The "Gauntlet: Long Term Net Worth Goals" thread got me motivated over the weekend to do one of my semi annual quicken updates.
Depending on how you calculate it I hit over 50% gross savings the last 12 months.
There seems to be a hundred different ways people calculate their savings rates but I've always believed the best way for me is to look at savings as a % of my gross income so I include pre tax salary, any cash gifts, interest income, and any other non investment income.
I've dreamed of hitting a 50% plus rate however given that my effective tax rate is now up to 33% this means I have to live on 17% or less of my gross income.
Fun stats for the past year/LTM:
Gross savings rate based on pure cash flows = 51.6%
Gross savings rate including some accrual items like car depreciation = 49.2%
Take home (or net of taxes) savings rate on pure cash flows = 76.9%
Take home (or net of taxes) savings rate including some accrual items like car depreciation = 73.3%
For comparison my gross savings rate 1/1/2008 - 7/15/2013 has been 37.7%
PS. My wife and I are considering getting a divorce (but not breaking up) in order to save about 10% of our taxes. It would drop my effective tax from 33% to just under 30% and save each of us several of thousands/yr.
