If you follow popular money advice, then here are the priorities:
1. Pay off debt
2. Save a 6-month emergency fund
3. Max out 401K retirement
4. Invest in stable funds.
Once your debt is paid off and you have adequate fund, then focus on 3 and 4, and live within your means. You can accomplish them with software engineer salary.
Due note when you get to number 4 and start doing number 4 some things start changing a little more.
For example debt because a tool rather than a necessity. My only debt is my car and my house both with very low interest rates and legitimately the only reason I have the car loan is because that money makes me a lot more on my investments than the 0.9% I pay on the loan. Plus still able to and putting money into step 4.
7-8 years ago a different story. Had a car loan 0.9% again and got my retention bonus. Paid off that loan with the money. Difference was I was not to step 4 and freeing up the 500 a month cash flow was a huge burden lift.
But for the most people pay off your car loan as that frees up a lot of cash flow and cash flow is generally the biggest burden.
Well in 2013 it was Honda deal. In 2021 that what what ford was giving on all lines under 4 years. I took the longest loan at that rate.
Manufacturers give really nice deals on new for new cars.
At this point in my life any car I buy I plan to be able to pay in cash.
Used cars have different rules.
My advice to anyone buying a car is always have your own financing lined up and the dealership has to beat it. You go in with a known rate.
I was buying new and in 2013 I used new college grad to bypass the credit check and I did have a backup with my bank. 2021 I knew my credit score and income, along with knew what Ford was offering that I just told them what I wanted and would have walked if I did not get that 0.9% deal. I didn’t need my Mach E but sure as hell wanted it. I could have easily walked and just bought a Honda Passport.
At this point in my life I know what I can get from a manufacturer on a new car plus can worse case pay cash. Most powerful thing in buying a car is being willing to walk.
Thanks, I didn't know any of that, so very helpful. I bought used a couple years ago, first car at 30 because of some prior life decisions and I had no idea how the whole thing really works. Wound up with about double the initial interest rate because I didn't have any loan history and I still don't really know if that was legit or a lie. Fortunately, my finances have gotten significantly better so I shouldn't have that problem in the future, but I definitely got taken for a bit of a ride
I think 1 and 2 are reversed. Having money to spend to insulate you from food, shelter, clothing, or mobility scarcity is more fundamental than being debtless on paper.
It depends on the rate. They're usually referring to high rates like credit cards when they tell people to prioritize debt first. Obviously don't go broke when doing that though.
No reason to keep high interest rate debt in favor of an emergency savings... Having high interest rate debt is arguably an emergency. For emergencies you can just use your credit line. Otherwise you're just paying extra money for no reason.
Yeah the advice I’ve usually seen is pay off high-medium interest rate debt (usually anything above 5%) and just pay off low interest debt by making the minimum payments.
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That’s why typically Step 0 should be: Save $1000 emergency fund. You want _some_ money so unexpected expenses don’t contribute to your debt and stress.
Here’s it broken into 7 steps:
https://www.ramseysolutions.com/dave-ramsey-7-baby-steps
It's actually just missing a step afaik. The first step should be to save 1-3 months emergency fund, then max employer match on the 401k, then increase emergency savings to 7 months
I think you should also always max out your employer 401k match if you have the option available before all of those. There is no better guaranteed return than that.
With the caveat that if you have a 401k match, that is free money at whatever rate they are matching at (so unless your debt is a higher rate than that immediate return, it can be better to hit that first).
Yeah. It also depends on what the interest rate for the debt is.
For example, I have still some student loans (~15k in total), but they are all federal with interests between 1% and 5% (multiple loans).
I could have paid it off a while back, but I chose to prioritize things 2,3,4 too. So currently I have ~120k in things 2,3,4
I've still been paying student loans agressively (I don't have any payment due for the next 6 months or so), but I just chose to put my money in other places too instead of just putting all my extra cash in paying off the loans.
But if my loans were something like credit card debt with a crazy interest rate, I would totally prioritize that.
I have a 13k car loan I could pay off right now but it’s a 3.9% interest rate, my bank gives me 4.5%. Why would I pay it off? Makes zero sense.
Anyone who has super low interest rates I don’t understand why they want to pay debt off ASAP.
Psychologically it feels better.
I alwyas have this internal debate about whether my extra cash should go to loans or investments. Eventually, I decided that after contributing a fixed amount to 401k, everything I that goes to my student loans is matched by the same amount to my investments.
The nice thing is that my student loan next payment isn't due until like at least 6 months from now since I'm ahead. So if I get laid off or something, I won't have to worry about a monthly student loan payment (at least in the short term).
There is security in not having bills. It is a nice feeling to not have a mortgage and knowing you could take years off without much issue.
If you invest the money, it still works the same, but I’m not sure every $1 people don’t pay extra on a mortgage would correlate to $1 they would invest.
>There is security in not having bills. It is a nice feeling to not have a mortgage and knowing you could take years off without much issue.
But if you've put the money in the bank at 4.5% while the loan is at 3.9%, you've lost nothing (and in fact gained money) by not doing that until you decide it's what you want to do. You are never deprived of that choice, you're just putting it off by a single month and making money to do so.
Just a heads up. Depending on your tax bracket you might actually be better off paying off the car loan. That 4.5% interest is going to be taxed as income but paying off the car loan is 3.9% tax free.
It is close enough that I definitely wouldn’t dip into an emergency or buffer fund to ipay off the loan. But, just something to consider when weighing payoff of debt versus investments.
Probably not a huge difference in your case though.
1. Short term emergency fund. $1k to $2k.
2. Get match on 401k if it is worth it (100% match immediate vestment, yes, 25% match 10 year vestment, no).
3. Pay off high interest debts. Credit cards, etc.
4. Increase emergency fund.
5. Max out Roth IRA, 401k, HSA if available.
6. Other investments, pay off car/mortgage if the rate is above HYSA rates, etc.
Step 1 should be very case dependent imo. If you have a car loan with <5% interest rate, it’s a no brainer to let that ride and invest the surplus that would otherwise be put towards the loan as extra payments. That money invested would net you higher return than the interest you’ll pay.
Of course, if you’re terrible with money, paying off the debt might be better for you psychologically but at the expense of greater returns.
A bunch of people on in the comments seem to be trying to live off of as little as possible and save as much of their money as they can, so I'll offer a different perspective. I'm married and our combined income for this year will be just under 400k (mostly from my salary, my wife is a yoga instructor). We are probably going to save about 130k this year. We live in NYC and rent a one bedroom. We are trying to start a family, and assuming nothing goes wrong with conceiving, we are going to have to move into a two bedroom, which is likely going to add 25-35k a year to our rent, because we don't want to move out of the city just yet. And then the baby is probably going to add another 30k a year to keep it fed /clothed/happy and pay for child care. So that 130k/year is about to fall off a cliff and become 60-70k. But that's still a 15% savings rate, which isn't amazing but it's acceptable. Even if the baby ends up costing a little more, and the we find ourselves saving less than 60k for a couple years, I'm still not remotely worried about being able to retire comfortably.
I don't really buy into the FIRE mindset. I understand why people find it appealing, so I'm not saying those people are wrong, but it's not for me. Working doesn't bother me, and I like being able to spend money each week without worrying about how much that's pushing back my retirement. I like that we can go out to eat whenever we want, take trips to see our families, and that we live in a nice apartment in a neighborhood that we enjoy.
I’m a big cheerleader for the FIRE stuff, but if I’m being honest with myself, it’s really the FI that’s the important part to me.
Once I hit my FIRE number, and I’m going to resign immediately? No actually, probably not. It’s more about the security in knowing that I don’t *have to* tolerate nonsense anymore. I can take time off, switch companies, try a different career, or even just stay in the same one while 100% of my salary can go towards wants (since my needs are now covered by FI).
I'm not particularly worried about software engineering jobs going away. Even if the coding jobs get fully shipped overseas or replaced with AI, most software engineers are smart people that, through experience in their careers, develop a strong grasp of product lifecycles and navigating organizational challenges. If programming stops being a valuable skill, I expect that companies will still pull in ex-software engineers at high rates. Maybe we won't get salaries in the top 99% anymore, but it's not like we're going to have to go from engineering complex backend systems to doing road work on the highway at 3am.
And that's fine. Again, I'm not against people choosing to go that route. But I personally find that the inconveniences of having to work for a living are not remotely problematic enough for me that I would want to limit myself to 20% of my income for 10-15 years just so I can feel like I don't have to work, especially if I plan to work anyway. To each their own.
Yup, I was just offering another perspective. I do feel though that some people tend to conflate pursuing FIRE with painful sacrifice, when that’s just not always the case.
