ABI: Saving more is New Year

ABI: Saving more is New Year’s resolution for half of British consumers

ABI: Saving more is New Year’s resolution for half of British consumers

New research commissioned by the ABI shows that almost half of British consumers will make it a New Year’s resolution to save more money for the future. And over 50% say they are more likely to make that resolution given the current economic climate. Populus surveyed 1,040 UK adults on 13-14 December 2008 – 47% said they would be making it a New Year’s resolution to save more, and 51% said that the current economic climate made it more likely that they would resolve to save more.

With the ABI’s State of the Nation’s Savings research showing that over 13 million working people are not saving enough for their retirement, the ABI is calling for Government action to help people change their savings behaviour for the better.

The ABI is calling on the Government to make its own New Year’s resolution to help people to save by enabling automatic enrolment into good workplace pensions as soon as possible, and increasing the Individual Savings Account (ISA) limit to £10,800 a year.

Stephen Haddrill, the ABI’s Director General, said:

“Our research shows that many people in Britain want to save more for the future – it’s good news that even in this difficult economic climate, public attitudes are shifting towards saving. This is not before time, as ABI research shows that around half of the working population aren’t saving enough for their retirement.

“Pioneering pension reforms, just introduced by the Government, mean that from 2012, employees will be automatically enrolled into workplace pension schemes. We say, why wait until then? Where employers want to offer this benefit to their staff before 2012, the Government should allow them to do so.

“Right now, nearly five million employees could be benefiting from free money into their workplace pension from their employer and the Government. Auto-enrolment would ensure that those people, and many future employees, can start building up decent pension savings for a comfortable retirement.

“People want to save more – and the Government has a golden opportunity to help them by increasing ISA limits and making ‘auto-enrolment now’ its New Year’s resolution.”

– ENDS –

Notes for Editors

1. Enquiries to:
Jonathan French 020 7216 7392 (Mobile: 07958 330 480)
Malcolm Tarling 020 7216 7410 (Mobile: 07776 147 667)
Erfan Hussain 020 7216 7411 (Mobile: 07712 841 184)
Kelly Ostler-Coyle 020 7216 7415 (Mobile: 07968 364 302)

2. Populus surveyed 1,040 UK adults on 13-14 December 2008, on behalf of the ABI. 47% said they would be making it a New Year’s resolution to save more, and 51% said that the current economic climate made it more likely that they would resolve to save more.

3. The ABI’s State of the Nation’s Savings research, published on 25 November 2008, showed that 9.6 million working people are not saving anything for their retirement, and a further 3.8 million are not saving enough.

4. The ABI is the voice of the insurance and investment industry. Its members constitute over 90 per cent of the insurance market in the UK and 20 per cent across the EU. They control assets equivalent to a quarter of the UK’s capital. They are the risk managers of the UK’s economy and society. Through the ABI their voice is heard in Government and in public debate on insurance, savings and investment matters.

5. An ISDN line is available for broadcasts.

Copies of all ABI news releases, together with other information from the Association, can be seen on our website http://www.abi.org.uk