According to a recent Alliance and Leicester survey of 16 to 21 year olds in the UK, the ideal occupation would be a professional, and very famous, musician.
Over a thousand young people were surveyed to gain a better understanding of this valuable market segment, since the Alliance and Leicester current account is perfectly suited to the needs of young people. It seems that the youth of today aspire to be famous, seeing wealth come as part of the package.
As said, musician tops the list, followed by a role in the media, a socialite – which means no career at all most people over 21 would argue – and then fashion designer. As a top 4 it bears little resemblance to what is likely to be the reality for 99.9 percent of them, but it is always good to dream and maybe the Alliance and Leicester can help them manage their money so they can feel like they are rich.
The head economist from Lloyds TSB has commented on the unchanged base rate announced today, explaining that it was the need to keep a lid on inflation that led to the decision.
Although there is still a real threat of further economic slowdown the Bank of England could not afford to cut the base rate again since the underlying rate of inflation is higher than it should be. As the Lloyds TSB pointed out, a further base rate cut could fuel more rises in inflation, completely the opposite of what is needed.
He went on to say that, as far as Lloyds TSB can see there will need to be more indications that the economy really is in a slowdown mode before base rates can be considered for reduction again.
Research carried out by the Abbey National has shown that around 20 percent of UK consumers have all their finances dealt with by just one provider. They feel it is simpler this way.
On top of these people who have already gone to one supplier there is another 18 percent who are seriously thinking about it. Between these two groups that is almost 40 percent of people looking to make their finances easier to manage. Does this say something about the population as a whole or the finance companies themselves wonder Abbey National?
On average we have 3 different finance organisations we deal with, as well as three passwords and three PIN numbers. No wonder people want to simplify things. The Abbey National do not advocate using just one password or PIN number though since this has a detrimental effect in security.