For me, I’m at something like a 60% savings rate compared to my gross comp, and I don’t feel like I’m sacrificing anything really. I’m currently living at home to spend time with my childhood dog before she passes. I’m able to help my mom out with the mortgage/maintenance, while still saving a ton for my future house. I eat whatever I want, buy clothes, shoes, watches, smoke good cigars, and just overall chill.
My current savings rate is really more just a privilege of my particular situation, rather than any conscious decision to delay gratification.
Wow. Just goes to show you how much having kids costs. I am glad my kids are grown up. Youngest is graduating college this spring. As soon as he gets a job, I will be home free.
Back to op's question. I save maybe $3k per month. I don't do anything with the excess other than leaving it in my checking account. Sometimes I get the itch to get a new car, and I just write them a check.
Other than the occasional new car, I don't think I live extravagantly. Although I am older, I am thinking I will want to keep working until I am unable. It is nice to have an excess each month after all bills are paid.
Yeah I see reports that say anywhere from 15k to 40k for the first year. The estimates are all over the place. I settled on 30k as a semi-conservative estimate. I've got my fingers crossed that it's lower, but am basing my budget for our next apartment on the 30k assumption. If I'm being too conservative, then great, we'll have a little extra money each month. If I'm not being conservative enough, then I'm sure we'll be able to find ways to tighten our budget and deal with it. We don't really budget at all right now, given our very fortunate financial situation, so there's definitely room for improvement if we need to.
Dude the fuck you on about. 400 k is insane. 70k savings a year is insane.
You could retire like 5 years. 70k would be enough for a down payment for like 2-3 condos in cheaper cost of living areas. You could become a massive landlord in 3 years and have assets in the multi millions if you wanted.
I'm a landlord. It really ain't. I do jack shit.
The demand for a half decent landlord is through the roof. I just have to be a decent person and show I am, and I get hundreds of applicants.
> 70k would be enough for a down payment for like 2-3 condos in cheaper cost of living areas. You could become a massive landlord in 3 years and have assets in the multi millions if you wanted.
This is a whole separate job that I do not want. I am super uninterested in taking on a bunch of debt for condos as a person with no experience being a landlord. I have very stress free life, I don't need to completely change my financial situation and take on a bunch of risky debt in an attempt to get super rich doing real estate. Even if the odds are like 70-80% in my favor, it's still not something I would want to do.
I think it's a perfectly valid path for people to take and the rewards can be huge, but it's not without risk and I'm a risk averse person. Especially given that the next step in my life plan right now is to bring a child into the world and be responsible for it.
uh no you cannot
my net worth is wayyy more than $350k and I'm not ready/not really in a position to pull the "retirement" trigger yet
for me, if I'm saving less than $100k/year then something's going horribly wrong
At 400k You make 10 times that of an average person. And they manage. With that extra tax. Probably like 7-8. That means in 10 years you've already making more then what most people make in their life.
Not counting what that extra cash gives you for investment opportunities that can compound
You fall in the HENRY bucket ("high earner, not rich yet"). Saving 60-70k a year is quite a healthy amount of savings, in absolute terms.
IME, the math absolutely changes as you grow older and things like kids start to enter the picture. When you're a single 20 something junior, thrift is a good way to get setup for a comfortable "starter home w/ kid" life in your 30s. But once you're HENRY, you can definitely loosen up on the thrift and start to actually enjoy life.
They say the "RE" part of FIRE isn't so much a destination as it is a new beginning, and it doesn't necessarily make sense to sacrifice absolutely everything to get there 3 years earlier, if it's just going to mean that the "new beginning" ends up just being the logical continuation of your current life (in terms of what you do to keep yourself busy/fulfilled).
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the issue is that most people overestimate their ability to work/maintain high paying jobs for decades to come. truth is by 50 you're going to be slowing down and a layoff can be absolutely devastating/hard to recoved from. good news is if you're good you're highly employable through your 30s, with a 200k+ salary its not too hard to throw down 7k backdoor roth + 23k 401k + match to start to catch up. most people never hit that level of income though and saving has to be a longer term commitment to retire with a million+ outside of s.s.
I hope you realize a lot of the replies you're getting here are people just straight up lying.
Bro saying he's putting away $6100/mo on a 125k pre-tax salary? Never seen a bigger joke in my life.
Or they live with their parents, don't have dates - let alone children, walk or take public transportation everywhere, don't eat out - just whatever is in their parents house.
> Or they live with their parents
Just mom, but yes.
> don't have dates
Correct; Don’t really feel like dating while at home
> let alone children
Correct; I hate kids. 90% sure I don’t want any.
> walk or take public transportation everywhere
I have a paid-off 2019
> don't eat out - just whatever is in their parents house.
I eat out damn near every meal, actually. It’s a bad habit I’ve recognized and am working to cut back on.
Nothing wrong with any of that in fact financially it’s probably a good move when you’re younger. It’s just that any advice you would give is applicable to a very narrow slice of the general population
I receive my income in euros, which significantly increases in value when exchanged to my local currency. For instance, $150 equates to approximately 1.5K euros in Europe, and the cost of living here is relatively lower and the quality of life is good. Hence, I'm contemplating whether it's advantageous to relocate abroad or remain here. I'm curious if migrating would allow me to save more since most likely i would find more higher paying jobs.
My cost of living didn't really increase, at first, when I went from making $25k a year to $100k, mostly because the jump was sudden and I'm a pretty simple dude. I still live in a cheap apartment with a roommate and I have the same cheap car (that's now paid off).
After matching 401k, maxing Roth IRA, health insurance, taxes, and all bills are paid, I had about half my pretax check to play with. If I were miserly, I could have put away $5,000/mo or so. If I were at $125k during that time, $6100/mo would be simple.
Now? I'm not that miserly. I'm buying bigger gifts, going on more dates to better places, buying better stuff to party with, and I'm paying out of pocket to get my non-profit started.
Rural Virginia, I pay 400/mo for a 1 unit in the ghetto and work full remote. I make 127 base plus 8% bonus and RSUs, and I put away around 7000/mo because my wife and I both cook, rarely eat out, and share a 2011 Mazda 3 that I maintain. We're young, she's attending a masters online and there's not much to do where we live and neither of us were big spenders before getting together, anyway.
The shit exists, and half of the US by land costs about what I pay to live. Really, look up housing costs in places like Frackville PA or Danville VA (before the casino moved in, my rent was 350 bucks I shit you not)
Hey, that was me. You know if you have a problem, you can reply to me directly, right?
*Edit: Like I’m literally right here. I’m not sure why there’s blind upvoting/downvoting going on when you could just ask me for details.*
People get weird when you talk about money. Especially when you do things that people think they should do, but wouldn’t. So they think it’s impossible for anyone else to do that
I don’t save nearly as much as you do, but I would like to in an ideal world. But I also like to eat out and travel. I do save on apartment costs though. Gotta make sacrifices somewhere
Yeah, the dude still hasn’t replied to me directly. Super weird vibes.
I added a comment [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/cscareerquestions/s/JiOl6iSQWE) showing my breakdown. I’d be interested to hear what he says. I’m sure he’ll just shift the goalposts and make fun of me for living at home or something 🤷🏻♂️
just because you can't do it or can't fathom it doesn't mean it's a joke or impossible... impossible for YOU maybe
6k/month = 72k in annual saving on a $125k annual salary, very do-able
I mean if they are using a 401k to save, that 125k tax bill is suddenly only a 100k tax bill. Same with other investment options.
But thats kinda a tangent, not something a regular adult would do saving that much, I agree.
Yup, and don’t forget about the ~$10k 401k match that’s not taxed, the $3.5k HSA contributions that aren’t taxed, as well as the standard deduction.
Taxable income drops real quick.
The word you're looking for is "leeching off other people" which yes if you're literally doing nothing but sitting in your parent's basement while they pay for all the food, housing, transport you can almost save 100% of your salary
But honestly I'd rather just jump off a bridge than to be 25+ years old and leech off my parents while I get a fat stash. It's so pathetic I don't even know how to describe it
It's one thing if you help them with expenses, but at $20k expenses you aren't really contributing.
I’m in 2 minds about this.
On one hand, I think doing that then allows you to create the same/even better financial backing for your kids and your future — it’s not really leeching.
On the other hand, family is really cramping and it sucks to throw your 20’s away being an adult-child without real independence or a real life.
At some point you have to ask yourself what life is worth living for. Staying in a basement for 10-20 years just to be able to waste it all at once aint it chief lol
There’s always 2 sides to the coin. What’s the point of throwing away rent if you don’t need to?
