How much should I have in savings? Average savings by age

Understanding how much of your income you should be saving is an important part of taking control of your finances.

Once you build a good saving habit, you will find it much easier to achieve your broader financial goals like saving up for a house deposit, a wedding, or buying your dream car.

It could be useful to see how much money others at your age tend to save so you have a destination in mind when you’re trying to work out how much you should have in your savings accounts.

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Average savings in the UK by age

The median amount that a person in the UK has in their savings is only around £9,000, according to research published by the Building Societies Association in October 2024. The mean average is £16,232, though this is skewed by people at the extremities of the scale.

These statistics are also skewed by age. The longer you have been alive, the more likely you are to have a better-paying job which allows you to save more. Moreover, as time goes on, the longer you have had to accrue savings.

The table below shows how much the average person has in their savings account by age range:

Source: The Building Societies Association, October 2024 (via Raisin UK)

Our average pension pot by age guide explores how much people typically have saved for retirement as they get older.

How much should I have in my savings?

It is difficult to answer the question of how much a particular person should have in their savings as the answer is contingent on personal factors. This means there isn’t a “hard-and-fast rule to determine how much you should save by a certain age”, Craig Rickman, personal finance expert at interactive investor says. Instead, “it really does come down to your specific financial goals and when you want to achieve them”.

One such goal is saving for a deposit on your first home. Rickman says: “Imagine you’re 25 years old and want to buy a house in 10 years’ time. Regardless of what other people are doing, the important thing is to build a sufficient deposit over the next decade to fulfil your dream of home ownership.”

This flexible approach to how much you should have in your savings is echoed by Sarah Coles, head of personal finance at Hargreaves Lansdown, who tells MoneyWeek: “It would be great to have a specific number for people to aim for when they’re building their savings, but that’s not how it works, because it depends on you.”

Coles also emphasises the importance of building a strong safety net before putting all your resources into funding a house deposit, wedding, or other goal.

“The rule of thumb is that when you’re working age, you should have enough cash in an easy access account to cover three to six month’s worth of essential spending,” she says.

The size of this fund will, however, depend on what individuals consider ‘essential spending’ and your personal life conditions. Coles adds: “If, for example, there are a number of people relying on your income, and you have had health problems in the past or your income is variable, you’ll probably feel more comfortable holding more [in easy access savings].”

However, she continues, “if you have a secure job, good health, a wider family to call on when things get tough, and nobody else spending your income, you might be happier with less. Your considerations should also include how many earners there are in the family and the insurance cover you have in place.”

While it’s recommended individuals should have three or four months of outgoings in their savings, actually building this safety net is trickier. Rickman is particularly conscious that saving has “been particularly tough in the past few years”.

The cost of rent, mortgages, food, and energy bills have been pushed up in recent years, Rickman points out, adding: “We still haven’t edged out of the harshest cost-of-living crisis in decades.

“What’s more, with any surplus income you do have, there are competing priorities. It’s therefore natural that those further away, such as retirement, may fall down the pecking order.”

When should I start saving?

With wallets being stretched further as outgoings have steadily increased over recent years, starting to save more has become more difficult. Nevertheless, it is still important to make a start sooner rather than later.

Rickman suggests it could help to “be realistic about how much you can afford to tuck away.” He notes that, as difficult as it is to choose to forgo fun today in order to save tomorrow, “if you can start shovelling a bit away now, however small, it can make a big difference to your lifestyle and wellbeing in years to come”.

“Nailing down some financial goals is a good place to start. If you’re aiming for something personally fulfilling, you’re more likely to foster the required motivation to not only start saving and investing but keep things up,” he adds.

Supporting this call for people to start saving their income, Coles says that “if you don’t have enough set aside, if you’re waiting for the moment in life when your costs fall and you find yourself with plenty of money, you could wait forever.

“Instead, it’s worth doing whatever you can afford, as soon as you can afford to do so,” she adds.

How much should I have in my emergency fund?

Though people won’t want to think about the prospect of losing their job, it is an unfortunate reality that many will face at some point in their lives.

Building an emergency fund is therefore an important aspect of your savings journey. In the event that you do lose your livelihood, you can use it to cover your essentials while you search for a new job and make sure you don’t fall behind on mortgage payments or rent.

Furthermore, it is important to have money available at a moment’s notice if an unforeseen complication arises in your life. Very few people would want to be stuck without a boiler in the middle of the winter because they can’t find enough cash to replace it.

Your emergency fund should be equivalent to around three months worth of essential outgoings, but it is never a bad idea to give yourself a bit of extra wiggle room. This will mean that you are covered for quite some time while you find your feet again.

