Britons keep quiet about savings accounts

Aug 24
08:08

2011

Sam Gooch

Sam Gooch

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Many people in the UK do not wish to reveal information about their finances.

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Britons who have money in  and other locations are unwilling to tell people about their economic situation.

This is according to research from Scottish Widows,Britons keep quiet about savings accounts Articles which concluded that finances top the list of topics that people would not be prepared to discuss with others.

Some 43 per cent admitted they would feel uncomfortable speaking about money - which may include  or  - among their friends, while 23 per cent said this was the case with members of their family.

However, the greatest proportion was found to agree with the statement that they would not discuss money with their work colleagues, as 62 per cent revealed this to be true.

Pensions were also among the list of the top ten taboo topics, as 19 per cent would avoid discussing such issues with friends and 33 per cent said the same for work colleagues.

Savings expert Catherine Stewart comments: "We are a nation who simply do not want to discuss our money worries and much of our personal lives are off limit even to our nearest and dearest."

She says this is a "very British trait", especially among older citizens who have been brought up not to comment about money matters.

Despite this, the younger generation seems to be "breaking with tradition", Ms Stewart notes, as they appear much more comfortable talking about finances.

UK residents aged between 18 and 34 were said to be most likely to speak of these matters, while friends and family are the first port of call for advice.

The findings follow a study from HSBC, which revealed 5.1 million under-25s are unaware of the interest rates on their savings.

This prompted the organisation to urge youngsters to learn more about budgeting and HSBC has joined forces with the Personal Finance Education Group to educate primary school pupils about these matters.

A strong link exists between the amount of money people have in their savings accounts and the house prices in their area.

That is the finding of research from Halifax, which discovered a small number of exceptions to this rule.

Generally, the greater the sum in a saving account, the higher the house prices in their locality tend to be.

But the London boroughs of Hackney, Newham, Lewisham and Southwark bucked this trend, as they have some of the country's lowest savings balances - at under £4,000 - but the typical cost of homes there are significantly above the national average.

Economist Nitesh Patel remarks: "Areas with high house prices tend to be populated by people with high savings balances. This is largely what you would expect."

The reason for the anomalies in the capital could be explained by the fact housing costs - such as mortgages - are so costly that borrowers just cannot afford to save as much money.

Mark Bower, managing director at online resource Money Maxim, recently suggested household bills could be cut if people adopt some simple habits, such as carrying out an energy check.

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