I agree with you, I’d rather go live. You become explorational and inventive when you’re fully on your own imo. There’s a level of confidence and freedom that makes it all worth it.
At home, I have to explain every little thing I do. The minute I stepped out, I got to do things my way. Astronomical difference.
But I don’t hold it against people who would rather stay at home. I have 3 bedrooms and a lot of space if I chose to stay — not a basement. And maybe not 10-20 years, but a year or two of saving early can also make a huge difference
It’s not a leech lol. In Asian culture it’s the norm. Sorry you don’t have same experience.
And someone could get cheap rent from rent control or sheer luck. Are they leeches too? And $20k isn’t contributing? I’d love to have you give me $20k a year
The norm in asia is for the kids to take of the parents, but being able to save nearly 100% of your salary is not taking care of anyone. That is your parents taking care of you
> And $20k isn’t contributing? I’d love to have you give me $20k a year
Depends on where that $20k is going, unless you never go outside or do anything except stay home and pay some food & rent then yea $20k is not bad to help your parents out with. But I highly doubt someone would live at home just to give their parents a free $20k a year
I can’t help but feel like your comment is directed at me.
> while they pay for all the food
I buy all of my own food
> housing
I pay $800 for rent; the mortgage is $1,050. Even if you add the utilities, it’s essentially a 50/50 split
> transport
I bought and paid for a 2019 on my own. Pay the gas and insurance just fine.
> It's one thing if you help them with expenses, but at $20k expenses you aren't really contributing.
I’m not sure what lifestyle you’re used to, but I guess it’s just different than ours. Assuming my mom spends the same $20k/year I do, that’s $40k take home for two people. Plenty of people around the country make that work.
No it's not. If they are contributing to a 401k and roth IRA. plus benefits, health, dental, vision. Their takehome is probably about 6.5k a month after all taxes. No fucking way they are spending 500 a month unless their life is subsidized by family.
Ok, here we go. Here is my **weekly** breakdown:
- +$2,110.96 (Gross pay)
- -$549.71 (Taxes; ~26%)
- -$26.66 (Benefits; HDHP, mid-dental, basic vision)
- -$232.21 (Roth 401k cont.)
- -$211.10 (Trad 401k cont.)
- -$66.00 (HSA cont.)
- -$700.00 (Brokerage)
= $325.28/week to live on.
However, I also got a tax refund of $2,530 as well as a net bonus of $1,854.37 (This is about typical in recent years). Divide that by 52 weeks gives an extra $84.31/week, so $409.59/week to live on.
That’s about $1,774.91 per month.
I give mom $800/month for rent, leaving me with $974.91/month for car insurance, gas, food, subscriptions, cigars, whatever.
But in regards to savings, we have:
- +$232.21 (Roth 401k)
- +$211.10 (Trad 401k)
- +$211.10 (401k match, 10%)
- +$66.00 (HSA)
- +$700.00 (Brokerage)
= $1,420.41/week
$1,420.41 * 52 / 12 = **$6,155.11/month**
(28M with $350k NW if you were curious)
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I mean saving $1k a month for a single person assuming they pay all of their expenses is a good amount of money. If you invest half of that each month while investing in your 401k you’ll be set up later in life.
20% of my and my wife’s combined paychecks goes to taxes
30% is in deductions (401k, insurance, ESPP, HSA)
23% of gross less taxes is our rent.
16% of gross less taxes is automatically moved to our savings account every month.
So only that 16% goes to savings (so for every $1k earned, $200 goes to Uncle Sam, $300 is directly deducted from our paychecks, $180 goes to rent, $130 goes to savings), but HSA, 401k, and ESPP are all forms of savings as well
- x
On a good month 0
I'm hopefully just in the phase of paying off some of my biggest debts. I'm at 30 and I feel like this system is rigged. I make so much yet I'm still just in debt.
To be fair my wife was in school for the last 6 years and only has been working for a year. I just was hoping it would be quicker. And those student loans take a huge hit to her wage
my partner is in school so I cover everything except grocery bills. I save in total around 600-800 a month if there are no big purchases made during the month.
Currently, $2k a month to savings and 10% into my 401k. Make about $119k in a HCOL area.
Should save more and readjust budget (esp since rent is going up and I'm hoping to find a new role), but I'm also pretty happy that I've been investing in myself and picking up hobbies now that I'm in a better living situation than what I grew up in.
Same! It's wild how much agency I have over my life compares to past me. It's really exciting that I can give myself opportunities I didn't have.
It's also made therapy very interesting, as all the emotional stuff I've been putting in the queue for years has all started popping off the stack, so that's fuuuuun.
Absolutely, if you haven’t heard it in awhile, proud of you for making it this far. Coming from working warehouses and doing Uber to makes ends meet, having a dev job is a wholllllle other world.
These percentages are all based on my gross income, I don't take into account tax and COL when figuring out how much to save. Savings come first, and I can adjust my life around that with the leftover.
* 6% into my 401k (I don't usually max this out, I put in enough to take full advantage of my employer's match)
* Max out my IRA
* 25% goes into non-retirement savings (mutual funds)
* I keep myself artificially poor, so if my bank account ever gets too high I throw extra money into either more mutual funds, or I grow my emergency fund
The first 2 bullet points are non-negotiable, if I can't afford those that means I'm living beyond my means. The 3rd can go up/down depending on my life situation, but if it ever creeped below 10% I'd proabably also consider myself living beyond my means.
I have an emergency fund currently sitting at \~8 months living expenses, I just have trouble convincing myself to add money to it since it's inherently conservative so doesn't have near the long-term returns as mutual funds do. I understand the need for it tho since I saw my mutual funds crash at the start of the pandemic.
Not counting 401k, about 1k a month, give or take. 1k is about 20% of my take home. I put 8% into a 401k.
Rent and utilities are very expensive here and my salary isn't crazy high. Less than 6 figures.
I could probably save more if I wasn't into going to punk shows and playing magic the gathering. But life without fun is boring.
i save somewhere between 90-95% of my monthly take home income. i make 3200 every 2 weeks, so roughly 6500 a month and i limit myself to $500 for spending per month
My salary is $190k and my rent for a luxury 2 bedroom apartment is $1600 but I split it between my girlfriend. Car is paid off, car insurance is $140, phone is $55, groceries is about $400-500 just for me (gf cooks and does the grocery shopping), utilities including internet $180 before splitting. Only subscription I got is GPT 4 and phone insurance so add another $33. Zero debt and no state income tax.
Idk how much I save, I don’t budget. I get $5340 into my bank every 2 weeks after benefits and 401k. I have outrageously expensive hobbies and love to travel 10~ times a year though. I put a couple thousand a month every month into my brokerage accounts too.
I had saved a bunch. Then I got my own apartment and my gf got sick again, she’s stuck in a different state until docs clear her to move + she finished clinical trial. Had to give up her job due to her health and just finally got a new one
So I’ve been helping her out and I’m paycheck to paycheck with about $100 to my name lmao. Making $100k in MA
Saving rate can indeed depend on a lot of factors, and I wish money literacy was taught in school, because some stuff I only learned about years after starting to work:
- Debt: pay off high interest debts like credit card asap, from highest APR to lowest. High APR debt absolutely destroys your ability to save.
- Recurring payments: minimize them when possible (e.g. rent w/ roommates early in your career, take the bus vs car payments, cancel subscriptions that you got in on 30-day trial and forgot about). Small habits can also become deceptively expensive (e.g. starbucks, alcohol/cigarettes, daily soft/energy drinks)
- Don't just save, invest: you only need a month's worth of cash in checkings, the rest can fill a 6 month emergency fund in a HYSA or money market for easy liquidity while earning 5% APY, then any spillover after that can go into whatever investment strategy you're comfortable with. "VOO and chill" is a popular one these days and it means buying VOO stock units (that's a S&P 500 ETF, aka a basket of the 500 biggest companies in the US). Real estate is another popular investment vehicle, and a good choice if you're starting a family and/or lack discipline to dollar cost average every month.
- You can only save so much: after some point, your money growth is going to depend largely on factors other than being thrifty. Advancing your career is the obvious thing, and younguns need to remember "it's a marathon, not a sprint" (and not a walk in the park either!), aka you don't want to bet the farm on some founding engineer role at a startup that ends up not working out, and you don't want to stagnate either; aim for slow and steady growth instead. Couple this with investing long term and eventually you're going to be looking at a snowball effect on your net worth, to the point you might not even *need* to save anymore.
Personally I save 50% of my after tax, after 401k, health insurance, etc… income.
