The recession has taken its toll on the mindset of Britain’s savers, with saving for emergencies now top priority in their financial planning, according to National Savings & Investments (NS&I).
While retirement saving was top priority three years ago, pension planning has now dropped into 4th place in autumn 2009, as savers seek to squirrel cash away for a rainy day, according to the Autumn 2009 Quarterly Savings Survey by National Savings & Investments.
Planning for an emergency has been the top saving priority in the UK since Summer 2007, the NS&I surveys have revealed.
More than a quarter of savers (26%) were saving with something specific in mind this year, and over half (54%) said that planning for an emergency was their savings goal.
Other savings goals are currently holiday / special occasion (47%), home deposit or mortgage (42%), retirement saving (37%) and children’s future (30%).
The average monthly amount saved is currently £83.87, and almost half (47%) of the UK population are now regular savers.
Men save more
Men save more than women, according to the NS&I, and the surveys have shown this consistently since they were launched in 2005.
This year, men saved on average £1,601.10 compared with £1,156.30 for women. The annual averages for men have been £375-450 more than women since 2005, said NS&I.
While UK adults in general save an average of 6.6% of their monthly income, younger savers aged 16-24 commit considerably more of their hard-earned cash by putting away over 10%.
