✅ Average savings by age UK

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I'm Steph, mum of three! 👋
Here, I share practical insights on making (and saving!) money. With a knack for budgeting and a passion for financial freedom, I've picked up lots of tips & tricks along the way. And I can't wait to share them with you here!

We all know we need savings and we all know we should be trying to put away more than we do, but the truth about the average savings by age in the UK is pretty shocking.

It’s quite well known that having 3 months of savings is the recommended standard by financial experts, six months if we’re self employed.

average savings by age UK infographic

But…and it’s a big but, that’s a lot of money, and given that the reasons people give for not saving are insufficient income, high living costs and unreliable income, it’s hardly a surprise that the majority of Brits have no where near this amount.

As you’d expect, the average saving amount goes up as age increases. However, it’s often quoted that the average person in the UK has savings of just over £6,750.These are average savings and include the older age brackets.

Looking at the average savings by age in the UK gives a much more accurate picture of the real savings people have in the UK. That’s not to say you should be constantly comparing yourself, everyones different and have different circumstances, but it gives you a more realistic idea of how you’re doing.

A huge 40% of us Brits don’t have enough money saved to get us through a single month without any income.

And since the younger ages tend to have higher outgoings (many older people have paid the mortgages and are collecting pensions) this affects the younger age group more than other groups.

saving-amounts-by-age

✅ How much should you save each month?

How much should you save each month? There’s rough guides giving you an idea but savings are generally on a case by case basis.

That said, 20% of your monthly take home pay is a good amount to be saving, and the amount many financial experts recommend.

So… if you’re taking home £1500 a month, you’d be saving £300. That’s pretty steep, depending on where in the country you’re living and you’re income bracket.

According to the Office of National Statistics, the average monthly UK rent is £700, so adding travel costs, living costs and utility bills to the mix, it’s easy to see how before you know it, saving £300 out of £1500 is not especially realistic.

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✅ How much does the average person have in savings UK?

Average UK savings by age group

  • Generation Z (born between 1997 and 2012) – £2530.71
  • Millennials (born between 1981 and 1996) – £4614.04
  • Generation X (born between 1965 and 1980) – £6160.57
  • Baby boomers (born between 1946 and 1964) – £9758.54
  • Silent generation (born pre 1946) – £9497.96

(Source)

You can see from these figures above that we are saving, and although it’s dependent on your location, the numbers don’t initially look that bad.

However, the bad news is that these figures show the average savings by age in the UK, of people that save.

saving-amounts-by-age

What these numbers don’t show is that a worrying third of us Brits have less than £600 in savings. One in 10 of us have no savings at all and as is to be expected, it’s the younger age groups that are lacking the most in the savings department.

What is worth noting is that although the younger age groups have the least savings, if any at all, savings do increase as you’d expect, as income increases.

Given that Generation X has been working for the least amount of time, it’s understandable that they’re not going to be in a position to save a lot.

It’s quite interesting to see how saving habits change as income changes throughout different age groups. It’s not a given that savings increase as income does.

Many factors influence how much we decide to put away in savings each month and it’s not uncommon for disposable income to become less as income increases.

Bigger mortgages, bigger bills and a higher expected standard of living can all contribute to saving monthly not being prioritised.

uk-savings

✅ Easy ways to increase your savings

No one’s going to say saving is particularly easy, especially if you fall into the age bracket that’s not been working for all that long. However, even if you’re not able to save the recommended 20% of your salary (and I can tell you, that’s almost never been realistic for us!) there are ways you can make saving a bit easier to do.

Budgeting

Learning to budget and stick to it, for many people, is a total game changer.

The problem for a lot of us is that when money’s short each month, the thought of taking a closer look at our money and creating a budgeting is terrifying. For many however, it’s equally terrifying not knowing if you’ll have enough to pay the bills or eat each month as well. So I guess it’s a case of choose your terrifying :)

What will creating a budget help you to do?

  • Know where your money’s going – sounds a bit daft, but all those ‘tiny’ expenses add up, seeing them in black and white shows you where you can cut back, find cheaper alternatives or stop all together
  • Allow you to sleep better – knowing you’ll be able to buy food in those awful few days right before payday can be a big relief
  • Get on top of your finances once and for all – it doesn’t really matter how bad your finances are, creating a budget and planning ahead is always to first step to changing them. If they’re already bad, you may as well do the budget anyway. What have you got to loose?
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Find a second income stream

This is an easy way to start your savings, allowing you to out money away each month without eating into an already stretched salary. Of course you could choose to pay off any debts you have, which would increase your income when they’re paid off, but it’s a good idea to have an emergency fund to cover any unexpected costs you need to pay for.

There are SO many extra income streams you can do alongside whatever commitments you have already. It’s a bit of extra work yes, but the rewards? Well worth it!

Our main page where we keep all our ideas for making extra money can be found here, there really is something most of us. Using an other income stream to start building up a second income is the way a lot of people build up their savings, whatever you earn, you save.

If you’re not used to the money anyway it’s a painless way to build up a potentially pretty substantial savings pot.

Skim off any payrises

If you get a pay-rise at work, pretend you didn’t. For many of us, while a pay-rise is nice, after you’ve paid your tax and NI, it’s often not a life changing amount of money. And if you were managing before, you can manage without it.

Before it gets eaten up into your monthly outgoings, set up a sanding order to move the pay-rise amount into another account so you don’t even see it.

Save first

Just as skimming off any pay-rises, it’s a good idea to save first, before any money leaves your account on payday. Known as ‘paying yourself first’, it’s much easier to save if you take the money out instantly and don’t have to ‘find’ it later on in the month.

Although it’s all the same in terms of numbers, if you save first, your bank balance will show you the amount of money you have to budget with for the month, and so that’s what you’ll do.

Automate your savings to leave your account the same day you get paid means you don’t even see it. It’s an easy trick, on yourself!

We’ve got a few other posts you might find helpful if you’re looking to increase your savings, start budgeting or pay off debt. And you can grab our free budget planner here:

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