(savings) All income of households (and firms) that is neither immediately spent on goods and services for final consumption nor taken by the government as taxes. Such savings may be held as balances in bank accounts or as cash on hand. Savings may be held for the purpose of subsequent investment or for some other purpose, such as accumulating sufficient funds for future consumption spending on big ticket items, maintaining an emergency reserve against the possibility of unpredicted consumption expenses, providing for post-retirement consumption spending, or even for the perverse psychological pleasures of hoarding in the miserly tradition of Silas Marner.

[See also: investment]