Finance Choices
Young, determined, and saving the most
National Savings and Investments today released the results of a year's worth of research into the nation's savings habits - with some surprising results.
The first, and possibly most striking, was the dominance of 16 to 24 year olds in the figures.
This age group saved the most as a percentage of income in every quarter, and over the summer months set the record for most saved by any group at any time - at 10.11 per cent of income.
"The existence of young and determined savers was discovered when we first started to analyse the data," said Dax Harkins, senior savings strategist at National Savings.
"We were delighted to see that the young are leading the way when it comes to savings, which we feel is a highly optimistic sign for the future. Saving is a habit which should be started young and increased in line with earnings."
Another surprising result was that more money is saved over the winter months, including the run-up to Christmas and New Year, than at any other time at 6.9 per cent of income.
However, savings slide in the spring, when money invested drops to 5.82 per cent.
Men were consistently found to be better savers than women, both in terms of the number of men saving and the amount of money they put away.
And overall, single women were found to be saving the least - with just 44 per cent putting money away over the summer months (compared with 60 per cent of single men over this period), and those that are saving are putting less away (6.26 per cent of income - over 30 per cent less than single men).
"It is possible that single women do not feel that they earn enough to be able to save, reflected in the fact that one in eight hold no savings at all. With women typically earning less than men, they may find their income eaten up by mortgage repayments, rent, bills and other outgoings," said National Saving's Mr Harkins commented.
But this lack of savings leaves the nation's females vulnerable to reversals of fortune, he added.
"Women are vulnerable to pension shortfalls with many taking a break from employment to raise a family which is why they need to be saving more, earlier, to provide for their own future. "
"We would urge all savers, and single women in particular, to save as much as they can afford every month. Even £50 a month, saved in an average rate instant access account of three per cent, could add up to £618 a year."
The first, and possibly most striking, was the dominance of 16 to 24 year olds in the figures.
This age group saved the most as a percentage of income in every quarter, and over the summer months set the record for most saved by any group at any time - at 10.11 per cent of income.
"The existence of young and determined savers was discovered when we first started to analyse the data," said Dax Harkins, senior savings strategist at National Savings.
"We were delighted to see that the young are leading the way when it comes to savings, which we feel is a highly optimistic sign for the future. Saving is a habit which should be started young and increased in line with earnings."
Another surprising result was that more money is saved over the winter months, including the run-up to Christmas and New Year, than at any other time at 6.9 per cent of income.
However, savings slide in the spring, when money invested drops to 5.82 per cent.
Men were consistently found to be better savers than women, both in terms of the number of men saving and the amount of money they put away.
And overall, single women were found to be saving the least - with just 44 per cent putting money away over the summer months (compared with 60 per cent of single men over this period), and those that are saving are putting less away (6.26 per cent of income - over 30 per cent less than single men).
"It is possible that single women do not feel that they earn enough to be able to save, reflected in the fact that one in eight hold no savings at all. With women typically earning less than men, they may find their income eaten up by mortgage repayments, rent, bills and other outgoings," said National Saving's Mr Harkins commented.
But this lack of savings leaves the nation's females vulnerable to reversals of fortune, he added.
"Women are vulnerable to pension shortfalls with many taking a break from employment to raise a family which is why they need to be saving more, earlier, to provide for their own future. "
"We would urge all savers, and single women in particular, to save as much as they can afford every month. Even £50 a month, saved in an average rate instant access account of three per cent, could add up to £618 a year."
posted by Bruce Wayne at 8:16 AM
Young, determined, and saving the most
1 Comments:
This is hardly ground breaking research is it? Surely everyone knows that students build up a nest egg over the summer months for when they go back to university over the winter? I would imagine that this clouds the research a great deal with young people outside of this trend not saving much at all.
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