A third of Britons NEVER expect to reach their financial
prime, according to new research revealed by NatWest Primeline,
even though 68% of respondents have been saving money since
before their 21st birthday.
The survey found that 81% of respondents over the age of
65 believed themselves to be in their financial prime, compared
with only 30% of 16-24 year olds. On average, however, Brits
expect to reach their financial prime at some point in their
forties.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, of those who believe they will
never be happy with their financial situation, 43% live
in London, compared with only 23% in the north west. Scotland
is the place to live if you want to be happy with your financial
situation as 63% of those living north of the border say
that they are content with their financial affairs.
The survey also indicated that the single life was freer
from the stresses and strains of financial life, with only
14% of single Britons stating that they don’t believe
they will ever be happy with their financial situation,
compared to 37% of couples.
In order to get to grips with managing their money, 36%
of respondents turned to financial institutions for guidance
and advice and over a third felt that they needed the most
help when buying their first house (32%) or planning their
retirement (16%). Nearly a third of respondents also turned
to their parents for advice.
According to the research, 1 in 5 Britons, prefer to spend
money on themselves, in particular in London, where over
a third of Londoners most enjoy spending money on themselves.
Ultimately, we appear to be a generous nation in our spending
habits, with 55% of us enjoying spending our money on our
families and 17% on our partners. Holidays are our top extravagance,
especially for those in the north west, where 45% spend
their spare cash on a break in the sun.
John Wills, Head of Marketing at NatWest Primeline, said:
“The pace of life today makes it much harder to keep
on top of your finances but equally, with the right support
and guidance, you can reach your financial prime and achieve
your financial ambitions. At Primeline, customers have a
dedicated bank manager to help them manage their finances
more effectively plus 24-hour access to their finances.
All this is designed to make customers’ financial lives
as hassle-free as possible which, given the results of the
research, is something that we could all do with.”