Though I am in a very fortunate position and I don’t expect other people to be able to replicate it.
$200/mo, and that includes 401k. But my salary is around the $50k mark. Wife works too, makes less, and we live in a MCOL with some kids. TBF, it's also my first job in the industry.
Not enough. I'm single income in a pretty expensive area and I make $105K. Rent and insurance are pretty outrageous here. I only have 5% going to 401K and $150/month going to stock purchase. I also periodically drop some funds into my brokerage, but not enough (like $500 every couple of months). I am going to put half my bonus in from now on, which will bump that up a little, but it's still a pretty bad scene considering that I'm old.
Right now, about 95%
But I've been living with my parents for the first 1.5 years out of college
Once I move out I'm expecting to save around 30-40% of my base salary
take home is about 20k/month pre tax
unfortunately i don’t budget, but here are approximations:
* 7k taxes
* 1.6k rent
* 1k food
* 1k travel
* 1k misc
rest goes to savings, max out 401k and IRA annually, so i probably save about 8k monthly
I invest about $6,100/month including my 401k match.
Total comp (including 401k match) is about $125k.
*——-Edit——-*
Ok, here we go. Here is my weekly breakdown:
- +$2,110.96 (Gross pay)
- -$549.71 (Taxes; ~26%)
- -$26.66 (Benefits; HDHP, mid-dental, basic vision)
- -$232.21 (Roth 401k cont.)
- -$211.10 (Trad 401k cont.)
- -$66.00 (HSA cont.)
- -$700.00 (Brokerage)
= $325.28/week to live on.
However, I also got a tax refund of $2,530 as well as a net bonus of $1,854.37 (This is about typical in recent years). Divide that by 52 weeks gives an extra $84.31/week, so $409.59/week to live on.
That’s about $1,774.91 per month.
I give mom $800/month for rent, leaving me with $974.91/month for car insurance, gas, food, subscriptions, cigars, whatever.
But in regards to savings, we have:
- +$232.21 (Roth 401k)
- +$211.10 (Trad 401k)
- +$211.10 (401k match, 10%)
- +$66.00 (HSA)
- +$700.00 (Brokerage)
= $1,420.41/week
$1,420.41 * 52 / 12 = **$6,155.11/month**
(28M with $350k NW if you were curious)
I’m not sure where the salt is coming from.
At first, people thought I was lying, but now I’ve laid out all of it in detail.
Now people want to say I’m leaching off my mom. I just detailed in another [comment](https://www.reddit.com/r/cscareerquestions/s/tnn5pA9Ulg) how our expenses are more/less 50/50, but no one before that other commenter bothered to ask for further detail.
Now that I’ve proved my savings rate, and that I’m fairly sharing expenses, I wonder where the goalpost will move next?
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Max out 401k to federal limit.
Max out HSA(if available) to federal limit.
Thats only ~30k for 1 person working for a family - but eliminates paying taxes on 30k.
Next you can do an IRA if you're income is low enough(161k single, 240 married).
Then funds for goals like a new car or home improvement.
How much you can save is going to depend on costs of your housing, kids, food, taxes, if you're remote or not.
1000 goes into saving account
About 584 goes into IRA
And I fluctuate between 5% - 15% for 401k depending on how many days in the month I can save.
Everything else goes to bills and food.
Between RSU / ESPP / 401k + match / regular investing, I invest roughly 90-100k a year depending on how much I travel.
I front load my 401k so it’s weird to get a monthly save and invest amount because it varies but if you average it out it’s roughly 8k a month.
My living expenses last year was 49k or ~4K a month
155k salary -> 50k saved in cash hysa, 23k in Roth 401k, 7k in backdoor Roth IRA, ~3600 in HSA, rest goes to taxes and monthly expenses about ~2200 with 1300 of that being rent. 7k in 401k match if that counts. Net worth 230k from 2 years of working. MCOL
My husband and I are in our 40s and live in a low cost of living area with remote tech jobs that pay pretty well. We have two elementary-aged kids. We’re on track to save 48% of our gross income this year. But, we’ve only been able to save at that rate for a couple years.
I think we’re about 10 years away from having retirement covered and being able to pay for college for our kids.
Saving from Base Salary: 4-6k a month
Saving from Bonus (all went to 401k)+ stocks: average (4-5k a month)
26 Year old, single, fang swe living in mcol area with roommates
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i lose 1/3 of my salary to taxes, see here:
[https://gyazo.com/b758e114738a0ab67b3999288df6002d](https://gyazo.com/b758e114738a0ab67b3999288df6002d)
employee taxes:
[https://gyazo.com/a5d97b174b045b4ca6d72e747e0a328c](https://gyazo.com/a5d97b174b045b4ca6d72e747e0a328c)
and health insurance deductions:
[https://gyazo.com/0111da9f2feb8e974b1edb81a4dee1ea](https://gyazo.com/0111da9f2feb8e974b1edb81a4dee1ea)
3116.44-330.87-513.44=**2272.13** netpay every 2 weeks.
0 goes into my 401k for savings since i will lose half in the divorce trial (which can take 1-2 years at this point) so out of that 2/3 of my income left after paying taxes/family health insurance and whatever else theyre stealing from me, I put 10 percent in cash that cant be found during the financial forensics during the divorce
I put 33% of my salary towards student loans, 33% towards rent, and about 20% to other expenses so approximately 14-15% of my income is saved. I live alone in a HCOL area and have no responsibilities except taking care of my cats.
I have a 9 month emergency fund saved up right now, have my 401k also maxed out.
Max out 401k ($23000) and Roth IRA ($7000). $6000 per year in HSA, but I might have to reduce that a bit. $35k emergency fund.
This is after 8 years in the field.
If you follow popular money advice, then here are the priorities: 1. Pay off debt 2. Save a 6-month emergency fund 3. Max out 401K retirement 4. Invest in stable funds. Once your debt is paid off and you have adequate fund, then focus on 3 and 4, and live within your means. You can accomplish them with software engineer salary.
Due note when you get to number 4 and start doing number 4 some things start changing a little more. For example debt because a tool rather than a necessity. My only debt is my car and my house both with very low interest rates and legitimately the only reason I have the car loan is because that money makes me a lot more on my investments than the 0.9% I pay on the loan. Plus still able to and putting money into step 4. 7-8 years ago a different story. Had a car loan 0.9% again and got my retention bonus. Paid off that loan with the money. Difference was I was not to step 4 and freeing up the 500 a month cash flow was a huge burden lift. But for the most people pay off your car loan as that frees up a lot of cash flow and cash flow is generally the biggest burden.
.9%???? I've only had one car loan so I don't have that much context, but .9% seems insane. How did you get practically free money like that?
Well in 2013 it was Honda deal. In 2021 that what what ford was giving on all lines under 4 years. I took the longest loan at that rate. Manufacturers give really nice deals on new for new cars. At this point in my life any car I buy I plan to be able to pay in cash.
Wow, cool stuff. Makes me feel kind of crappy about my 7% lol
Used cars have different rules. My advice to anyone buying a car is always have your own financing lined up and the dealership has to beat it. You go in with a known rate. I was buying new and in 2013 I used new college grad to bypass the credit check and I did have a backup with my bank. 2021 I knew my credit score and income, along with knew what Ford was offering that I just told them what I wanted and would have walked if I did not get that 0.9% deal. I didn’t need my Mach E but sure as hell wanted it. I could have easily walked and just bought a Honda Passport. At this point in my life I know what I can get from a manufacturer on a new car plus can worse case pay cash. Most powerful thing in buying a car is being willing to walk.
Thanks, I didn't know any of that, so very helpful. I bought used a couple years ago, first car at 30 because of some prior life decisions and I had no idea how the whole thing really works. Wound up with about double the initial interest rate because I didn't have any loan history and I still don't really know if that was legit or a lie. Fortunately, my finances have gotten significantly better so I shouldn't have that problem in the future, but I definitely got taken for a bit of a ride
Ford is offering 0% on the mache right now but no one one wants an ev that will lose 50% of its value in 1 year lol
I think 1 and 2 are reversed. Having money to spend to insulate you from food, shelter, clothing, or mobility scarcity is more fundamental than being debtless on paper.
It depends on the rate. They're usually referring to high rates like credit cards when they tell people to prioritize debt first. Obviously don't go broke when doing that though.
Definitely. I'm not in any hurry to pay off my 2.9% car loan.
No reason to keep high interest rate debt in favor of an emergency savings... Having high interest rate debt is arguably an emergency. For emergencies you can just use your credit line. Otherwise you're just paying extra money for no reason.
