty much on the average industrial wage give or take.

This is impressive. 105k saved, and aged under 30, very good.

Can I ask, is this purely out of your income, or were you gifted any cash, or inherit?

If we average that out over 6 yrs, it's 1450 pm. To keep up 1450 savings every month is disciplined.

NB: please note that the GAIE, gross average industrial earnings, was about 33k in 2007, but then the CSO stopped this data series.
 
Protocol - thanks for those links... It suggests looking at manufacturing wages that the average is ~40k€ (20.45/hour * 37.1 average paid hours * 52)?
 
Stevie - A man after my own heart. Have a good life while looking after the pennies, get your house and not spend the rest of your life in debt paying for it.

I also had parents who showed me the value of money and they work very hard, and I had to earn my pocket money in the family business so I think that shaped my view on the value of it. But I had a good life, we had Sky and other trappings from an early age, and they paid for me in college so I could start work debt free.

I also got burned a little with equity funds but it was a cheap lesson in some respects and it could have had an extra 0 on the end. Same again, I take the time to try and get the best value for my money though guaranteed options only at the moment. I'm looking into things at the moment - did you see New Irelands 4.6% pa 2016 and the 4% pa 2014 guaranteed bonds? [broken link removed]


UFC - I hear what you're saying but for me I like to live within my means and very importantly for me to have a buffer for unforseen events in the future. My attitude, and I can agree it may not suit everyone, is that I will get what I feel I need for my life first then increase the lifestyle and discretionary spending in a few years - even more travelling, etc. Well... there will never be a shortage of things in the future to spend money on!

I think I have a good life, but I make sure to get value out of everything I buy. I was out two nights last weekend with my friends, been in Italy twice and France this year, and I rent in a nice apartment in Dublin city centre.

My bug bear is with people who are so flippant and ostensibly lazy. Oh sure it'll be fine, someone will catch me when I fall. I'll take out a loan to go on holidays. Yes it is €100 cheaper online, but I don't want to wait a week for my new music player... and sure if I do save the €100 I'll just spend it in the pub this weekend so it's the same thing. Isn't the ability to delay gratification a sign of maturity?
 
This is impressive. 105k saved, and aged under 30, very good.

Can I ask, is this purely out of your income, or were you gifted any cash, or inherit?

If we average that out over 6 yrs, it's 1450 pm. To keep up 1450 savings every month is disciplined.

NB: please note that the GAIE, gross average industrial earnings, was about 33k in 2007, but then the CSO stopped this data series.

Wow - 28 years old with €105k in the bank and an investment of €34k, that is some going.

At €1450 a month (to reach 105 in six years) you are putting away circa 50% of your salary if on the average industrial wage of about €35k (ignoring the tax deduction thing) plus another €34k on top of all that.

No probs if you dont wish to say, but I presume you have/had an alternative source of income besides the day job.
(just seems very little to survive on with living away from home for a period, own car, "few scoops" most weekends etc)

To the OP - After that I suppose it is a personal preference. Lots of sites seem to suggest having a rainy day fund of between 3 and 6 months of your salary. Rather than average in your question this concentrates on what you normally have and the lifestyle you are used to living so for me is a better measure. After that if one is young and enjoys travel I would say why not, if don't like travel but do like nice cars then why not. It is all personal preference.

Again some excellent advice on this site over the years would suggest that significant sums in a deposit account is not necessarily the best way to get the greatest return on your money, effects of inflation etc. Fair enough if saving for a particular purpose like a house, but again some advice would say that a mortage is the cheapest money you can get so why use your own. For example a lot of people on trackers now have interest rates of 1.65%/ 1.75% or 1.95%, ok they will go up but swings and roundabouts over the life of a mortgage.

Again fair play to anyone for amassing 139K at 28 years of age.
 
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