Is it any wonder us Brits aren’t saving enough for their retirement when it turns out we will spend a total of £20,072 on Christmas? According to figures compiled by the National Employment Savings Trust (NEST) and Money- Supermarket, that’s the amount British adults will blow on Christmas over their working lives – almost equivalent to an entire year’s gross salary for the average earner in the UK.
But this comes as the survey also found 77% of people are concerned about the cost of Christmas, while 52% of adults think they spend too much during the festive season.
This is not a surprise given the squeeze currently felt by households hit by austerity measures and high inflation.
The research is not really a massive surprise; after all Christmas is the time for caring, sharing, giving – and other words describing acts of selflessness – and people do tend to go-to-town on the present buying.
But Christmas is also a little bit about treating oneself and perhaps this year it would be wise to put more money in a pension or savings account, or maybe even opening one, rather than blow it on the latest must-have items.
Other research out this week, conducted by Legal & General, found that household expectations of Xmas spending have fallen for the last three years with more than a third (36%) of UK households actually planning to spend less on Christmas presents this year.
If, as L&G’s research suggests, people are decreasing their Christmas spend maybe the money they save from this could be put into a pension or savings account? NEST’s findings even included five tips for this year’s Christmas which would help people save money, including sharing the Christmas cooking; being selective about which festive parties to attend; streamlining stocking fillers, recycling wrapping paper; and choosing a reusable tree or decorating an existing real tree.
It’s a nice idea but we all know modern life is very much about living for the here and now.
But the industry can also help. Companies should be offering salary sacrifice to employees in a pension scheme because the money leaves the wages before its even noticed and there is a tax break, while trustees, investment managers and consultants need to ensure pension pots are invested in the best possible investments.
I’m not suggesting people should not be financially generous to others at Christmas but giving a little thought to your own future and giving a gift to oneself cannot hurt either. This is the last friday view of 2012 so portfolio institutional would like to wish you all a very merry Christmas and a happy New Year.
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