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I don't feel like you get a fair representation of people's savings by eliminating stocks/401ks/mutual funds/IRAs/etc. As our savings account grows, DH and I transfer more money into these other saving sites that provide us with more financial growth. So our savings account doesn't necessarily have a ton in it as we keep our savings in other higher-yield places. Despite the savings account not really rising - our savings are growing.
hmm good point, I don't know much about that area, are high yeild savings , savings where your able to have access to if need be? Meaning I know with 401ks you can't take the money out for a certain time period, which is why I didn't include it. I should probably look into doing something on that line, I wish I had more experience in that area, and my DH sure as heck doesn't either!
Also, you are missing the more than $100,000 option. That may apply to some here.
@Mrs.KMM: I agree. Just because money is in a retirement vehicle or an investment account doesn't mean it is not available money.
People may be placing their savings in low risk investments rather than a pure savings account since interest rates are SO low. Also, there are exceptions to not being allowed to withdraw from retirement accounts (such as first home purchase, etc) that makes that money slightly more liquid and "available".
@FutureKMM agreed.
@ams12 I'd look at your overall networth rather than savings. you are probably making more progress than you think. Just because you may not have added 10k in savings this year, you might have increased your networth by well over that. Paying debts down is a big deal but you can get discouraged by only looking at savings. Look at the big picture, not just a slice of it.
I agree, this is not an accurate representation without assets. For example, we have liquid savings in the bank but don't have 401Ks or a house. You pay a mortgage payment but you also have equity in your house that you could sell it and get cash, where as my rent payments do nothing.
@ams12 If you are concerned about not knowing your options or about other savings options I'd suggests you start reading and maybe look into some financial classes. There are some great books out there, just read several because some get a little out there. Also I've heard wonderful things about Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace courses. $100 for 13 weeks of classes.
Great, thanks for the suggestions. Your right, I do have to look at the whole picture of what we have in investments, and not just what I see in my ING savings. I'm going to try and find a class near me so my DH and I can attend and get a better idea of what we should be doing and shouldn't be doing.
@ams12 - If you're trying to save more, have you tried tracking your spending? When we merged finances, we started using mint.com (awesome and easy to use) to track things. You also have the option to create savings goals, which has really helped us keep our short term and long term savings goals in mind.
Right now we have very little in our savings. But we're taking a Dave Ramsey class that I would recommend to everyone! It's Financial Peace University
fpuonline.daveramsey.com
He teaches people how to save, budget, and how to stay away from credit/debt. We've enjoyed it so much and love to be on the same page financially. Although we probably won't take ALL of the advice, we are learning so much!
@texasmeredith: I LOVE Mint.com
It really helps me to see where all my money is going so I can adjust my spending habits.
It also helps me budget out my "required monthly expenses" so I can see what amount is left of "non essential" purchases.
We are generally quite good with our savings but over the christmas period we spent a bit more than we should. We have budgets for everything including sanity money each week that is our spending money. We should be able to live off FH's income and save mine but it doesn't always happen like that but we still are managing to save quite a bit.
We have a mortgage and I have a small student loan that is interest free but other than that we don't buy anything until we can afford it. We have saved enough for our wedding which is in 11 months but want to continue doing the house up before the wedding. We are doing it ourselves so anything we save between now and the wedding will be going towards renovations!
If there was an option for 'not enough.' I would so choose that.
I counted what is in our savings, money market and CD accounts. I don't think people should include their retirement accounts because withdrawing money from them is way too risky with the penalities associated with it. I know it counts towards net worth but you can't just go in and take it. I guess technically CD's have an early withdrawl penalty but you don't have to wait 40 years from now to get the money ;)
@hrev2010: Retirement accounts can be withdrawn from in certain situations such as:
1) Un-reimbursed Medical Expenses
2) Medical Insurance if you are unemployed
3) Disability
4) Higher education expenses for you, your spouse, your children or your grandchildren
6) Home purchases (purchasing, building or rebuilding your first home). Qualifies as "first home" if you have not owned a home in the past 2 years and can be used for your spouse, children, grandchildren or parents/ancestors
7) Call to Active Duty
There are others too:
http://www.investopedia.com/articles/retirement/02/111202.asp
I hate to say this but we still have separate accts. We have one joint savings acct, and then our separate checking/savings accts. We have about 6-7k combined.
We have most of our savings in 401K/retirement account. We bought our first place last year so most of our savings went there and we are building it back up.
@ams12 - there are some awesome blogs that can teach you TONS about the basics of personal finance too. Check out getrichslowly.org. Or actually, better yet, check out the book that the author wrote - it's called "Your money, the missing manual"
It's a really powerful thing to take control of your fiances! Once you dig into it you might be surprised that it's actually pretty easy to understand and get in control. I personally have a MAJOR love of all things personal finance.
And I also answered the survey as total net worth becuase that's more fun for me! :D
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Hi all,
I know this tends to be a personal question to many, but just wanted to put it out there. Sometimes I feel like we are doing something wrong since I never feel like our savings is growing!
We broke even with our wedding, but we had 1 big CC that we have just started making big dents in ( YAY) and I also have a couple student loans on top of our $2000 mortgage, car payments, car insurance, ulit bills and misc food/pets. Anyone else feel as soon as they get paid, all their money goes to bills!
I wanted to start a poll just for the heck of it.