Savings by Age: How Much to Save in Your 20s, 30s, 40s & Beyond | Ally (2024)

FAQs

Savings by Age: How Much to Save in Your 20s, 30s, 40s & Beyond | Ally? ›

Fast answer:

As a general rule of thumb, you'll want to have saved three to eight times your annual salary, depending on your age: 40: At least three times your salary. 45: Around four times your salary. 50: Six times your salary.

It's generally recommended that you save between three and six months' worth of expenses for emergencies. For example, one person spending $1,500 per month might need to save $4,500, while another person spending $2,000 per month might aim for a rainy day fund totaling $6,000.

By age 35, aim to save one to one-and-a-half times your current salary for retirement. By age 50, that goal is three-and-a-half to six times your salary. By age 60, your retirement savings goal may be six to 11-times your salary. Ranges increase with age to account for a wide variety of incomes and situations.

If you're looking for a ballpark figure, Taylor Kovar, certified financial planner and CEO of Kovar Wealth Management says, “By age 30, a good rule of thumb is to aim to have saved the equivalent of your annual salary. Let's say you're earning $50,000 a year. By 30, it would be beneficial to have $50,000 saved.

The 50-30-20 rule recommends putting 50% of your money toward needs, 30% toward wants, and 20% toward savings. The savings category also includes money you will need to realize your future goals. Let's take a closer look at each category.

“Take your living expenses for the year and multiply by 25. If you spend $60,000 a year, that's $1.5 million. If you have investable assets of more than that – not including the house you live in – you should theoretically be able to retire at age 40.”

Now that your income is likely higher, make sure you're taking full advantage of it. While everyone's needs are different, a good general rule of thumb is to save 10% to 15% of your income for retirement. You may even want to max out your annual contributions.

And given that the average American spends $66,921 per year (as of 2021), $10 million is more than enough to retire at 30 in most cases. However, that may not be true if you have an expensive lifestyle when you retire.

Is 20K in savings good? ›

While $20K may not let you quit your job, it's enough to start building financial security, whether you max out your retirement accounts, invest in fine art, or divide your cash between multiple investments.

By the time you're 25, you probably have accrued at least a few years in the workforce, so you may be starting to think seriously about saving money. But saving might still be a challenge if you're earning an entry-level salary or you have significant student loan debt. By age 25, you should have saved about $20,000.

One common benchmark is to have two times your annual salary in net worth by age 35. So, for example, say that you earn the U.S. median income of $74,500. This means that you will want to have $740,500 saved up by age 67. To reach this goal, at age 35 you may want to have about $149,000 in savings.

FDIC and NCUA insurance limits

So, regardless of any other factors, you generally shouldn't keep more than $250,000 in any insured deposit account. After all, if you have money in the account that's over this limit, it's typically uninsured. Take advantage of what a high-yield savings account can offer you now.

The average American has $65,100 in savings — excluding retirement assets — according to Northwestern Mutual's 2023 Planning & Progress Study. That's a 5% increase over the $62,000 reported in 2022.

“By the time you're 40, you should have three times your annual salary saved. Based on the median income for Americans in this age bracket, $100K between 25-30 years old is pretty good; but you would need to increase your savings to reach your age 40 benchmark.”

How much should you save each month? For many people, the 50/30/20 rule is a great way to split up monthly income. This budgeting rule states that you should allocate 50 percent of your monthly income for essentials (such as housing, groceries and gas), 30 percent for wants and 20 percent for savings.

How Much Should You Save for Retirement? By age 30, you should have one time your annual salary saved. For example, if you're earning $50,000, you should have $50,000 banked for retirement. By age 40, you should have three times your annual salary already saved.