Gocompare Survey - 60% have under £1000 Savings?

gadgetmind

Glen_Clark wrote: »

I didn't say it was.

Um, I just checked and you did (well, you said "most" rather than "majority") but let's move on.

jimjames

Niv wrote: »

I confess I have not checked out the survey so simply responding to what has been posted here, but, where does this figure of 60% really come from? What I mean by that is - who filled in this survey? People that visit GoCompare website only? If so, surely it is biased as a proportion of those will be visiting the site specifically for a loan, which likely means they do not have savings. Also those looking for the lowest price for insurance (although a sensible thing to do) are potentially more likely to have less in the first place? (Maybe, maybe not), I know a number of 'older generation' that don't go to comparison websites ever for anything and simply renew their existing policies year after year and all of them have more than £1k in savings for sure.

I do not visit that site / nor do I tend to respond to surveys on random websites and so the true picture is not really being shown

Although it was conducted on behalf of Gocompare I don't think it was restricted to their customers or people using their website.

It also seems to match other information so I would tend to believe that the numbers are accurate.

Doshwaster

Glen_Clark wrote: »

The grey vote is likely to get stronger so politicians will have to look after the pensioners if they can - but with nothing in the kitty but a rapidly increasing deficit will the country be able to afford to? Even if you believe the Governments statistics which tend to downplay the size of the debt, its the scariest figure of all :eek:

That's true but you can't rely on the state pension being worth anything in real terms. My retirement planning totally ignores what I'll get from the state so whatever it turns out to be 30+ years will be just be additional pocket money, not anything I'm planning to live on.

It is scary to see people in their 40s who are still renting and have not got any pension or savings. They are either in denial about the problem or just expect the state to support them for decades in retirement.

Glen_Clark

gadgetmind wrote: »

Um, I just checked and you did (well, you said "most" rather than "majority") but let's move on.

I never gave any percentage. You said 1% and then wrongly attributed it to me. Is that why you want to move on?

Glen_Clark

ColdIron wrote: »

Is this code for 'I have no proof but feel free to make some stuff up for yourself'?

No its code for 'use your common sense' (because there are no reliable statistics.)
Sorry if that is beyond you

Glen_Clark

Doshwaster wrote: »

It is scary to see people in their 40s who are still renting and have not got any pension or savings. They are either in denial about the problem or just expect the state to support them for decades in retirement.

....... or their rent, commuting and living costs are so high they have nothing left to save.
Those who have tried to save have had a bum deal from private pensions scandals... rip off fees & taxes...negative real interest rates.....etc etc
Nobody likes paying taxes, but if you accept that you have to pay taxes, Isn't the least worst idea to pay them when you die and can't take it with you....

VT82

I think it's quite pointless to note that the average savings per person is under £2k, or that 60% of people have under £1k savings, when discussing whether or not 'normal' best buys should be included by MSE.

If you have under £1-2k of savings, you're not really classed as a saver. Yes, you should be encouraged to make use of high interest current accounts, but the people who need to know about best buy rates the most are people who actually are savers.

For the last 'normal' (instant access, non-ISA) best buy product we launched where I work, the average balance was over £45,000 per account.

For someone with £45k, the difference between 1.4% taxed in a best buy savings account and 0.5% taxed in an old Halifax account is £27 per month.

If you've got £1k, the difference between 5% taxed in a current account and 1.5% in a best buy ISA is about £2 per month.

There's room for both in the best buy guides.

Archi_Bald

I think you are somewhat missing the point the OP was making. Which is that promoting cash ISAs as the most desireable savings vehicle is bad advice for the vast majority of savers. I am right with the OP on this and don't think anyone could seriously disagree.

gkerr4

Archi_Bald wrote: »

I think you are somewhat missing the point the OP was making. Which is that promoting cash ISAs as the most desireable savings vehicle is bad advice for the vast majority of savers. I am right with the OP on this and don't think anyone could seriously disagree.

see what you are saying - but i think VT82's point (which i agree with) is that the OP's point isn't relevant to this board, as 'we' wouldn't describe those folks (the 60%) as "savers".

its still shocking though - and demonstrates how "payday loans" have increased in popularity as under a £1000 in savings would make things difficult to cash-flow life's little curveballs!

gkerr4

having re-read my note, i sound like an awful person - i'm not and i didn't mean to - but it would be interesting to see what the average savers 'amount' is on those who use this board.