The Real Problem
Most people fall into one of the following categories when deciding how much to save:
The standard 50/30/20 budgeting rule (50% needs, 30% wants, 20% savings)
What their friends save
Random guessing
None of these methods work for YOU!
You may be saving too little and feeling guilty. Or saving too much and then dipping into your savings account when life happens.
You're saving a number that was never yours to begin with.
The question isn't "How much should I be saving?"
The question is "What's the maximum I can save without sacrificing life?"
Core Concept
Generic saving advice ignores your unique lifestyle.
What if you can comfortably save 30%? Or what if 15% already squeezes you?
The solution: Your Savings Ceiling.
This is the maximum amount you can save without restricting your lifestyle.
Think of your income like a barbell. Your lifestyle is the weight of the bar itself. Your savings is the extra weight you add to the bar.
Your savings ceiling is the maximum amount of weight you can add to the bar while still being able to complete a rep.
Traditional advice says "Add 20 pounds to the bar." Regardless of your strength.
What ends up happening is that your form breaks. You can't sustain the added weight and you drop the bar, feeling like you failed. Then you start over next month with the same broken approach.
The Savings Ceiling approach says to keep adding weight until right before you would fail the lift. That's your ceiling.
You're not forcing weight you can't handle. You're finding YOUR max and lifting it month after month without failure.
The System
Figuring out your savings ceiling is a simple exercise. Here’s how it works:
Step 1: Pick a starting number
Set up automatic savings with an amount that feels comfortable.
Start aggressive if you want to find your ceiling faster.
(Need help setting this up? Last week's newsletter walks through it.)
Step 2: Wait one month, then ask yourself:
"Did I miss that money?"
Didn't notice it? → Increase next month
Felt squeezed? → You hit your ceiling
Step 3: Adjust and repeat
If you didn't miss it, increase next month.
If you felt the pinch, drop it slightly.
Within a few months, you'll land on your personal ceiling.
Take Action
Increase your systematic savings right now.
Even just $50 more. The higher you start, the faster you find your ceiling.
Stop chasing generic numbers and find yours!
Before You Go
A few quick things:
1. How did you like this week’s edition? I'm curious if it made sense to you? If it did, quickly reply “yes” to this email.
2. Help a friend out. If this clicked for you, it'll probably click for a friend too. Forward it to someone who's been saying they need to "get better with money" but doesn’t know where to start.
3. Learn how to save on autopilot. Check out last week’s edition to get my system that tells you how to set up a systematic savings strategy so you can start saving on autopilot. Get it Here
That's it. See you next week.
-George G