75% Of Britons Could Make/Save 5% of Total Income With Just 20 Mins Work a Week
September 2005
Combined, 75% of the country is financially illiterate or can't be bothered to get their personal finances in order.
On one hand this is to be expected but on the other it's very strange. You see we live in a very maternalistic world where most people want the best houses, cars, jobs, toys etc but seem to think they're going to be able to get them when a) their finances are in a mess and/or b) they haven't a clue how their finances actually work.
In fact, we'd expect there to be a very high correlation between those that have who are fully on top and organised with their personal financial situation. And the have nots, whose finances are a complete mess.
This article is NOT trying to rub it in for those in personal financial hell, rather it's trying to be constructive so as to get them to realise their folly and trying to get them to do something about the problem. To summarise the article is about making/saving more money.
Money is the lifeblood of our financial world and if you don't understand how it works and how personal finance impacts you then there's almost no chance your dreams will be met. But the beauty about having just a little bit of financial education is that you'll likely be able to make far more money than you're doing right now, without getting a pay rise or working longer hours at work.
Some Nasty Facts
In a recent survey carried out on the UK population these horrifying facts were revealed;
- 75% were so turned off by information on mortgages, pensions, insurance and bank accounts that they'd rather read the ingredients panel on come cereal box!
- This apathy is highest among women at 87%! It's 58% for men
- Only 15% of people under 30 said they regularly read their financial correspondence
- The 'ignore rate' of letters through the post on pensions was 68%, insurance at 65% and 64% admitting that they never read anything to do with their own mortgage!
- 57% of people have no idea how much they owe in debt and/or credit cards
- 20% of people through their bank statements in the bin
- 17% of students don't realise that a student loan is actually a personal debt!
How To Help Yourself & Earn/Save More Money
- Firstly, 'saving money' in this case does not mean putting it away in a bank or hiding it under your bed
- No, it means saving money by better financial management
- And THE only way you're going to be able to do this is to get more financially literate, but the good news is that it doesn't have to be hard
- All you need to know is a little bit, in fact it's more common sense than anything else.
For example, if you're a late payer of your credit card bills then this has a twofold bad news effect;
- You're whacked with late payment charges usually about £25, and secondly far more importantly
- A note is put on your credit file (If you've got a Default notice on your credit file then see this article on how to stand a good chance of getting it removed - More details) which can mean in the future when you apply for anything to do with credit (another credit card, loan, HP deal or even mortgage) you're likely to incur a far higher APR or interest rate, and this can cost you thousands over many years - all for missing half a dozen payments by a week or so for less than £50 each!
This is what we mean by understanding financial matters and using the information to your advantage.
To get better educated do some of the following
- Contact your local Citizens Advice Bureau because they're starting to run free financial education seminars
- Start as early as possible in life, 18-25 is perfect. This way you can set yourself up for life and maybe easily reach your financial goals when your friends will still be struggling
- Get yourself down to your local library, they have many excellent books available on personal financial planning etc with a lot of them written in a very easy to understand format
- Better yet buy some books for reference in the future - We like to choose them at bookstores and then buy them for much cheaper prices from Amazon UK
Summary
If you're in a financial mess or haven't got a clue when your money swearer it's going then you can be guaranteed that it's not going to get any better unless you take some initiative Yes, it's down to you and only you but the advantage of putting effort in is that you're going to be the major winner in the future.
After all, do you think the majority of those earning the money, living in nice houses and driving fancy cars run their personal finances in a haphazard fashion?
The time to start is NOW. Get reading, get down to your local library because you'll be surprised that many books, articles and websites are written in an informative and simple style. Financial education isn't all about fractions and percentages and lawyer talk!
As you progress with your education and start to make/save more money we can guarantee that it WILL BECOME FUN & INFECTIOUS, perhaps in a similar way to a drug addict that kicks his habit really starts to enjoy life and look forward to each new day.
Don't believe us, then try it........You have nothing to lose apart of course from more money in the bank at the end of the year.......
PS: Keep close to this website because we're soon to be publishing some easy to understand financial help guides, especially ones that focus on personal debt and how to sort your finances out once and for all.
See Also
|
