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Less than 50% of the Adult Population of the UK have any debt whatsoever!

124

Comments

  • MrRee_2
    MrRee_2 Posts: 2,389 Forumite
    It does seem as if the majority of people on here have a healthy savings amount .... plenty of dosh tucked away - that is excellent news!

    Most people could see out a period without work without any great hardship for quite a while by the looks of it ..... a satisfying statistic.
    Bringing Happiness where there is Gloom!
  • cepheus
    cepheus Posts: 20,053 Forumite
    MrRee wrote: »
    It does seem as if the majority of people on here have a healthy savings amount .... plenty of dosh tucked away - that is excellent news!

    Most people could see out a period without work without any great hardship for quite a while by the looks of it ..... a satisfying statistic.

    Yes but it's really unsurprising since this is a money saving site, hardly typical of the population at large, so we must be careful not to assume our views and experiences represent the majority.
  • MrRee_2
    MrRee_2 Posts: 2,389 Forumite
    edited 11 January 2014 at 7:27PM
    True ...... but, it was the News that more than half of the population (not just those on here you will note) have absolutely no debt whatsoever which shocked me.

    As this is the only place I can test that theory I placed a poll ...... if this site showed that not many had savings then I would have doubted the population at large figure.

    This poll shows that those on here are very canny at keeping hold of their pennies ..... which is what you would expect.

    More than 5 in 10 have over £50,000 saved on deposit which is a great sign ...... yes, I know that £50,000 isn't that much these days and you would be right - but it's still a healthy situation IMO.

    It also puzzles me why some constantly post doom and gloom, when clearly most here are pretty affluent! There should be more upbeat posts like mine!!!!!!

    Of course, it could just be those who only feel better about themselves when others are not doing so well?
    Bringing Happiness where there is Gloom!
  • MrRee wrote: »
    True ...... but, it was the News that more than half of the population (not just those on here you will note) have absolutely no debt whatsoever which shocked me.....

    It might be a good idea to post a link of where the information came from. There are so many definitions.....

    I remember once a statistic on the average non mortgage debt, and although I was horrified by the figure, I noted that I always have in the region of £3,000* or more outstanding credit card debt even though I pay them off in full by Direct Debit every month.

    It's difficult to know if this quite normal situation is included in the figures. Technically it is pure debt, despite the fact that other cash assets make the figure trivial.

    * As of today, I checked, it's £3,117.61 precisely!
  • MrRee_2
    MrRee_2 Posts: 2,389 Forumite
    It was stated on the National News ...... BBC I think?

    If credit card balances are taken into account then even less people are in debt than the headlines suggest ......... or do they just look at credit card debt which is attracting interest?
    Bringing Happiness where there is Gloom!
  • cepheus
    cepheus Posts: 20,053 Forumite
    MrRee wrote: »
    This poll shows that those on here are very canny at keeping hold of their pennies ..... which is what you would expect.

    More than 5 in 10 have over £50,000 saved on deposit which is a great sign ...... yes, I know that £50,000 isn't that much these days and you would be right - but it's still a healthy situation IMO?

    meanwhile back in the real world outside MSE palace!
    New research from HSBC reveals that 31% of UK households have less than £250 set aside as a financial safety net.

    The survey of over 1,000 UK households shows that a fifth (19%) have no savings at all to fall back on and 12% have savings of less than £250. With average monthly household outgoings currently £1,669, these savings would last just five days.

    The number of households in this situation has risen by three quarters of a million to over eight million since last year, when 28% had maximum savings of £249.4
  • MrRee_2
    MrRee_2 Posts: 2,389 Forumite
    That survey was tiny, just over 1000 ........... pinch of salt needed.
    Bringing Happiness where there is Gloom!
  • Perelandra
    Perelandra Posts: 1,060 Forumite
    MrRee wrote: »
    That survey was tiny, just over 1000 ........... pinch of salt needed.


    But you can be 95% confident that it will lie somewhere between 28% and 34% based on that sample.


    Either number is shocking!
  • Graham_Devon
    Graham_Devon Posts: 58,560 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    MrRee wrote: »
    That survey was tiny, just over 1000 ........... pinch of salt needed.

    Well blimey. This one consists of 114 votes. And you are quite happy to make a conclusion from that!

    Not to mention the amount of double, triple, quadruple voting under different accounts. 20 of the votes are probably you!

    Not to mention the fact that it's on a subset of the forum inhabited mostly by those owning multiple assets. Apparently.
  • i've got exactly 50k - i dont know what box to tick :(
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