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Gocompare Survey - 60% have under £1000 Savings?

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Comments

  • Archi_Bald
    Archi_Bald Posts: 9,681 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    gkerr4 wrote: »
    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".

    That does indeed sound rather snobbish. I once started saving with a lot less than £1,000, and I suppose most people would start with very little spare cash. I don't know why they should not be considered 'savers', and why they should not benefit from the best available offers, just like those who have a bit more cash to put away.

    The OP's point is totally relevant because we keep seeing people asking which cash ISA they should choose because they have read that they should have a cash ISA.
    A cash NISA is simply a savings account you don't pay tax on. Anyone aged 16 or over can put up to £15,000 into their NISA. If you haven't opened one this tax year (April to April), then it should be the first place to put your cash into. http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/savings/savings-accounts-best-interest
    Invariably, the people asking have nothing like the annual ISA allowance in savings, so the advice they have been given is not in their best interest.
  • jimjames
    jimjames Posts: 18,282 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Photogenic Name Dropper
    edited 26 September 2014 at 4:51PM
    I'm surprised that there seems to be some sort of limit here on when you can be classed as a saver or not. I think anyone who is putting money aside for a rainy day is entitled to have the best return possible regardless of the amount they save. Having some savings is still better than the 25% who have none at all. £125 from using 2 current accounts is at least 10x more than any cash ISAs and £125 is a decent amount to lose by not making best choice.

    Average may not tell much as some would skew the numbers, maybe median would be more representative.

    I'd guess this board has much the same mix as the survey with the exception of the 25%. On mse as a whole I reckon it would match.

    Out of interest Hargreaves Lansdown have cut the minimum investment amount to £25 so the people who can get on the s&s ladder should be increased now.
    Remember the saying: if it looks too good to be true it almost certainly is.
  • Thrugelmir
    Thrugelmir Posts: 89,546 Forumite
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    Glen_Clark wrote: »
    ....... or their rent, commuting and living costs are so high they have nothing left to save.

    Saving should be an ingrained habit from an early age. The buy now pay later culture is a major factor.

    Savings take a lifetime to accumulate for many. Down to personal choice in the end.
  • Glen_Clark
    Glen_Clark Posts: 4,397 Forumite
    Thrugelmir wrote: »
    Saving should be an ingrained habit from an early age. The buy now pay later culture is a major factor.

    Savings take a lifetime to accumulate for many. Down to personal choice in the end.
    Well yes, but Government policy for the last 4 years has been to encourage the opposite - spend and borrow to keep the economy moving until the next election :(
    “It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends on his not understanding it.” --Upton Sinclair
  • Glen_Clark
    Glen_Clark Posts: 4,397 Forumite
    The religious barbarism and chopping off heads by IS in the Middle East is like Britain 500 years ago, and how the Queen and Britain's wealthiest families inherited their wealth and power. Its nothing to do with work or saving.
    “It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends on his not understanding it.” --Upton Sinclair
  • Glen_Clark wrote: »
    ....... or their rent, commuting and living costs are so high they have nothing left to save.

    That will often be through choice, though. You only have to read the stories on here of people who are "poor" but have sky and an iPhone to realise that some people will simply always choose to spend everything that they have, leaving nothing for a rainy day.

    The number of savers tells us zero about the number of people who could afford to be savers but choose not to be. You could divide the whole country's wealth out evenly tomorrow, and by Christmas would find there'd still be a queue of people asking for benefits as they had no money for food.
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