How much money should a 25 year old have saved up?

At this stage in life, it's tempting to spend all your money on fun stuff. But if you want to have a comfortable retirement, you need to start saving as early as possible. In fact, experts recommend that by the time you're 35 years old you should have saved twice your salary and by 45 years old three times your salary. So how much money should a 25-year-old have saved up?

Expert recommendations

In general, experts recommend that you have about 25% of your yearly salary saved by the time you hit 25 years old. That means if you make $50K a year, you should have $12.5K in savings at that point; if you make $100K a year, that's $25K in the bank.

By 35 years old, they say your nest egg should be roughly twice what it was when you were 25—so at 35 years old and making $50K annually (or with two decades of working experience), it's recommended that most people should have between 50 and 75 percent saved up.

Lastly, by 45 years old or so (and making between 75 and 100 grand per year) most experts recommend having three times as much money as when you were 25 years younger—or about 150 percent more than what it was when we started this article!

Breakdown of expenses

• Food: $150
• Utilities (electric, water, gas): $100
• Internet/Phone: $50
• Transportation (including car payment): $200
• Credit Card Payments: $200/month

At 25, you should have saved about 25% of your yearly salary. By 35, you should have roughly twice your salary saved and by 45 three times your salary saved.

How much should you have saved by the time you turn 25? How about 35 and 45?

The answer: A lot. We're talking at least 25% of your yearly salary, and that's only the minimum amount. If you can manage to save at least twice your annual salary by age 35, then congratulations! You'll be able to retire in style after working a lifetime. But if not, there is still time left to invest wisely in order to get closer to that financial goal before reaching retirement age.

So, at 25 you should have saved about 25% of your yearly salary. By 35, you should have roughly twice your salary saved and by 45 three times your salary saved. The most important thing is to start early! You’ll thank yourself later when you see how much money you can save in just a few years time.