# How much do you save? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 15, 2010, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-do-you-save/564262 "2010-12-15T18:59:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2010, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-do-you-save/564262/61 "2010-12-19T00:18:49Z")
> [@Onomatopoeia](#): > > Ah! That’s right! I almost forgot about the blessed heart attack coming at 58! I knew there was an out! I knew I’d ultimately be saved from all this mindless frivolity and reckless spending! Thank GOD! Whew. > > Yeah, it’s pretty much what you said first. 😉 I know a guy whose dad dropped dead of a heart attack at fifty-some, when my friend was a teen. As did his grandfather, uncle, etc., etc., etc. So he decided that 1) he wasn’t going to do that to kids or a wife - and has reached 45 without acquiring those burdens/blessings 2) why save for the future!? And I’m not going to fault him. On the other hand, my relatives tend to live into their 80s. ---
**Author:** ![NinetyWt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/cc9497/32.png) [@NinetyWt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinetyWt)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2010, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-do-you-save/564262/62 "2010-12-19T01:34:01Z")
Our mortgage payment is about 8% of our total income. But we aren’t able to put back any savings. We don’t have a maid service, or landscaper, or a cruiser. We have three kids at home, pay car insurance on five vehicles and a camper, and pay for my sister’s telephone bill and car insurance. I also pay a larger share of taxes because I’m self-employed. Then there are the medical bills which we are chipping away at. Our three biggest expenses, year after year, are taxes, insurance, and medical (not necessarily in that order). ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2010, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-do-you-save/564262/63 "2010-12-20T17:48:43Z")
I save 50% of my post-tax income. I also save in a 401k, but that’s pre-tax. I save about 14% of gross in the 401k. No mortgage, but my rent is about 25% of my post-tax income. ---
**Author:** ![jasg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f0a364/32.png) [@jasg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jasg)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2010, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-do-you-save/564262/64 "2010-12-20T21:14:02Z")
25% to mortgage (incl. taxes & insurance) 15% to 401K (plus company match of 6%) 35% to savings (to have 'go \*\*\*\* you money if the job went south) - usually got a bonus of a couple paychecks each year, those went into savings, as did annual raises. Got married and company was sold: 25% to mortgage 15% to 401k (no company match) 15% to savings - bonuses & raises disappeared 5 years later, the Company laid me off and I get to live on the ‘go \*\*\*\* you money’ until I retire. Oh, yeah - I drive a well maintained 19 year old car that has been paid of for 15 years. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-do-you-save/564262.md?page=3)