Do you have savings?

Our small savings are the result of bequests from parents.

My parents taught me to save and even when I was earning paltry amounts when training I still put pennies by for a rainy day.

No, any time I have managed to squirrel some away for a rainy day.. well.. along comes the rain.
I'm not in any debt though, so that's something.

My savings were what I managed to squirrel away in my last few working years , of course they aren't accumulating much profit nowadays but I need to have that buffer between me and just managing on my pensions.

It may have been me mentioning savings in an earlier post on another thread.

I do sometimes wish I had had more and better holidays, replaced furniture etc more often and spent more on ourselves throughout our marriage.

I wouldn't then be looking forward to it going in care home fees, and no-one would be able to take that pleasure away from me.

The OP was maybe wanting to know why we save.H and I were both born before WW2 and in different ways saw real poverty in the mining community we both lived in.
We never wanted us or our C to experience that, we needed the reassurance that a few pounds in the bank would give and we did have to make some sacrifices to do it.
Would I do it again?
Probably not.

Slight diversion, in response to annsixty - I agree about care home expenses; I used to think it was awful that my parents skimped all their lives, did without hols etc. then it nearly all went on care home costs. I would like to give my daughter a lump sum when I sell my flat, so she can use the money towards a deposit on a flat herself, but I understand from an article I read years ago that councils can go over your financial records for as many years as they want, to determine if you have been trying to avoid care home fees.

So savers - think twice and enjoy!

I've always tried to put away a bit each month even if it wasn't much. I called it my 'running away' fund after reading a Nancy's Mitford book. More seriously though I started paying into our NHS pension scheme while still in my 20s and could ill afford it. My Dad had made me do it and I bless him every day for that. It bought me my freedom.

Any money given more than seven years before death is not looked into 're inheritance tax or nursing home fees as I understand it.

My father always invested any spare money he had in property (ie houses), and husband's family ploughed theirs back into their business (shops.) As a couple we own (mostly) 2 small houses.

I would consider that the above is saving. Saving is putting money aside instead of spending it. Savings can be put aside in a variety of ways. it can be directly invested into assets like houses, jewellery, fine art or land. It can be investment in businesses, either directly or by purchasing stocks and shares. It can be money in a saving account at a bank or building society. It can be money kept in an old sock under the bed.

Money not spent and not given away is saving, no matter what form it is turned into..

I spend and much prefer to saving forever. Each to their own.

mumofmadboys - re nursing home fees - the 7 year rule does not apply

7 years for inheritance tax, but for care home fees it is not time, but whether it can be shown that the money was given away with the intention of avoiding paying care home fees

Jane10 my dear mum always told me to have a running away fund. So I did, and told our daughter the same thing. Mind you she is so money savvy, she could take me with her if the need arose

My parents were spenders, as professionals, they must have gone through a lot.
Not much was spent on me, so I've always been a saver.
DH came from a saving family, so it was instilled in him.
Our own DCs quote back to us, 'look after the pennies......'
If I have to pay for care in old age, so be it.

We have never saved. Our small nest egg is redundancy money and inheritance but we do refer to it as "our savings"

What we have is what we have saved . We didn't inherit a penny from either family, perhaps that explains our mindset.

My father was always a saver, but until I got married, the concept of saving never entered my head. In the early years of our marriage we didn't save much either, but once DH was approaching the point where the end of his Army service was looming, we decided to get the money together for a deposit on a house, and managed that okay, but we didn't start saving in earnest until I was in a position to work full time. We've always been in a position where we could help the kids with uni and setting up home, and got out of the habit of spending significant money on ourselves. Now that there are no outside calls on it, DH is finding it a hard habit to get back into! He is of the "we might need it for care home fees" mindset. We do okay, though, on the whole. Not an exciting life, but a secure one.

It's fortunate we have a reasonable joint income because we are not very good savers. We have a little savings - and put a fair amount of money into our savings account each month, but often take it out again for holidays, presents, etc. etc.

I think we could have amassed a lot more money but we are not especially careful about spending on ourselves or on our family and friends.

We haven't ever inherited any money either so I'm not sure that has anything to do with whether you have a propensity to save.

This reminds me of a recent conversation when a friend and I discussed people who win cash eg in a tv game show. £20k is seen as a life-changing amount and it's to be spent on car/ holidays/etc.
No-one ever says it will go into savings or a pension fund.
Is £20k a life-changing amount?
If we are lucky enough to have that in the bank should we give it away, spend the lot or hang on to it?

I suppose we are savers rather than spenders. "Stuff" has never bothered us so for example whereas some may have spent thousands on cars over the years we are happy with an ageing Fiesta. Probably stems from both of us coming from families where it was hard to make ends meet and saving was not an option.

Good question, TriciaF, as the saving at today rates. I can not reason why to save and not spend. Enjoy retirement.

Re the 7-year rule about tax etc: there's no way (is there?) that a Council could access your financial details any further back than your own records. It's wise to keep details of the last 7 years' banking etc, but most people don't keep records any longer than that, and I doubt very much if they'd be relevant anyway.

we've always had a rainy day fund ,being self employed it was a security blanket in case things went wrong and we needed to live without an income.We've worked to guarantee our income and to leave a continuing income for our children when we die with hopefully enough for deposits for houses for the GC .I DO spend though I change furniture,decorate and redo kitchens and bathrooms very regulary because I like my home to stay fresh and modern ,we dont spend on holidays as I'd rather sleep in my own bed .