Britons resolve to save more in the New Year

by Richard Kilner

Story link: Britons resolve to save more in the New Year

Research commissioned by the Association of British Insurers (ABI) has revealed that nearly 50% of British consumers intend to make saving more their New Year’s resolution going forward into 2009.

As the levels of unprecedented borrowing are poised to make the forthcoming recession even harder, it is unsurprising that consumers are looking for opportunities to tighten their belts, as opposed to the recent trend of being more ready to grasp credit, and with it debt.

The ABI has called on the government to encourage people to save more, with the organisation’s State of the Nation’s Savings research revealing that 13m working people are not saving sufficiently for their retirement.

Two proposals put forward by the ABI are automatic enrolment in good quality workplace pensions schemes, and the raising of the Individual Savings Account (ISA) threshold, per annum, to £10,800.

The shift from borrowing to saving in the ABI’s figures are backed up by similar research from the Alliance & Leicester, reported by moneynews.co.uk.

The Alliance & Leicester’s statistics show that 26% of Britons aim to reduce spending, and 25% intend to save more in 2009.