How Much Money Do Teenage Consumers Place in Savings Each Year?

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In 2008, 50 percent of working teenagers reported saving “some” of their wages and spending the rest, as reported by a Charles Schwab Foundation study. In 2012, a survey of 16- and 17-year-old high school students found that only 45 percent had money in a savings account.

In 2008, fewer than 20 percent of teenagers reported having more than $1,000 in savings, and only 53 percent reported having any savings at all. A survey of students aged 16 to 18 in 2011 found that the average teenager had only $1,000 in savings, and only 76 percent reported trying to save money. The most common reason given for trying to save money was to pay for college.