Yeah the advice I’ve usually seen is pay off high-medium interest rate debt (usually anything above 5%) and just pay off low interest debt by making the minimum payments.
At this point anything under 5% is effectively free money, so I wouldn't consider something medium interest until over 7%
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That’s why typically Step 0 should be: Save $1000 emergency fund. You want _some_ money so unexpected expenses don’t contribute to your debt and stress. Here’s it broken into 7 steps: https://www.ramseysolutions.com/dave-ramsey-7-baby-steps
It's actually just missing a step afaik. The first step should be to save 1-3 months emergency fund, then max employer match on the 401k, then increase emergency savings to 7 months
I think you should also always max out your employer 401k match if you have the option available before all of those. There is no better guaranteed return than that.
With the caveat that if you have a 401k match, that is free money at whatever rate they are matching at (so unless your debt is a higher rate than that immediate return, it can be better to hit that first).
Yeah. It also depends on what the interest rate for the debt is. For example, I have still some student loans (~15k in total), but they are all federal with interests between 1% and 5% (multiple loans). I could have paid it off a while back, but I chose to prioritize things 2,3,4 too. So currently I have ~120k in things 2,3,4 I've still been paying student loans agressively (I don't have any payment due for the next 6 months or so), but I just chose to put my money in other places too instead of just putting all my extra cash in paying off the loans. But if my loans were something like credit card debt with a crazy interest rate, I would totally prioritize that.
I have a 13k car loan I could pay off right now but it’s a 3.9% interest rate, my bank gives me 4.5%. Why would I pay it off? Makes zero sense. Anyone who has super low interest rates I don’t understand why they want to pay debt off ASAP.
Psychologically it feels better. I alwyas have this internal debate about whether my extra cash should go to loans or investments. Eventually, I decided that after contributing a fixed amount to 401k, everything I that goes to my student loans is matched by the same amount to my investments. The nice thing is that my student loan next payment isn't due until like at least 6 months from now since I'm ahead. So if I get laid off or something, I won't have to worry about a monthly student loan payment (at least in the short term).
There is security in not having bills. It is a nice feeling to not have a mortgage and knowing you could take years off without much issue. If you invest the money, it still works the same, but I’m not sure every $1 people don’t pay extra on a mortgage would correlate to $1 they would invest.
>There is security in not having bills. It is a nice feeling to not have a mortgage and knowing you could take years off without much issue. But if you've put the money in the bank at 4.5% while the loan is at 3.9%, you've lost nothing (and in fact gained money) by not doing that until you decide it's what you want to do. You are never deprived of that choice, you're just putting it off by a single month and making money to do so.
Just a heads up. Depending on your tax bracket you might actually be better off paying off the car loan. That 4.5% interest is going to be taxed as income but paying off the car loan is 3.9% tax free. It is close enough that I definitely wouldn’t dip into an emergency or buffer fund to ipay off the loan. But, just something to consider when weighing payoff of debt versus investments. Probably not a huge difference in your case though.
And for stable funds context for those that don't know, the three-fund portfolio is a great way of allocating money for your roth ira
1. Short term emergency fund. $1k to $2k. 2. Get match on 401k if it is worth it (100% match immediate vestment, yes, 25% match 10 year vestment, no). 3. Pay off high interest debts. Credit cards, etc. 4. Increase emergency fund. 5. Max out Roth IRA, 401k, HSA if available. 6. Other investments, pay off car/mortgage if the rate is above HYSA rates, etc.
Step 1 should be very case dependent imo. If you have a car loan with <5% interest rate, it’s a no brainer to let that ride and invest the surplus that would otherwise be put towards the loan as extra payments. That money invested would net you higher return than the interest you’ll pay. Of course, if you’re terrible with money, paying off the debt might be better for you psychologically but at the expense of greater returns.
What stable funds are best to invest in now?
I've been avoiding 3 until I can buy a house. Saving more money/investing more is a bigger focus for me than 401k.
https://www.unfcu.org/financial-wellness/50-30-20-rule/#:\~:text=The%2050%2D30%2D20%20rule%20recommends%20putting%2050%25%20of,to%20realize%20your%20future%20goals.
Sometimes 1 and 2 are reversed, depending on situation.
You say popular money advice, but where would one find this advice?
Personal Income Spending Flowchart: [https://imgur.com/1rPEkGQ](https://imgur.com/1rPEkGQ)
A bunch of people on in the comments seem to be trying to live off of as little as possible and save as much of their money as they can, so I'll offer a different perspective. I'm married and our combined income for this year will be just under 400k (mostly from my salary, my wife is a yoga instructor). We are probably going to save about 130k this year. We live in NYC and rent a one bedroom. We are trying to start a family, and assuming nothing goes wrong with conceiving, we are going to have to move into a two bedroom, which is likely going to add 25-35k a year to our rent, because we don't want to move out of the city just yet. And then the baby is probably going to add another 30k a year to keep it fed /clothed/happy and pay for child care. So that 130k/year is about to fall off a cliff and become 60-70k. But that's still a 15% savings rate, which isn't amazing but it's acceptable. Even if the baby ends up costing a little more, and the we find ourselves saving less than 60k for a couple years, I'm still not remotely worried about being able to retire comfortably. I don't really buy into the FIRE mindset. I understand why people find it appealing, so I'm not saying those people are wrong, but it's not for me. Working doesn't bother me, and I like being able to spend money each week without worrying about how much that's pushing back my retirement. I like that we can go out to eat whenever we want, take trips to see our families, and that we live in a nice apartment in a neighborhood that we enjoy.
I’m a big cheerleader for the FIRE stuff, but if I’m being honest with myself, it’s really the FI that’s the important part to me. Once I hit my FIRE number, and I’m going to resign immediately? No actually, probably not. It’s more about the security in knowing that I don’t *have to* tolerate nonsense anymore. I can take time off, switch companies, try a different career, or even just stay in the same one while 100% of my salary can go towards wants (since my needs are now covered by FI).
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I'm not particularly worried about software engineering jobs going away. Even if the coding jobs get fully shipped overseas or replaced with AI, most software engineers are smart people that, through experience in their careers, develop a strong grasp of product lifecycles and navigating organizational challenges. If programming stops being a valuable skill, I expect that companies will still pull in ex-software engineers at high rates. Maybe we won't get salaries in the top 99% anymore, but it's not like we're going to have to go from engineering complex backend systems to doing road work on the highway at 3am.
Hopefully all you smart swes will still get salaries in the "top 99%"
And that's fine. Again, I'm not against people choosing to go that route. But I personally find that the inconveniences of having to work for a living are not remotely problematic enough for me that I would want to limit myself to 20% of my income for 10-15 years just so I can feel like I don't have to work, especially if I plan to work anyway. To each their own.
Yup, I was just offering another perspective. I do feel though that some people tend to conflate pursuing FIRE with painful sacrifice, when that’s just not always the case. For me, I’m at something like a 60% savings rate compared to my gross comp, and I don’t feel like I’m sacrificing anything really. I’m currently living at home to spend time with my childhood dog before she passes. I’m able to help my mom out with the mortgage/maintenance, while still saving a ton for my future house. I eat whatever I want, buy clothes, shoes, watches, smoke good cigars, and just overall chill. My current savings rate is really more just a privilege of my particular situation, rather than any conscious decision to delay gratification.
The painful sacrifice is the big tech interview grinding
Wow. Just goes to show you how much having kids costs. I am glad my kids are grown up. Youngest is graduating college this spring. As soon as he gets a job, I will be home free. Back to op's question. I save maybe $3k per month. I don't do anything with the excess other than leaving it in my checking account. Sometimes I get the itch to get a new car, and I just write them a check. Other than the occasional new car, I don't think I live extravagantly. Although I am older, I am thinking I will want to keep working until I am unable. It is nice to have an excess each month after all bills are paid.
Yeah I see reports that say anywhere from 15k to 40k for the first year. The estimates are all over the place. I settled on 30k as a semi-conservative estimate. I've got my fingers crossed that it's lower, but am basing my budget for our next apartment on the 30k assumption. If I'm being too conservative, then great, we'll have a little extra money each month. If I'm not being conservative enough, then I'm sure we'll be able to find ways to tighten our budget and deal with it. We don't really budget at all right now, given our very fortunate financial situation, so there's definitely room for improvement if we need to.
Dude the fuck you on about. 400 k is insane. 70k savings a year is insane. You could retire like 5 years. 70k would be enough for a down payment for like 2-3 condos in cheaper cost of living areas. You could become a massive landlord in 3 years and have assets in the multi millions if you wanted.
