1 in 4 people have less than £100 in savings.

[cakeorwine]

And of those, 1 in 6 have no savings

moneyandpensionsservice.org.uk/2022/11/07/one-in-six-uk-adults-have-no-savings/

www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-63517823

And it's only going to get worse with fuel bills and inflation.

It must be such a worry. And I bet that within that data, there is going to be wider variation (in general) with age, location and income (obviously)

Plenty of young people have savings! And yes, we do discuss it and talk about finances generally. Maybe not down to the exact £ value, but for example, I can probably guess the £10k range that all my friends’ salaries fall into. (We are all professionals, a similar age, and live in London which makes it easier to guess, admittedly.)

Low income have no choice, but I always think it's bonkers to keep spending up to the limit every month as your income grows

But on a higher income you have more wriggle room if something does go wrong. Also some people have well-off family members who could help them in an emergency. I just think enjoy it while you can. I'm happy to save for specific things but never have a rainy day savings pot to fall back on. Money is for spending and enjoying. Late 40s onwards is sniper alley, many of us won't make to retirement or won't be healthy by the time we get there.

(We are all professionals, a similar age, and live in London which makes it easier to guess, admittedly.)

You are exceptionally privileged, then. Please understand that not everyone's circumstances are the same.

As your income grows you also have more access to credit. I have various credit cards I could use in an emergency.

Plenty of young people have savings! And yes, we do discuss it and talk about finances generally

Very common isn't it. Especially now with rising interest
"The interest in my bank is absolute joke"
"Oh I know! I have savings in few account at x and y. Interest c% or thereabouts. Not bad and easy to set up"
"Oh! I will check it out!"
"Yeah it has 250 deposit a month limit so I am also keeping x bank open for the rest"
And so on

As your income grows you also have more access to credit. I have various credit cards I could use in an emergency

Yes, quite.

How many people with savings have had help getting on the property ladder, inherited money or had their university experience funded by parents ? A lot I’d imagine

I think it depends some people are completely oblivious to their lucky circumstances .

At same time many who had to work during university and had no prospect of being funded by parents - such as myself were much more fearful of debt and much more attuned to the need to save money generally - there wasn't a safety net otherwise.

DH was fully funded by his parents through university and post graduate degree didn't have even a summer job till last 6 months of PhD write up time - he was brought up to fear debt but had parents who would step in with money.

At one point we earned the same amount - paid similar for rent and other out goings - I saved a lot he apparently couldn't afford to save anything.

I wonder if this is where we've possible erred with out kids - they think we'll always step and we won't be able to - younger two are better but eldest may have to learn the hard way.

While IL were never in position to help with house deposit and were unaware how much deposits even then were - DH had attitude ( oddly encouraged by his parents) there was no point saving as house prices were going up so much while I just got on with saving month in and out. So I was one who bought savings to marriage and that was all money I'd earned and it was those savings that meant we could buy.

This.

And some of the poorest will have sensible savings because they know and understand the discomfort and humiliation of having nothing at all to fall back on.

I do, weirdly, know what one good friend has in savings. She had an accident abroad of the sort known as ‘life changing consequences’, and her insurance argued over paying the bill (multiple hundred thousands). She said it would have ‘almost wiped out her savings’. I would have had to sell the house.

Thank god the insurance paid up.

No. But I grew up poor (7 of us in a free school meals household in the 1970s), and I 'leant to be poor'

How to not waste anything at all, how to make £5 last a week. It becomes habit forming and can be unhealthy, but there are lots of us, and we have savings because we remember what it was like to have literally nothing.

Up to four years ago I was one of the one in four, then I got several lump sums back from PPI & have managed to keep adding to them so I have a bumper should I need it.

Some people are losers to the end. Why put yourself in such a vulnerable position? But people do. Baffling

I can't imagine how stressful it is not to have any savings at all. I feel huge sympathy for people who find themselves in that situation.

I've had savings virtually my entire life, since the age of 7, when my dad first started giving me sixpence a week in pocket money. I think saving is hard wired into my DNA.

WTF? You think people who live hand to mouth do so by choice?

No, I think the vast majority of these people simply do not think ahead. Or maybe they are bigger risk takers than me. Maybe

Or maybe they just don’t have enough left to save after they’ve paid for bills, food and fuel to get to work? Or they’ve had unfortunate circumstances that have meant they’ve had to spend their savings.
It was having a severely disabled child that did it for me.

I might not have any savings, but at least I’m not an arsehole.

Wow. What a privileged life you have led.
How do you propose someone digs themselves out of a debt black hole that they have been thrown into by circumstances beyond their control?

jeez

You've said your piece, as have I. Time to drop it and move on.

@Rippled where is this magical
work that you can just do for a tenner for one hour a week? What if you’re salaried such as a TA and already expected to do overtime for no more pay? Also who looks after the kids for all this paid overtime ?

No savings here but no debt either. I can make ends meet but they rarely overlap. I consider myself somewhat fortunate in this regard.

I know I'm basically a professional problem solver, but that doesn't extend to advising on fictional "whatabout" scenarios where people who don't really want the £100 will come up with any excuse not to get it. Or you will do that on behalf of the fictional persons under discussion.

If someone wants a few extra quid, it is very easy to come by in this country. That's a fact. If you disagree, so be it.

We have savings. About to spend a third of them on a new boiler. Most of the rest will have to be spent probably in the next 18mths on a new roof.

With the increasing cost of everything it's getting harder to put money in savings, and we've had a drop in income - from £33,000ish to probably less than £25,000 - DH is essentially self employed now but is unable to earn much at the moment, he's just trying to cover his bills (car, car loan), everything else is out of my wages.