Report: Finance

Attitudes towards money

What role does money play in your life - what does it stop / encourage you to buy?
Money plays an extremely important part in 26% because it allows them to: “live the life I want,” and to buy things for their family or luxuries.
Money was also important for the future and 5% thought saving was essential.
However, 31% admitted they were not money driven and only buy when they have it.

What do you think of loans, being in debt - how important is it to only spend what you have?
Some respondents felt very strongly about this issue; 13% of the poll: “hate Loans” and they described loan suppliers as: “irresponsible” and one respondent even admitted to shouting at the TV whenever adverts for loans appeared.
30% had never had or wanted to have a loan, reasons included high interest rates and the possible downward spiral associated with them.
19% are in debt though, including student loans.

Do you feel rich or poor - why / why not?
The poll showed that generally respondents feel comfortable rather than well off.
41% felt poor, only 11% regarded themselves as rich and 47% described themselves as comfortable.

What about Britain in general - what do you think is general attitude towards money, does it differ by region/ age/ gender?
Interestingly 14% of the poll believed that: “Women are worse with their money than men”. However, respondents generally believe Britain is becomingly a culture that prefers instant gratification, regardless of the financial implications to savings. Many of the poll thought that young people are more likely to get in debt (21%) and described their attitude as: “Live fast, die young,” towards money.

Savings/Pensions

Do you save or invest - why/why not?
Saving accounts (52%) were more popular than pension schemes (10%). 26% admitted that they did not put any money away for the future

What are you planning on spending on over Christmas - for yourself, as gifts, how much do you save for this?
Gifts and entertaining family were the main priority for the majority of our poll.
Some of the poll do buy gifts throughout the year in order to make Christmas more affordable but others do not budget for the festive season and wait for their Christmas pay packet to arrive! Jackie!

How do you plan your finances for the future - what will you do about a pension?
While 31% are paying into a pension 43% confessed that they were not thinking long term about their finances at present and prefer to: “Play it by ear.” 12% prefer to pay into savings accounts rather than pensions.

Services:

Which financial institutions do you use - what do you think of them positives/negatives/why?
The most popular answer was HSBC (23%) but many of the respondents admitted to using a number of different banks and building societies. Other named banks were Lloyds, the Co-op, Nationwide, Barclays, Abbey and the Royal Bank of Scotland. Habit is the main reason why respondents are with a particular bank and typical answers included: “I’ve been with them since I left school” and ‘I’ve been with them for years”.

Do you switch financial companies much - why / why not?  Give examples eg switching mortgages.
33% confessed to being unfaithful towards their bank. Respondents like to look around for the best deal and admitted to: “Feeling no commitment” to their bank when they could shop around for better deals or being a: “Rate Tart” when it comes to credit cards and 0% balance transfers.

How has internet / phone banking impacted on your life?
The poll were overwhelmingly in favour (42%) of internet & telephone banking systems which they described as “fantastic” and “easier than traditional banking methods”. Respondents liked the convenience it allows in terms of paying bills and organising transactions without having to make a trip to the bank. However, security issues discouraged 14% from using internet banking and 7% prefer to deal with people rather than machines.

Do you ever meet your bank manager - do you need to, does it matter?
A whopping 72% have never met their bank manager, but of those 33% felt no desire or need to and were happy with the current situation.

Overall respondents answers seemed to indicate that if there was a particular instance when they needed to talk to their bank manager they would be able to do so and some of the respondents admitted to: “knowing the manager well”.

Credit cards:

How many credit cards do you have?
40% have only one card, 32% have more than two and 24% do not have a credit card at all.

How do you feel about the practice of raising credit limits the more you spend?
Strong reactions from the poll again, 54% disagree with the practice of raising the limits. Respondents found it disgusting (16%) irresponsible (8%) and encouraging people to spend more (25%).

Does it worry you if you spend on your card?
Interestingly more nos (52%) than yeses (31%). Respondents only felt anxious when they couldn’t pay off the full or most of the balance.

Do you have Store cards? What do you think about interest rates?
33% had stores cards but 41% hate them because of the extortionate interest rates. Some think there is no reason to take out store cards when credit cards offer a more favourable rate of interest.

How do you pay off your credit card? Minimum amount? Full Amount?
A huge 69% like to pay the amount in full every month to avoid interest charges.

Future Finance

With the rise of new technology how do you see money and how you manage your finances changing in the new five years?
34% believe the rise in the use of the internet will be the biggest factor to affect how they manage their finances in the next five years. Interestingly 17% talked about cash becoming completely redundant and thought that technology such as mobile phones, the blackberry and cards will replace cash.
Branch closures were also mentioned and respondents predict that they will make less frequent or no trips to the bank in the future.
However, not all of the respondents were happy with the prospect of the increased use of computers to manage their money. Fraud, the traceability of electric transactions and the danger of spending too much money made advances in financial procedures unattractive to 20%.

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