How much of my paycheck should I save? Start at 6% and $1,000

Start with 6% of pay if your employer matches, because the most common match formula pays 50 cents on every dollar up to that line.¹ Then $1,000 in savings, a target only 47% of Americans could cover from savings today.² Then a goal with a name. The percentage that falls out is 11 to 14% of take-home at $50,000 to $100,000, before the match.

Why not start with a percentage?

Because a percentage of what? 10% of gross on $60,000 is $500 a month. 10% of take-home is $420, because the check is about $4,200 after federal tax and FICA.³ Those are different amounts, and people mean both. A percentage also says nothing about where the money goes, which is the part that decides whether it stays saved. Money with no name gets spent in March.

The better answer is three numbers in order. Each one is a line you either clear or do not. The percentage is what you get when you add them up on your own check, and it comes out different at $50,000 than at $100,000, which is the point.

What is the first number: the employer match?

If your employer matches contributions to a workplace retirement plan, the match threshold is the first number to know. Vanguard's How America Saves 2025 reports that the most common formula is 50% of what you contribute, up to 6% of pay, which works out to a 3% employer contribution when you reach the line.¹ Among plans that match, the average employer contribution is 4.6% of pay and the median is 4%, so 6% is typical, not universal. Your plan summary states yours.

Below the threshold, each dollar you put in has another 50 cents next to it. Above it, a dollar is a dollar. That is why the threshold, not a round percentage, is the first line.

Here is what 6% looks like on a monthly check. Take-home is a single filer with the standard deduction, federal tax and FICA only, on the 2026 brackets.³

Read the last column. 6% of gross is 7 to 8% of what lands, because the percentage is taken on the bigger number. The take-home column also assumes nothing is deferred, so once the 6% comes out, your check is smaller than the table shows.

One more reason the match goes first. Fidelity's guideline for retirement accounts is 1x your salary by 30.⁴ On $60,000, 6% plus the 3% match is $5,400 a year. Eight years of that from 22, with a flat salary and before any investment return up or down, is $43,200, about 0.7x salary. The threshold alone does most of that job.

What is the second number: $1,000?

$1,000 in a savings account you can reach in a day. Bankrate's 2026 report found that 47% of Americans could cover a $1,000 emergency from savings, about a third would go into debt for it, and 27% have no emergency savings at all, a record.² A $1,000 cushion is the difference between a car repair and a card balance that is still there in six months.

Why second and not first? Because the match is a threshold that resets every pay period, and a pay period you skip usually does not come back. The $1,000 waits for you. If there is no match, or no plan, $1,000 moves to first.

$250 a month is 7% of take-home on $50,000 and 4% on $100,000. Pick the row you will not notice leaving. Once the $1,000 is there, how big the emergency fund should get after that is a second target with its own number, one month of fixed costs.

What is the third number: a goal with a name?

After the match and the $1,000, "save more" stops working, because there is nothing to check it against. Set a goal with three parts: a name, an amount, and a date. "$3,000 for a move by June" is a savings rate in disguise. Divide the amount by the months and you have the transfer: $333 a month for nine months.

The usual candidates in your 20s: the one-month emergency fund, a deposit on the next apartment, a car without a loan, a course, a trip you would otherwise put on a card. One at a time. The goal has to sit somewhere separate from the checking account the card draws on, or it becomes groceries. Which account is a question for your situation. If you want a benchmark for where the total should be, how much you should have saved at 25 uses the median rather than the rule.

What percentage does that add up to?

Now the number you asked for. Add 6% of pay and a $250 transfer, then divide by take-home:

So the honest percentage is 11 to 14% of take-home from you, and 15 to 18% counting the employer. It runs higher at lower salaries because $250 is a bigger share of a smaller check, which is also why the $250 is a choice, not a rule. Drop it to $100 and the range is 9 to 10%. With no match at all, the first number disappears and the range starts at the transfer alone, 4 to 7% of take-home, with the named goal carrying the rest.

On $60,000 that is $550 out of a $4,200 check, and $60k a year is $4,200 a month after taxes shows where the other $3,650 tends to go.

What order do I do this in?

1. Find the match formula in your plan summary. The threshold, usually 6%, is the first number. No match, skip to step 2.
2. Set the first savings target at $1,000, in an account you can reach in a day and the card cannot.
3. Name the next goal: amount, date, and the monthly transfer that falls out of dividing one by the other.
4. Add the three up and divide by take-home. That is your percentage, and it will land near 11 to 14%.
5. Move the transfers to payday, before the money lands where you can see it. Where your paycheck should go first has the slot for each one.