According to a survey by the owner of the Egg card, only around half of employees in the UK have savings that would cover them for at least 4 months. This is the average time people find themselves between jobs for having been made redundant.
Egg also looked at the amount of money needed to live in the UK today, which works out to GBP1,077 per month, without any luxury purchases included. So four months at this level should be the minimum level of savings held by people in the UK. As stated then half the UK working population would be unable to sustain themselves if they found themselves out of work.
An Egg card spokesman urged people to seriously consider their own situation as finding themselves in a position where they are unable to meet their monthly bills would be disastrous for many families.
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The Bank of Scotland has found that small businesses are saving some of their money rather than investing it back into the business.
Of the 1,000 small business owners surveyed by the Bank of Scotland over three quarters of them felt the uncertainty surrounding the economy at the moment meant it was best to save their money rather than investing it in the business. Over the coming year 38 percent of respondents planned to save their money to invest in the business later while 37 percent wanted to use it to earn interest.
Small business owners were also advised by the Bank of Scotland that its Total Business deposit account could help save them money, something that, by the sound of it, is very important to them.
Having looked at the savings habits of the nation the Halifax can now highlight which parts of the country save the most, and the least.
Top of the Halifax savings league is London, with an average savings balance of over GBP14,200. In second place was South Buckinghamshire, followed by Shrewsbury to make up the top 3 saving locations. The top performing savers outside the south of England can be found in Derbyshire, having an average savings pot of just over GBP11,600.
A spokesman from the Halifax was pleased to see how good the average figures were but did hope that those without such levels of savings would aim to increase the amount they save.
