Brits rate pay-TV, pubs over pensions
March 27, 2012
By Colin Mann
Despite the downturn in the UK economy, Brits are more concerned about paying for their TV subscriptions and going to the pub than saving for a pension, according to financial adviser company Skipton Financial Services.
The firm’s ‘Priority Report’ quizzed adults on their attitudes and behaviour towards spending and saving in the current economic climate of higher inflation and pay squeezes. It found that once Brits pay for their essentials – such as bills, rent and mortgage – the rest of their money is more likely to go on TV subscriptions, meals out and haircuts rather than putting it towards a pension.
Treating yourself to meals out, takeaways and heading down the pub emerged higher up in the list of priorities than paying off overdrafts and credit card debts. Twenty per cent have felt the squeeze and either cut down or completely ditched takeaways or meals out at restaurants. A quarter have reduced trips to clothes shops, trips to the pub and one in five don’t go on as many city breaks or trips away.
When quizzed on thinking about the distant future, one in five said they worry more about what’s happening next week than several years down the line.
Andrew Barker, managing director of Skipton Financial Services, warned that the danger of the ‘short-term’ approach was that long-term financial goals get neglected, which may hit families even harder in the future. “We seem to have great intentions with 29 per cent saying, if they were forced to make cutbacks, they would hypothetically cancel Sky TV compared to only 10 per cent stopping saving or investing money. However, when push comes to shove, people are ditching contributions into their pensions or investments and keeping Sky TV. Only 13 per cent said that they had stopped their Sky TV subscription due to pressure on money compared to 19 per cent who said they had stopped saving or investing any money, with a further 8 per cent stopping making pension contributions.”