The size of an average emergency fund should be around £6,174, according to Hargreaves Lansdown, as average essential outgoings a month are £2,058.

This being said, it is important to note that the perfect size of your emergency fund will be entirely dependent on how many monthly outgoings you have, so it is worth doing your own calculations.

How can I grow my savings?

There are numerous ways you can grow your savings.

Using an Individual Savings Account (ISA) is one of the most popular ways for savers to store their money and passively grow it.

ISAs allow you to place up to £20,000 of your savings into the account annually without having to pay tax on the interest earned, making them more tax-efficient than normal savings accounts.

There are several types of ISA, and this includes the cash ISA and the stocks and shares ISA.

A cash ISA pays out a fixed interest rate, while a stocks and shares ISA will rise and fall in value according to the stocks you invest in through it.

If you’ve filled up your ISA limit, you could turn to regular savings accounts - these come in a number of forms, each with different terms and limits on how much and how quickly you can withdraw your money.

An easy-access saver will be a good option for savers who want their emergency funds to beat inflation. These accounts allow consumers to withdraw cash from the account without being penalised, making them suitable for people who need to access their money without giving notice.

Other options include fixed-term savings accounts which let savers earn a guaranteed rate of interest if they lock away their money for a fixed period of time. Terms can be as long as five years.

MoneyWeek regularly updates a list of the best savings accounts and the best cash ISAs.

How much should I have in savings before investing?

While saving is good for short-term goals (less than five years), investing can help you build long-term wealth. We explore the pros and cons in our saving vs investing guide.

Despite the potential returns, many people are intimidated by the complexity of the stock market, and some may feel they do not have enough in their savings to start investing.

While having your money passively gain interest in a savings account will lead to predictable, and in most cases inflation-busting, gains, investing can mean your money grows more substantially.

While you don’t necessarily need to have substantial savings before you start investing, it is a good idea to first build a safety net before trying to grow your wealth through investments.

This is because investing comes with risk, and you can lose money in the stock market as well as make it. Investment vehicles that are traditionally seen as ‘safe’ can perform badly, so it is worth making sure that your livelihood won’t be affected if your investments go kaput.

Rickman tells MoneyWeek: “Even if you’re champing at the bit to start investing, there are a few things to check off first.” This includes building an emergency savings fund.

Debt is a key thing to consider when potentially planning a foray into the stock market. “First, strongly consider clearing any high-interest debt such as credit cards,” says Rickman. “That’s because the annual interest rate charged is likely to far outstrip any potential investment returns.”

Being prepared to invest for a long period is also important. “Make sure you’re prepared to invest for five years or more,” Rickman says. “Stock market returns aren’t guaranteed, and the value can go down as well as up, but having time on your side will help to smooth out any volatility.”

In all, there is no simple number that you should have in your savings before you start investing, but, as shown above, it is a good idea to have some money in easy to access products to make sure that all your savings won’t be affected by a potential downturn in the market.

How much should I have in savings at 30?

Many people’s 20s will have been dominated by relatively low wages and high living costs, which makes it hard to build significant savings.

But by the time the 30s are reached, people tend to be more established in their careers and have started to climb the career ladder, netting them a higher salary.

Furthermore, saving for significant life events like buying a first house or saving money for a wedding will be at the forefront of people’s minds.

According to data from the ONS, the average age at which people get married is 32.7 years for men and 31.2 years for women. Meanwhile, the average first home is bought at age is 33 (35 for those in London) according to analysis by Yorkshire Building Society.

All this is to say that by the time you’re 30 it is a good idea to start taking serious control of your finances in order to comfortably live within your means and have enough cash to achieve these life goals.

The average amount that people have in their savings at age 35 to 44 is £13,095, so it may be a good idea to look at this figure and work out whether keeping this much in your savings aligns with your own individual financial goals.

How much should I have in savings at 50?

Your 40s tend to be the most productive decades of your life career-wise and so once you’ve reached the end of them you may find that you are starting to earn significantly more than you were before.

According to a report from the House of Commons Library using ONS data from 2024, the median weekly pay for people in their 40s is £823, a 33% increase from how much you were likely to be earning in your 20s.

Furthermore, by age 50 many people will live with a long-term partner and have shared finances, further boosting their household income and allowing for more savings.

With this in mind, while there is no hard and fast rule for how much you should have in your savings by the time you’re 50, the average for the age group of 55 to 64 year olds is £19,740 so it may be useful to use this as a guide.