Over the past few years I’ve read a lot of personal financial advice books and blogs, and I’ve been struck by the diversity of advice regarding what you should aim for as your savings rate. I’ve made a list below. For some individuals, the number quoted is what they identify as the absolute minimum; for others (e.g. MMM) it is an ideal to strive for. Some were a little difficult to classify – e.g. The Wealthy Barber and the Richest Man in Babylon both throw out the figure 10%, but later clarify that you need to save still more for retirement. So they should probably be read as advocating a higher savings rate. All Your Worth, in contrast, all but implies in its emphasis on balance that 20% is both the least and the most you should be saving. Some interesting trends : more recent books advocate higher savings rates. There are also a couple of self-proclaimed financial gurus (e.g. Suzy Orman) that don’t appear to have a specific figure in mind.
Let me know if you have additional examples, or see some trends I have not.
10%: Bamford et. al. (1992) The Consumer Reports MONEY BOOK How to Get It, Save It, and Spend It Wisely; Hunt, M. (1997) The Complete Cheapskate
10+%: Clason, George S. (1992 [1926]) The Richest Man in Babylon; Chilton, D. (1998) The Wealthy Barber 3rd edition; Morris, K. Siegel, A. & Morris, V. (1995) The Wall Street Journal Guide to Planning Your Financial Future; Pond, J.D. (1992) 1001 Ways to Cut Your Expenses.
15%: Van Ness, R. (2013) Common Sense Investing; Ramsey, D. (2003) Total Money Makeover
15-20%: Farrell, C. (2010) The New Frugality ; Stanley, T. & Danko, W. (1996) The Millionaire Next Door
20%: Warren, E. & Tyagi, A. (2005) All Your Worth
30%: Yeager, J. (2013) How to Retire the Cheapskate's Way; Ghilarducci, T. (2015) How to Retire with Enough Money
50%: Collins, JL. (2016) The Simple Path to Wealth.
65%: MMM (2012) The Shockingly Simple Math Behind Early Retirement.
As much as possible: Robin, V. and Dominguez, J. (2008) Your Money or Your Life. Fisker, J. (2010) Early Retirement Extreme