No savings are made by almost 30% of UK adults.
Savings are made by just over half of British people.
Britons are failing to save enough and are setting themselves up for a financial storm, according to a new publication.
The Everyone Needs a Plan report, compiled by Standard Life and Life Academy, highlights that only 51% of people are saving. A worrying 28% of adults actively choose not to save at all.
John Lawson, Head of Pensions Policy at Standard Life said: “The speed at which the population is ageing has created a dramatic need to shift from a culture of borrowing to one of saving”.
He continued: “Everyone needs a plan makes it clear that we have to make it both easier for people to save and equip them with the knowledge and skills to make well informed choices about how and when to save. We also need to make sure they know where and when to seek financial advice if they need help developing their savings plan”.
The report highlights that the lack of a sound financial plan may not seem worrying to many at an early age but the repercussions will be long lasting and damaging if no measures are taken to provide for future monetary needs.
Standard Life is calling for changes to be made to address the growing problem.
Alan Pickering, CBE and Chairman of Life Academy, said: “In Everyone needs a plan, we partnered with Standard Life to challenge the view that there is a silver bullet solution from Westminster that will tackle the savings culture in society. We deliberately adopted a bottom up approach to better understand, at an individual level, attitudes to saving. It makes clear the need for a change in approach to improve our savings culture”.
The study led to the firm’s response that the savings and tax system should be simplified, investment should be made into financial education and people should be supported to make better financial plans to truly change the mentality of consumers who don’t recognise the importance of saving today for tomorrow.
