I've been meaning to make a thread on this for a while and don't know why I haven't done so earlier. The question is fairly simple: assuming you have them, with your bank account and other financial portfolios, how much money do you have saved up? I ask this in part because I was thinking of making a thread to teach others about saving and give financial advice.

Ever since I go back from Afghanistan I've had a decent amount in my bank. All the months of saving for the entire year (with the exception of buying things here and there) put me over the 20k mark and as of this post I have just over $24,000 in the bank. I also have my Roth IRA, which I guess has been doing fairly well this past month. I have just over $30,000 saved there. But that's subject to change every day. It does go with the stock market, after all. So if the market does horrible, then I lose a lot of money. And it's happened to me many times where I'd lost $2,000 or more in the span of a week. Then, I have around $10k in a 401k from my civilian job several years ago. I need to get into that so I can transfer those funds to my IRA.

So $60.5k isn't too bad, I guess. If I can reach a net worth of $100,000 that would be awesome. Maybe in a year or two if I save enough and my IRA does well. Still, even 100k is only decent compared to the cost of lifetime living these days.

So again, how much do you have saved up? And no, this is not a subtle "I have a lot of money in the bank right now" thread.

I don't even have a bank account yet, because I'm only 15, and don't have any money anyways.

I only have a small amount of change sitting in a jar... probably not even $1. :/

That's pretty good man, too many guys in the military come back from deployments and just blow all of their money right off the bat, but you're actually doing the right thing. Hey, if you deploy again you should easily hit 100k by the end of the year.

Me? I don't have a lot in savings. I got hit hard by the recession and I'm only just starting to dig my way back into the black. I actually think I'll still have a negative net worth until next year, but that's fine. I'm still very young, and I live a pretty cheap lifestyle.

I only have a little bit over 5k saved up. I'm a college student, so I hardly have enough time for a job, and any money I have saved up otherwise goes to textbooks.

I currently have saved up $5,200 in my account. Although, I have been fluctuating between $4,800 and $5,200 for about 6 months now. Because I am starting my teaching phases, I had to cut back on hours. I am working just enough hours to cover all my expenses and a little extra for spending here and there. Right now, I have a monthly expense of about $800, and that includes rent for my house, electricity, cell phone bills, car insurance, water/trash bill, and cable/Internet. I won't be building any higher until I graduate and either get a teaching position, or am able to increase my hours until I do.

None, I'm in "debt". XD I have just over 700 dollars owed to my parents, for various things, the biggest factor being vet bills. (I've been unemployed for two years now, otherwise this would not have happened.)

After I graduate full-time school and get a job, that will be immediately paid off, and after that... 25% of what I make will automatically go into savings.

rcarter2 : $800 for all of your expenses?! Jeez-laweez! My rent is higher than that!

Annette : 25% is a lofty goal indeed, hopefully you don't get a job that requires an increase in life style--that is, more gas, having to move, etc. I hope that works out for you!

Lazlo Falconi : My fiancee and I split all bills and stuff down the middle. So put that together, and it is more like $1,600 a month plus a few more bills that my fiancee takes over because she graduated last May and has a teaching position, therefore makes a LOT more money than me right now

rcarter2 : Ahh, that makes a bit more sense. XD I thought you must be living in a ridiculously cheap part of the country at first. =)

...I'm still a bit jealous though that you're getting a teaching job. I sort of wish I had gone into education straight out of high school--that is, I wish I had gone to college to be an educator. I feel like I'd enjoy it quite a bit.

Lazlo Falconi : I know. I think I will be able to do it since I am currently living at home, so for now the rent is really low, I eat for less than $50 a week, and I will be living with my fiance so we will have double income. Transportation is no more than $150/mo, and that's only I get a job in the city, before I resort to that I will try to get hired closer to home (transit passes vary depending on the distance). I know I will be able to get a job no more than 60-45 minutes away because Web Development is a huge industry in my area. The reason I/we want to save that much it is so we have money to travel. I'm willing to go without spending a lot in order to afford traveling.

I have about $600-700 dollars in my savings account. It's always rising.

Wait, why do you ask this? Do you plan to take our money depending on how much we have?

Galacta : That's for me to know, and for you to look pissed off when you next check you account statement.

Somewhere between 5-8K, but it's a joint savings account. My personal savings only has about $250 to cover potential overdrafts from my checking account (the join account has a much higher interest rate). I have about 6k in an old 401K that I need to roll over into an IRA but I haven't had the time and am not sure where to begin with that. Still not exactly clear on the difference between normal IRA and Roth IRA.

I really do need to start saving more, but expenses keep piling up. We had over $13k before the move, but it and the unemployment for nearly a year drained up to like $2k and we haven't really been able to built it all back yet. Plus we still have to find a way to pay for the wedding (whenever that happens *grumbles*) and my school (I've had to take out student loans... not pleasant).

In my college savings, a little over 6k, in my personal private account, a bit more that I won't share but will only state that it is enough for me to live off of for quite a few years, with a car and a house, but that's only because my parents helped, and I have been working from a young age.  Not that I can even touch it :<

Elara : "The main difference is when you pay income taxes on the money you put in the plans. With a traditional IRA, you pay the taxes on the back end - that is, when you withdraw the money in retirement. But, in some cases, you may escape taxes on the front end - when you put the money into the account.

With a Roth IRA, it's the exact opposite. You pay the taxes on the front end, but there are no taxes on the back end.

And remember, in both traditional and Roth IRAs, your money grows tax free while it's in the account. "

That's pretty much the gist of it. Basically, with a Roth you're supposed to wait until a certain age before you can start taking money out of it. Penalty free, anyway. I have a Roth IRA and have had to take some money out of it in the past. I was charged 10% of the amount I took out. So for $1000, for example, I would be charged $100 and thus, $1100 would be the total.

Been putting away money from odd jobs over the past two years, and I've got about 900 dollars in an account accumulating interesting. I don't have plans for my money yet, but it will probably be diabolical.