What Is the 50/15/5 Rule for Saving? - Experian (2024)

In this article:

  • What Is the 50/15/5 Rule?
  • What Happens to the Remaining 30%?
  • How Is It Different From Other Spending and Saving Recommendations?
  • Is the 50/15/5 Rule a Good Idea?

The 50/15/5 rule for spending and saving provides guidelines that could make budgeting a little easier. It allocates 50% of your income to essential expenses, 15% to retirement and 5% to short-term savings.

The 50/15/5 rule could be a good approach for folks who want to prioritize saving. Like any budgeting style, however, it has its pros and cons. Whether it's right for you will depend on your personality and financial goals. Let's take a closer look at what this rule looks like in practice.

What Is the 50/15/5 Rule?

The 50/15/5 rule provides a set of guardrails to follow when budgeting for your expenses. Using it could rein in overspending and help you live within your means. At the same time, it carves out space for your savings and retirement goals.

Here's a breakdown of how the 50/15/5 rule works:

50% of Your Income Goes Toward Essential Spending

These are unavoidable expenses you have to pay every month. Add them all up, then see how the total relates to your monthly take-home pay. Essential spending includes your:

  • Housing payment
  • Utilities
  • Phone bill
  • Minimum debt payments
  • Groceries and food expenses
  • Transportation and gas
  • Health and auto insurance
  • Child care expenses

How to Reach Your Spending Goal

Look for ways to reduce your essential expenses. That might mean shopping around for better insurance rates, adjusting your cellphone plan, consolidating debt, meal planning or taking other steps to bring down your monthly spending.

15% of Your Income Goes Toward Retirement Savings

If you feel behind on your retirement savings, it's never too late to start building your nest egg. One rule of thumb is to set aside 15% of your income during your 20s and 30s, then increase it to 20% in your 40s and beyond. If that feels like a big jump from where you are now, you can gradually increase it every few months.

How to Reach Your Spending Goal

If you have a 401(k), you can make contributions through automatic payroll deductions. An added benefit is that the money you put in is tax-deductible. Try to contribute at least enough to secure an employer match. If you have an individual retirement account (IRA), you can set up automatic monthly transfers from your checking account.

5% of Your Income Goes Toward Short-Term Savings

A healthy emergency fund is an important part of financial wellness. Surprise expenses pop up all the time—and they can throw a wrench into your budget. That can include car trouble, unexpected home repairs, unplanned medical bills or periods of unemployment. Most experts recommend saving three to six months' worth of expenses in your emergency fund. Having that money on hand can help you manage financial surprises without accumulating debt.

How to Reach Your Spending Goal

The 50/15/5 rule has you set aside 5% of your take-home pay for this goal. If that feels like a stretch, start small and work your way up. Cutting back on discretionary spending can also free up money to put toward saving.

What Happens to the Remaining 30%?

With the 50/15/5 rule, you'll have 30% of your take-home pay left over for discretionary spending. That might include:

  • Shopping
  • Dining out
  • Entertainment
  • Subscription services
  • Reasonable splurges

Keep in mind that you don't always have to spend 30% on discretionary expenses. You could use some of this money to bump up your retirement savings, invest, pay down debt, pad your emergency fund or save for a specific financial goal.

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How Is It Different From Other Spending and Saving Recommendations?

Here's a look at how the 50/15/5 rule compares to other popular budgeting guidelines:

  • 50/30/20 rule: Spend 50% on essential spending, 30% on discretionary spending and 20% on financial goals.
  • 40/30/20/10 rule: Spend less than 40% on loans, less than 30% on expenses, at least 20% on financial goals and at least 10% on insurance.
  • 70/20/10 rule: Spend 70% on monthly bills and regular spending, 20% on saving and investing, and 10% on extra debt payments.

Is the 50/15/5 Rule a Good Idea?

The 50/15/5 rule might make sense if you want to prioritize saving. That includes saving for retirement and building your emergency fund. One potential downside of the 50/15/5 rule is that it doesn't build long-term, non-retirement savings into your budget. That includes investing. You'll have to be intentional about working that into your plan—otherwise you could be leaving a lot of money on the table. You'll also want to plan ahead for non-monthly expenses.

If you're paying off debt, you might like the 70/20/10 rule better because it allocates 10% of your income to extra debt payments. Meanwhile, those with irregular income may prefer zero-based budgeting. This method accounts for every dollar of your take-home pay and can be helpful if your income fluctuates from one month to the next.

The Bottom Line

The 50/15/5 rule is a budgeting technique that's meant to optimize your income. When done right, it can curb overspending and help you reach your savings goals faster. One of those goals might be to improve your credit. Experian can help here, allowing you to check your credit score and credit report for free at any time.

What Is the 50/15/5 Rule for Saving? - Experian (2024)

FAQs

What Is the 50/15/5 Rule for Saving? - Experian? ›

50/15/5 rule: The 50/15/5 approach puts half of your earnings toward necessary spending, 15% toward retirement savings and 5% toward short-term savings. The remaining 30% can be used for nonessential expenses.

