Thursday, May 12, 2011
Category:
Consolidation
According to Scottish Widows, ‘Brits are burying their heads in the sand when it comes to their finances’. In fact, the second annual Scottish Widows Priorities of Life Index has revealed that 17 million adults are neglecting their finances, despite their best intentions. For 21 percent, this financial neglect is reportedly due to having ‘too much debt to feel financially secure’. Furthermore, 32 percent said that they are not paid enough and 25 percent said that they ‘simply try not to think about money in their day to day lives’.
Savings expert for Scottish Widows, Iain McGowan, commented: "Our financial security and savings are suffering as we struggle to prioritise what really matters when it comes to financial stability. We all know how important it is to save and make time to look after money worries, but a 35% of all of us admit our financial security or savings are not being prioritised nearly enough."
The Priorities of Life Index revealed that 38 percent of adults are ‘focusing less on their savings than they would like’. For 60 percent, this is reportedly because they are unable to save any more money than they are at the moment, whilst 33 percent are only currently focusing on their short term finances. ‘Saving for the future’ was found to be the one thing that 11 percent of all Brits wish they had more time for.
Iain McGowan went on to say: "Even though the recession may be officially over, the importance of having a financial cushion to fall back on is at the front of a lot of peoples' minds, but time and money constraints prevent them from being able to do the things they need to in order to feel as secure as they would like. It's extremely worrying that so many people bury their heads in the sand. By carefully planning their finances for the future, they could avoid a lot of this worry in the long-term.
"We know money is tight for many people at the moment, but spending a bit more time on their finances instead of ignoring the problems can only serve to make them feel more financially secure in the future. And if you can manage to save a small percentage of your salary every month, building up to 12% a month when you can afford to, you can ensure that you're saving enough for a comfortable retirement in the future, which is one less thing to worry about. While this may feel like a stretch to many people in the current environment, if the nation doesn't plan for their financial futures now there is the danger that they won't have enough to ensure a comfortable retirement."
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Homeowners who would like to organise their finances could consider taking out a
secured loan to tie up any existing debts. One of many finance options available, a secured loan for consolidation could be used to free up extra money each month by replacing expensive monthly repayments with a single monthly repayment that is lower than the sum of current outgoings. However, if opting for a secured loan to consolidate debt, it should be remembered that consolidating your debt may increase the amount you pay back overall and extend the repayment periods of your debts.
