What's a prudent amount of money for someone my age (26) to have in a savings account? I went to the ATM to make a deposit the other day and when the receipt printed out, it fell on the ground. So I picked it up, but accidentally picked up someone else's receipt (the ground was littered with them), and this person had about $27,600 in his/her account. CHECKING account!! Needless to say, that definitely wasn't my account balance, though I wish it were. How do you determine what percentage of your paycheck should go into savings each month? I'm terrified of ending up broke and homeless.