Some of our longer term readers enjoy this time of year on DQYDJ, because we post a Personal Finance article actually directed inwardly - namely, an expose of the PK household spending habits.
We appreciate being held accountable on this front - it's hard to trust random voices on the internet, so only by looking at results and history can you truly level a fair judgement. We wouldn't want you to blindly trust us if we were secretly part of that oh-so-annoying "fake it until you make it" crowd.
So, today we share wit you and we ask: how much did you save in 2013?
(And yes, long term readers also know that we use a controversial calculation of savings - not including principal paydown in our totals, . We know it underestimates the true amount but we're sticking to it - unlike Federal Agencies, we'll keep our methodology constant.)
PK Household Savings Rate, Last 9 Years
Net savings rate - so get rid of that tax you paid to compare.
Tabular form:
| Year | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 |
| Savings Rate (Strict) | 6.91% | 11.02% | 31.63% | 27.31% | 21.68% | 21.47% | 22.96% | 23.99% | 29.68% |
How Did We Do?
Good? Bad? Middling?
We've got a few benchmarks here. Let's play.
The Good.
First, you've got the overall savings rate in the US, which was in the low to mid 4%s through 2013. Of course, that doesn't factor in whether folks are in a position to save - don't want to be comparing savings rates to students in college or retirees now, do we?
The Middling.
Our results by household income and age are mixed. Those calculators are here:
The Bad. (The Ugly?)
Here in the Personal Finance Sphere, our combination of a strict calculation and including both the income of my wife and myself probably leaves 29.68% on the low end of reported savings rates.
Of course, that discounts the savings rates of the many bloggers which don't report - so we won't be losing any sleep over this one.
How Did You Do?
Let's play the voyeur, if only for one day: how did you do in 2013? Rough year? Good year?
And, of course, if you haven't seen it - we have an infamous calculator which links savings rate to retirement date - enjoy that!
