As we enter 2014, now’s the time when people are thinking about their New Year’s resolutions. The second most popular resolution last year was to save money, with reading more books in the top spot and losing weight at third.
This ambition to save more is a promising sign, however, the reality is somewhat different. The results from our national survey of more than 2,000 people show that 29 per cent admit to currently saving nothing for retirement.
In 2014, everyone should resolve to save more and borrow less. Our survey showed that people in the South East took on an average of £406.30 of new debt and saved £674.10 over a three month period, meaning they had net savings of just £89 per month.
We recognise that people are struggling to save anywhere near the amounts that they will need for retirement and, when they do, they are often undermining their efforts by taking on expensive debt on credit cards or payday loans. We need to change this pattern.
To make this happen, it’s clear that there needs to be better education around savings and investing. Only 17 per cent of those surveyed felt that they had sufficient financial knowledge. This is why 2014 will see the launch of the True Potential Centre for the Public Understanding of Finance’s first free access personal finance education module in partnership with the Open University. This will be available through Future Learn, the international MOOC (Massive Open Online Course), as well as the Open University’s own OpenLearn and iTunes U channels.
By providing the education and tools to make investing simple, we believe that we can pave a better future for everyone and one where personal goals become reality. 2014 is an exciting year for True Potential and for those members of the British public who are prepared to make saving a priority, a more comfortable retirement can become something to look forward to.
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