By Gabriele Denaro · Published 20 September 2026 · Updated 6 October 2026
Your savings rate is the share of your income that you keep instead of spending: (income − spending) ÷ income, usually measured on net income. If you earn €2,000 a month and spend €1,500, you save €500, which is 25%.
Anna takes home €2,000 a month and saves 25%, which is €500. Marco takes home €5,000 and saves 5%, which is €250. Marco earns two and a half times as much and saves half as much. If both keep it up, Anna's net worth grows twice as fast from savings alone, before any investment return.
A raise depends on an employer, an economy, a negotiation. A savings rate depends on the gap between what comes in and what goes out, and you can adjust that gap from either side. There is an honest limit: if your income barely covers the essentials, a higher savings rate is not the first problem to solve. Income is.
Count all your spending, including irregular items such as insurance and holidays, and use net income. Do not confuse savings with market gains: your net worth can grow in a month in which you saved nothing, and fall in one in which you saved a lot. The change in your net worth is what you saved plus what markets did. Patrimony shows the total, and your own bank statements show how much of it you set aside.
Raise it one point at a time, ideally when income rises, so the increase does not feel like a cut. The 50/30/20 calculator below shows what a 20% savings share of your income would be in euros and how the other buckets adapt. It is a way to explore a target, not a rule for how much you must save.
General educational information, not personal financial, tax or legal advice. It may be incomplete or out of date. Terms of use.