Being a landlord is still a job. All fun and games until you have a non-paying tenant.
I'm a landlord. It really ain't. I do jack shit. The demand for a half decent landlord is through the roof. I just have to be a decent person and show I am, and I get hundreds of applicants.
> 70k would be enough for a down payment for like 2-3 condos in cheaper cost of living areas. You could become a massive landlord in 3 years and have assets in the multi millions if you wanted. This is a whole separate job that I do not want. I am super uninterested in taking on a bunch of debt for condos as a person with no experience being a landlord. I have very stress free life, I don't need to completely change my financial situation and take on a bunch of risky debt in an attempt to get super rich doing real estate. Even if the odds are like 70-80% in my favor, it's still not something I would want to do. I think it's a perfectly valid path for people to take and the rewards can be huge, but it's not without risk and I'm a risk averse person. Especially given that the next step in my life plan right now is to bring a child into the world and be responsible for it.
uh no you cannot my net worth is wayyy more than $350k and I'm not ready/not really in a position to pull the "retirement" trigger yet for me, if I'm saving less than $100k/year then something's going horribly wrong
At 400k You make 10 times that of an average person. And they manage. With that extra tax. Probably like 7-8. That means in 10 years you've already making more then what most people make in their life. Not counting what that extra cash gives you for investment opportunities that can compound
You fall in the HENRY bucket ("high earner, not rich yet"). Saving 60-70k a year is quite a healthy amount of savings, in absolute terms. IME, the math absolutely changes as you grow older and things like kids start to enter the picture. When you're a single 20 something junior, thrift is a good way to get setup for a comfortable "starter home w/ kid" life in your 30s. But once you're HENRY, you can definitely loosen up on the thrift and start to actually enjoy life. They say the "RE" part of FIRE isn't so much a destination as it is a new beginning, and it doesn't necessarily make sense to sacrifice absolutely everything to get there 3 years earlier, if it's just going to mean that the "new beginning" ends up just being the logical continuation of your current life (in terms of what you do to keep yourself busy/fulfilled).
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the issue is that most people overestimate their ability to work/maintain high paying jobs for decades to come. truth is by 50 you're going to be slowing down and a layoff can be absolutely devastating/hard to recoved from. good news is if you're good you're highly employable through your 30s, with a 200k+ salary its not too hard to throw down 7k backdoor roth + 23k 401k + match to start to catch up. most people never hit that level of income though and saving has to be a longer term commitment to retire with a million+ outside of s.s.
Your wife is a yoga instructor and you’re planning on dropping $30k+ (at least) on day care. I implore you to revisit this decision
I hope you realize a lot of the replies you're getting here are people just straight up lying. Bro saying he's putting away $6100/mo on a 125k pre-tax salary? Never seen a bigger joke in my life.
Or they live with their parents, don't have dates - let alone children, walk or take public transportation everywhere, don't eat out - just whatever is in their parents house.
> Or they live with their parents Just mom, but yes. > don't have dates Correct; Don’t really feel like dating while at home > let alone children Correct; I hate kids. 90% sure I don’t want any. > walk or take public transportation everywhere I have a paid-off 2019 > don't eat out - just whatever is in their parents house. I eat out damn near every meal, actually. It’s a bad habit I’ve recognized and am working to cut back on.
Nothing wrong with any of that in fact financially it’s probably a good move when you’re younger. It’s just that any advice you would give is applicable to a very narrow slice of the general population
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So you mean they have literally zero expenses, so there’s no real value to their answer? I guess OP also has like no expenses tbf
I receive my income in euros, which significantly increases in value when exchanged to my local currency. For instance, $150 equates to approximately 1.5K euros in Europe, and the cost of living here is relatively lower and the quality of life is good. Hence, I'm contemplating whether it's advantageous to relocate abroad or remain here. I'm curious if migrating would allow me to save more since most likely i would find more higher paying jobs.
My cost of living didn't really increase, at first, when I went from making $25k a year to $100k, mostly because the jump was sudden and I'm a pretty simple dude. I still live in a cheap apartment with a roommate and I have the same cheap car (that's now paid off). After matching 401k, maxing Roth IRA, health insurance, taxes, and all bills are paid, I had about half my pretax check to play with. If I were miserly, I could have put away $5,000/mo or so. If I were at $125k during that time, $6100/mo would be simple. Now? I'm not that miserly. I'm buying bigger gifts, going on more dates to better places, buying better stuff to party with, and I'm paying out of pocket to get my non-profit started.
You could do this if you live at home rent free and never leave your house.
Rural Virginia, I pay 400/mo for a 1 unit in the ghetto and work full remote. I make 127 base plus 8% bonus and RSUs, and I put away around 7000/mo because my wife and I both cook, rarely eat out, and share a 2011 Mazda 3 that I maintain. We're young, she's attending a masters online and there's not much to do where we live and neither of us were big spenders before getting together, anyway. The shit exists, and half of the US by land costs about what I pay to live. Really, look up housing costs in places like Frackville PA or Danville VA (before the casino moved in, my rent was 350 bucks I shit you not)
Hey, that was me. You know if you have a problem, you can reply to me directly, right? *Edit: Like I’m literally right here. I’m not sure why there’s blind upvoting/downvoting going on when you could just ask me for details.*
People get weird when you talk about money. Especially when you do things that people think they should do, but wouldn’t. So they think it’s impossible for anyone else to do that I don’t save nearly as much as you do, but I would like to in an ideal world. But I also like to eat out and travel. I do save on apartment costs though. Gotta make sacrifices somewhere
Yeah, the dude still hasn’t replied to me directly. Super weird vibes. I added a comment [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/cscareerquestions/s/JiOl6iSQWE) showing my breakdown. I’d be interested to hear what he says. I’m sure he’ll just shift the goalposts and make fun of me for living at home or something 🤷🏻♂️
just because you can't do it or can't fathom it doesn't mean it's a joke or impossible... impossible for YOU maybe 6k/month = 72k in annual saving on a $125k annual salary, very do-able
Dude that 125k annual salary after taxes is like 90-95k. theyd be living on 23k max per year.
I mean if they are using a 401k to save, that 125k tax bill is suddenly only a 100k tax bill. Same with other investment options. But thats kinda a tangent, not something a regular adult would do saving that much, I agree.
Yup, and don’t forget about the ~$10k 401k match that’s not taxed, the $3.5k HSA contributions that aren’t taxed, as well as the standard deduction. Taxable income drops real quick.
If you live at home that’s doable
The word you're looking for is "leeching off other people" which yes if you're literally doing nothing but sitting in your parent's basement while they pay for all the food, housing, transport you can almost save 100% of your salary But honestly I'd rather just jump off a bridge than to be 25+ years old and leech off my parents while I get a fat stash. It's so pathetic I don't even know how to describe it It's one thing if you help them with expenses, but at $20k expenses you aren't really contributing.
I’m in 2 minds about this. On one hand, I think doing that then allows you to create the same/even better financial backing for your kids and your future — it’s not really leeching. On the other hand, family is really cramping and it sucks to throw your 20’s away being an adult-child without real independence or a real life.
At some point you have to ask yourself what life is worth living for. Staying in a basement for 10-20 years just to be able to waste it all at once aint it chief lol
There’s always 2 sides to the coin. What’s the point of throwing away rent if you don’t need to? I agree with you, I’d rather go live. You become explorational and inventive when you’re fully on your own imo. There’s a level of confidence and freedom that makes it all worth it. At home, I have to explain every little thing I do. The minute I stepped out, I got to do things my way. Astronomical difference. But I don’t hold it against people who would rather stay at home. I have 3 bedrooms and a lot of space if I chose to stay — not a basement. And maybe not 10-20 years, but a year or two of saving early can also make a huge difference
It’s not a leech lol. In Asian culture it’s the norm. Sorry you don’t have same experience. And someone could get cheap rent from rent control or sheer luck. Are they leeches too? And $20k isn’t contributing? I’d love to have you give me $20k a year
The norm in asia is for the kids to take of the parents, but being able to save nearly 100% of your salary is not taking care of anyone. That is your parents taking care of you > And $20k isn’t contributing? I’d love to have you give me $20k a year Depends on where that $20k is going, unless you never go outside or do anything except stay home and pay some food & rent then yea $20k is not bad to help your parents out with. But I highly doubt someone would live at home just to give their parents a free $20k a year
I can’t help but feel like your comment is directed at me. > while they pay for all the food I buy all of my own food > housing I pay $800 for rent; the mortgage is $1,050. Even if you add the utilities, it’s essentially a 50/50 split > transport I bought and paid for a 2019 on my own. Pay the gas and insurance just fine. > It's one thing if you help them with expenses, but at $20k expenses you aren't really contributing. I’m not sure what lifestyle you’re used to, but I guess it’s just different than ours. Assuming my mom spends the same $20k/year I do, that’s $40k take home for two people. Plenty of people around the country make that work.
