Almost nobody can tell you what percentage of it they actually kept.

Think about the last 12 months.

You know your income. Probably to the exact number.

But what percentage of it is still in your account, invested, or working for you in some way right now?

Most people earning well go quiet when that question arrives.

The salary feels solid.

The lifestyle feels earned.

The month ends and there is less left than there should be.

Then the year ends.

And somewhere between the raises and the good intentions, the gap between what came in and what stayed never really grew the way it should have.

Not because the income was too low.

Because the percentage was never decided.

For most of my 30s, my savings rate sat somewhere between 20 and 30 percent on a good year.

Probably lower in some years if I am completely honest.

And I was earning well. Sometimes very well.

The problem was not the income.

The problem was that 70 to 80 percent of what came in was leaving almost as fast as it arrived. Rent. Lifestyle. Upgraded versions of things I already had. Consumption that felt normal and reasonable and deserved.

The 20 to 30 percent that stayed was not always deployed well either. Some sat in cash. Some went into investments that did not work. Some went into things I thought were assets that turned out not to be.

The savings rate looked fine from a distance.

It was quietly insufficient up close.

Here is why the percentage matters more than the amount.

Two people earn $10,000 a month.

Person A saves 10 percent. That is $1,000 a month. $12,000 a year. Person B saves 30 percent. That is $3,000 a month. $36,000 a year.

Same income. Same city. Roughly the same cost of living.

After 10 years, before any investment returns, Person B has accumulated $360,000. Person A has $120,000.

That is a $240,000 gap from one decision.

Not from a higher salary. Not from a better investment. From the percentage.

Add real investment returns on top of that gap and the difference becomes significantly larger over time.

The income does not close that gap.

The savings rate does.

And the savings rate is a decision. Not a result. Not something that happens after everything else is paid for and whatever is left gets saved.

It is a percentage you decide in advance. Before lifestyle expands. Before the new income feels normal. Before you adjust your spending to match the new number.

The rule is simple.

When income goes up, savings rate goes up with it. Before anything else. Before the lifestyle adjusts. Before the raise disappears the same way every other raise did.

Even moving from saving 10 percent to saving 20 percent of the same income changes the 10-year picture by more than most salary increases ever could.

Your income is impressive.

Your savings rate is what actually builds something.

Look at your last 3 months of income and savings.

Add up what you actually saved or invested across those 3 months.

Divide that total by your total take-home income across the same period.

Multiply by 100.

That is your real savings rate right now.

Write the number down.

If it surprises you, you now know the most important number to change.

Not your salary.

Your rate.

Your salary tells you what you made.

Your savings rate tells you what you are building.

Most people spend years focused entirely on the first number while the second one quietly decides their future.

Your salary tells you what you made.

Your savings rate tells you what you are building.

Most people spend years focused entirely on the first number while the second one quietly decides their future.

If this was useful, forward it to one person who earns well but has never stopped to calculate this number.

Most people reading this know someone who needs it.

Until next week,

— Serge

There is no universal right savings rate. It depends on your income, your stage, and what you are building toward. But in my experience, below 20 percent and you are largely funding a lifestyle.

Above 30 percent and things start to compound in a way that eventually feels very different. Most people I speak to are sitting somewhere between 5 and 15 percent without realizing it.