What is the 50 15 5 rule for savings? ›

50 - Consider allocating no more than 50 percent of take-home pay to essential expenses. 15 - Try to save 15 percent of pretax income (including employer contributions) for retirement. 5 - Save for the unexpected by keeping 5 percent of take-home pay in short-term savings for unplanned expenses.

What is the 50-30-20 rule for savings? ›

The 50-30-20 rule recommends putting 50% of your money toward needs, 30% toward wants, and 20% toward savings.

What is the 50-30-20 rule for credit card payments? ›

Budgeting with the 50-30-20 rule

All you need to do to make a monthly budget with the 50-30-20 rule is split your take-home pay (that is, after taxes and deductions) into three categories: 50% goes towards necessary expenses. 30% goes towards things you want. 20% goes towards savings or paying off debt.

How much does Dave Ramsey say to save for retirement? ›

When it comes to saving for retirement, money expert Dave Ramsey knows exactly how much you should be setting aside. Ramsey's recommendation, which he shared on his website Ramsey Solutions, is to invest 15% of your gross income into your 401(k) and IRA every month.

What is the 15 5 rule? ›

Use the 15/5 rule.

Employees are taught to make eye contact and smile at customers when they are within 15 feet. Employees then give a verbal greeting when customers are within 5 feet.

What is the 15 saving rule? ›

The 50/15/5 rule for spending and saving provides guidelines that could make budgeting a little easier. It allocates 50% of your income to essential expenses, 15% to retirement and 5% to short-term savings.

What is the 20 10 rule for savings? ›

While it's technically a rule of thumb as opposed to an enforceable decree, the 10/20 rule is a system of budgeting that can work for virtually anyone. The idea is to keep your total debt at or under 20% of your annual income, while maintaining monthly payments at no more than 10% of your monthly net income.

What is the 20 80 rule for savings? ›

The rule requires that you divide after-tax income into two categories: savings and everything else. As long as 20% of your income is used to pay yourself first, you're free to spend the remaining 80% on needs and wants. That's it; no expense categories, no tracking your individual dollars.

What is the 40 percent rule in savings? ›

The 40/40/20 rule comes in during the saving phase of his wealth creation formula. Cardone says that from your gross income, 40% should be set aside for taxes, 40% should be saved, and you should live off of the remaining 20%.

What is the 3 15 rule for credit cards? ›

The date at the end of the billing cycle is your payment due date. By making a credit card payment 15 days before your payment due date—and again three days before—you're able to reduce your balances and show a lower credit utilization ratio before your billing cycle ends.

What is the 15 3 credit card payment trick? ›

You make one payment 15 days before your statement is due and another payment three days before the due date. By doing this, you can lower your overall credit utilization ratio, which can raise your credit score. Keeping a good credit score is important if you want to apply for new credit cards.

What is the 524 credit card rule? ›

The 5/24 rule is an unofficial policy that dictates that Chase won't approve you for its cards if you've opened five or more personal credit card accounts from any issuer in the last 24 months. Put simply, the number of cards you've opened in the previous two years will affect your approval odds with Chase.

What happens if you save $100 dollars a month for 40 years? ›

According to Ramsey's tweet, investing $100 per month for 40 years gives you an account value of $1,176,000. Ramsey's assumptions include a 12% annual rate of return, which some critics have labeled as optimistic given that the long-term average annual return of the S&P 500 index is closer to 10%.

Is $100 a month good for retirement? ›

It might seem like $100 a month isn't a lot, but it can add up over time. You can also split it into smaller amounts and use it on multiple things, especially if those things don't cost much individually. “We advise diversifying $100 monthly in retirement,” said Adam Garcia, the owner of The Stock Dork.

Is 55 too late to start saving for retirement? ›

If you didn't make saving for retirement a priority early in life, it's not too late to catch up. At age 50, you can start making extra contributions to your tax-sheltered retirement accounts (called catch-up contributions).

What is the 50 40 10 rule for savings? ›

What is 50 / 40 / 10 rule, how to use it and is the rule is good for you? The 50/40/10 rule budget is a simple way to budget that doesn't involve detailed budgeting categories. Instead, you spend 50% of your after-tax pay on needs, 40% on wants, and 10% on savings or paying off debt.

What is the 25x savings rule? ›

The 25x rule entails saving 25 times an investor's planned annual expenses for retirement. Originating from the 4% rule, the 25x rule simplifies retirement planning by focusing on portfolio size.

What is the 7 rule for savings? ›

The seven percent savings rule provides a simple yet powerful guideline—save seven percent of your gross income before any taxes or other deductions come out of your paycheck. Saving at this level can help you make continuous progress towards your financial goals through the inevitable ups and downs of life.

What is the 50 25 25 rule in saving? ›

The 50/25/25 saving rule is an incredibly useful guideline to help manage your finances and ensure that you're putting away enough money each month. This rule suggests that you allocate half of your income to essential expenses, a quarter to discretionary spending, and another quarter to savings.

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