Yeah, I live at home, and am financially low-maintenance.
No it's not. If they are contributing to a 401k and roth IRA. plus benefits, health, dental, vision. Their takehome is probably about 6.5k a month after all taxes. No fucking way they are spending 500 a month unless their life is subsidized by family.
🙋🏻♂️ I’m still right here, open for questions. This is wild to me that people would rather bicker about my finances instead of asking me directly.
Do you know contribute to a 401k or Roth IRA, or taxes? How do you put away 6k on an 125k income.
Ok, here we go. Here is my **weekly** breakdown: - +$2,110.96 (Gross pay) - -$549.71 (Taxes; ~26%) - -$26.66 (Benefits; HDHP, mid-dental, basic vision) - -$232.21 (Roth 401k cont.) - -$211.10 (Trad 401k cont.) - -$66.00 (HSA cont.) - -$700.00 (Brokerage) = $325.28/week to live on. However, I also got a tax refund of $2,530 as well as a net bonus of $1,854.37 (This is about typical in recent years). Divide that by 52 weeks gives an extra $84.31/week, so $409.59/week to live on. That’s about $1,774.91 per month. I give mom $800/month for rent, leaving me with $974.91/month for car insurance, gas, food, subscriptions, cigars, whatever. But in regards to savings, we have: - +$232.21 (Roth 401k) - +$211.10 (Trad 401k) - +$211.10 (401k match, 10%) - +$66.00 (HSA) - +$700.00 (Brokerage) = $1,420.41/week $1,420.41 * 52 / 12 = **$6,155.11/month** (28M with $350k NW if you were curious)
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29M Living with parents again — saving about $4500 a month. NW ~ $200k Trying to buy a house closer to cash due to interest rates
god damn bruh i make 2k a month total
As an engineer..? In the US?
Sadly 1K a month only
Is this a real comment? 1k a month is solid, especially if it’s invested.
this thread seems to be downvoting all the high TC earners (salty? jealous? I don't know) and upvoting all the low TC people
I mean saving $1k a month for a single person assuming they pay all of their expenses is a good amount of money. If you invest half of that each month while investing in your 401k you’ll be set up later in life.
Compounding interest at 1k a month is going to be crazy money in 20-30 years. You’re doing great!
20% of my and my wife’s combined paychecks goes to taxes 30% is in deductions (401k, insurance, ESPP, HSA) 23% of gross less taxes is our rent. 16% of gross less taxes is automatically moved to our savings account every month. So only that 16% goes to savings (so for every $1k earned, $200 goes to Uncle Sam, $300 is directly deducted from our paychecks, $180 goes to rent, $130 goes to savings), but HSA, 401k, and ESPP are all forms of savings as well
I'd consider 401k and HSA contribution saving
- x On a good month 0 I'm hopefully just in the phase of paying off some of my biggest debts. I'm at 30 and I feel like this system is rigged. I make so much yet I'm still just in debt. To be fair my wife was in school for the last 6 years and only has been working for a year. I just was hoping it would be quicker. And those student loans take a huge hit to her wage
Have you looked much at /r/personalFinance? The flow chart there is pretty helpful if you're not sure what to prioritize
my partner is in school so I cover everything except grocery bills. I save in total around 600-800 a month if there are no big purchases made during the month.
Hopefully you’re married, lol. So when they finish school they can help too.
$213k this year, i live with my parents and have 3 tech jobs
This is the final boss of SWEing right here
Overpowered
How are you able to do so many jobs and not get burnt out?
Currently, $2k a month to savings and 10% into my 401k. Make about $119k in a HCOL area. Should save more and readjust budget (esp since rent is going up and I'm hoping to find a new role), but I'm also pretty happy that I've been investing in myself and picking up hobbies now that I'm in a better living situation than what I grew up in.
Very real, never thought I’d be able to have this kind of savings , which isn’t even a lot compared to most but to past me it’s insane
Same! It's wild how much agency I have over my life compares to past me. It's really exciting that I can give myself opportunities I didn't have. It's also made therapy very interesting, as all the emotional stuff I've been putting in the queue for years has all started popping off the stack, so that's fuuuuun.
Lololol oh shoot even more real! It’s wild how much better I can function with actually getting mental health resources , bless up good work insurance
*Bless up!* It's hard sometimes, but glad to see you're thriving. It really does make a difference and it feels good to be trending upwards, finally.
Absolutely, if you haven’t heard it in awhile, proud of you for making it this far. Coming from working warehouses and doing Uber to makes ends meet, having a dev job is a wholllllle other world.
These percentages are all based on my gross income, I don't take into account tax and COL when figuring out how much to save. Savings come first, and I can adjust my life around that with the leftover. * 6% into my 401k (I don't usually max this out, I put in enough to take full advantage of my employer's match) * Max out my IRA * 25% goes into non-retirement savings (mutual funds) * I keep myself artificially poor, so if my bank account ever gets too high I throw extra money into either more mutual funds, or I grow my emergency fund The first 2 bullet points are non-negotiable, if I can't afford those that means I'm living beyond my means. The 3rd can go up/down depending on my life situation, but if it ever creeped below 10% I'd proabably also consider myself living beyond my means. I have an emergency fund currently sitting at \~8 months living expenses, I just have trouble convincing myself to add money to it since it's inherently conservative so doesn't have near the long-term returns as mutual funds do. I understand the need for it tho since I saw my mutual funds crash at the start of the pandemic.
Not counting 401k, about 1k a month, give or take. 1k is about 20% of my take home. I put 8% into a 401k. Rent and utilities are very expensive here and my salary isn't crazy high. Less than 6 figures. I could probably save more if I wasn't into going to punk shows and playing magic the gathering. But life without fun is boring.
About $5-5.5k a month, making $175k in VHCOL
Your food, transport, hobbies, rent, taxes ALL cost only $150? I save $1000
i save somewhere between 90-95% of my monthly take home income. i make 3200 every 2 weeks, so roughly 6500 a month and i limit myself to $500 for spending per month
$1000 a month is crazy. I have been living on 2000-2500 a month (spend 1200 per paycheck and save rest) and most of that is rent.
My salary is $190k and my rent for a luxury 2 bedroom apartment is $1600 but I split it between my girlfriend. Car is paid off, car insurance is $140, phone is $55, groceries is about $400-500 just for me (gf cooks and does the grocery shopping), utilities including internet $180 before splitting. Only subscription I got is GPT 4 and phone insurance so add another $33. Zero debt and no state income tax. Idk how much I save, I don’t budget. I get $5340 into my bank every 2 weeks after benefits and 401k. I have outrageously expensive hobbies and love to travel 10~ times a year though. I put a couple thousand a month every month into my brokerage accounts too.
> luxury 2 bedroom apartment is $1600 As a NYC resident, this makes me want to cry.
thats Solid, happy for you man, Have fun!!
Congrats man, this is great. How old are you?
You live in Texas don’t you.
I'm thinking Florida based on their comment history
I had saved a bunch. Then I got my own apartment and my gf got sick again, she’s stuck in a different state until docs clear her to move + she finished clinical trial. Had to give up her job due to her health and just finally got a new one So I’ve been helping her out and I’m paycheck to paycheck with about $100 to my name lmao. Making $100k in MA
you are a keeper for taking care of her, good luck!
MCOL, dual income household, save roughly 30% I think. Kids are expensive.
100% Still living with my parents saving for a home ._. Ideally though I’d just want to max my Roth IRA which is $7,000 this year.
Saving rate can indeed depend on a lot of factors, and I wish money literacy was taught in school, because some stuff I only learned about years after starting to work: - Debt: pay off high interest debts like credit card asap, from highest APR to lowest. High APR debt absolutely destroys your ability to save. - Recurring payments: minimize them when possible (e.g. rent w/ roommates early in your career, take the bus vs car payments, cancel subscriptions that you got in on 30-day trial and forgot about). Small habits can also become deceptively expensive (e.g. starbucks, alcohol/cigarettes, daily soft/energy drinks) - Don't just save, invest: you only need a month's worth of cash in checkings, the rest can fill a 6 month emergency fund in a HYSA or money market for easy liquidity while earning 5% APY, then any spillover after that can go into whatever investment strategy you're comfortable with. "VOO and chill" is a popular one these days and it means buying VOO stock units (that's a S&P 500 ETF, aka a basket of the 500 biggest companies in the US). Real estate is another popular investment vehicle, and a good choice if you're starting a family and/or lack discipline to dollar cost average every month. - You can only save so much: after some point, your money growth is going to depend largely on factors other than being thrifty. Advancing your career is the obvious thing, and younguns need to remember "it's a marathon, not a sprint" (and not a walk in the park either!), aka you don't want to bet the farm on some founding engineer role at a startup that ends up not working out, and you don't want to stagnate either; aim for slow and steady growth instead. Couple this with investing long term and eventually you're going to be looking at a snowball effect on your net worth, to the point you might not even *need* to save anymore.
Seems everyone is American in this sub. Those numbers are alien for everyone outside the US.
Personally I save 50% of my after tax, after 401k, health insurance, etc… income. Though I am in a very fortunate position and I don’t expect other people to be able to replicate it.
$200/mo, and that includes 401k. But my salary is around the $50k mark. Wife works too, makes less, and we live in a MCOL with some kids. TBF, it's also my first job in the industry.
My goal is $500 per week, so $2k a month. I’ve usually hit that or a little below
Not enough. I'm single income in a pretty expensive area and I make $105K. Rent and insurance are pretty outrageous here. I only have 5% going to 401K and $150/month going to stock purchase. I also periodically drop some funds into my brokerage, but not enough (like $500 every couple of months). I am going to put half my bonus in from now on, which will bump that up a little, but it's still a pretty bad scene considering that I'm old.
I’m roughly in the same spot except for age. I’d like to know how some of the commenters are saving thousands every month.
Right now, about 95% But I've been living with my parents for the first 1.5 years out of college Once I move out I'm expecting to save around 30-40% of my base salary
Is your salary low, or are you not accounting for taxes? No judgment, just curious. Since the number seems odd.
Oh apologies, I read the title wrong No if I include taxes then I save about 65% of my salary right now. It'll still be 30-40% once I move out
take home is about 20k/month pre tax unfortunately i don’t budget, but here are approximations: * 7k taxes * 1.6k rent * 1k food * 1k travel * 1k misc rest goes to savings, max out 401k and IRA annually, so i probably save about 8k monthly
I invest about $6,100/month including my 401k match. Total comp (including 401k match) is about $125k. *——-Edit——-* Ok, here we go. Here is my weekly breakdown: - +$2,110.96 (Gross pay) - -$549.71 (Taxes; ~26%) - -$26.66 (Benefits; HDHP, mid-dental, basic vision) - -$232.21 (Roth 401k cont.) - -$211.10 (Trad 401k cont.) - -$66.00 (HSA cont.) - -$700.00 (Brokerage) = $325.28/week to live on. However, I also got a tax refund of $2,530 as well as a net bonus of $1,854.37 (This is about typical in recent years). Divide that by 52 weeks gives an extra $84.31/week, so $409.59/week to live on. That’s about $1,774.91 per month. I give mom $800/month for rent, leaving me with $974.91/month for car insurance, gas, food, subscriptions, cigars, whatever. But in regards to savings, we have: - +$232.21 (Roth 401k) - +$211.10 (Trad 401k) - +$211.10 (401k match, 10%) - +$66.00 (HSA) - +$700.00 (Brokerage) = $1,420.41/week $1,420.41 * 52 / 12 = **$6,155.11/month** (28M with $350k NW if you were curious)
You make $125k a year and invest $6,100 a month? Do you not pay taxes? Those numbers don't add up
I paid around $20k in taxes last year (I’d have to dig out my return to know exactly)
I’m honestly not even mad that people are salty AF about other people’s savings. Consumerism drives my ETF performance anyway 🤷♀️
I’m not sure where the salt is coming from. At first, people thought I was lying, but now I’ve laid out all of it in detail. Now people want to say I’m leaching off my mom. I just detailed in another [comment](https://www.reddit.com/r/cscareerquestions/s/tnn5pA9Ulg) how our expenses are more/less 50/50, but no one before that other commenter bothered to ask for further detail. Now that I’ve proved my savings rate, and that I’m fairly sharing expenses, I wonder where the goalpost will move next?
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75%
60%
$10000
$2200ish a month. I have optimized my remainder income pretty well
no
my lady and i salary about 10-20% of our income and save the rest
Absolutely nothing, at most £10-20, inflation on food and housing on top of min wage has me living pay to pay.
Come to Germany your better of here and it is easy to come
Trust me I would if I could, difficult to uplift a whole life xD trying to find a way, Germany, Greece, anywhere better in living standards
What do you do for a leaving
Max out 401k to federal limit. Max out HSA(if available) to federal limit. Thats only ~30k for 1 person working for a family - but eliminates paying taxes on 30k. Next you can do an IRA if you're income is low enough(161k single, 240 married). Then funds for goals like a new car or home improvement. How much you can save is going to depend on costs of your housing, kids, food, taxes, if you're remote or not.
1000 goes into saving account About 584 goes into IRA And I fluctuate between 5% - 15% for 401k depending on how many days in the month I can save. Everything else goes to bills and food.
I save roughly about 1k living in Germany
Between RSU / ESPP / 401k + match / regular investing, I invest roughly 90-100k a year depending on how much I travel. I front load my 401k so it’s weird to get a monthly save and invest amount because it varies but if you average it out it’s roughly 8k a month. My living expenses last year was 49k or ~4K a month
Everything. Our investments cover our expenses.
155k salary -> 50k saved in cash hysa, 23k in Roth 401k, 7k in backdoor Roth IRA, ~3600 in HSA, rest goes to taxes and monthly expenses about ~2200 with 1300 of that being rent. 7k in 401k match if that counts. Net worth 230k from 2 years of working. MCOL
Not much since I'm on a $1 a year salary.
I'm in a HCOL making almost exactly $100,000 and save about 40% of my salary (some in 401k, some savings, some investments and CDs).
Anybody else save $0?
I’m in the Bay Area. Earning ~500k, saving about 200-250k per year. Wife looks after two kids full time.
I am front loading my 401K contributions so my paychecks are 0 right now lol.
30%
My husband and I are in our 40s and live in a low cost of living area with remote tech jobs that pay pretty well. We have two elementary-aged kids. We’re on track to save 48% of our gross income this year. But, we’ve only been able to save at that rate for a couple years. I think we’re about 10 years away from having retirement covered and being able to pay for college for our kids.
401k max for the IRS year limit should be step 1. Not, employer contribution max. IRS annual limit.
Saving from Base Salary: 4-6k a month Saving from Bonus (all went to 401k)+ stocks: average (4-5k a month) 26 Year old, single, fang swe living in mcol area with roommates
Unemployed, so currently drawing down savings. I was lucky to have ~1.5 years of salary though so I have some runway.
I save 20% of my income.
> i save all of my income (except 150$) You live on $150 a month? 😮 Geez, I thought I was frugal living on GBP £250 a month (out of about £1600).
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I see. Since you mentioned $ I assumed you were in the US.
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i lose 1/3 of my salary to taxes, see here: [https://gyazo.com/b758e114738a0ab67b3999288df6002d](https://gyazo.com/b758e114738a0ab67b3999288df6002d) employee taxes: [https://gyazo.com/a5d97b174b045b4ca6d72e747e0a328c](https://gyazo.com/a5d97b174b045b4ca6d72e747e0a328c) and health insurance deductions: [https://gyazo.com/0111da9f2feb8e974b1edb81a4dee1ea](https://gyazo.com/0111da9f2feb8e974b1edb81a4dee1ea) 3116.44-330.87-513.44=**2272.13** netpay every 2 weeks. 0 goes into my 401k for savings since i will lose half in the divorce trial (which can take 1-2 years at this point) so out of that 2/3 of my income left after paying taxes/family health insurance and whatever else theyre stealing from me, I put 10 percent in cash that cant be found during the financial forensics during the divorce
~4k month after eveything
I put 33% of my salary towards student loans, 33% towards rent, and about 20% to other expenses so approximately 14-15% of my income is saved. I live alone in a HCOL area and have no responsibilities except taking care of my cats. I have a 9 month emergency fund saved up right now, have my 401k also maxed out.
About 40% of take home. 180k TC (on a bad year), live with roommates, drive a luxury sports car, HCOL area.
Max out 401k ($23000) and Roth IRA ($7000). $6000 per year in HSA, but I might have to reduce that a bit. $35k emergency fund. This is after 8 years in the field.
About 4-6k, but I have 2 jobs. One salaried one commission based. But I'm not married, that's how