Consumers 'risk future debt by spending today'
Published On 16 July 2007
People in the UK are risking debt in the future because they are more concerned with buying consumer goods now than saving money, a new report suggests.Data gathered by Fidelity found that 45 per cent of people without any current savings said that they did not have enough money to plan for the future.
Despite this, the research found that the typical household from the UK spends £769 on alcohol, £1,908 on restaurants and hotels and £1,180 on clothes and footwear.
Furthermore, existing debt is preventing people from putting away money to cover their future - typically Britons have to spend £3,542 a year on the interest on existing borrowing.
"It all comes down to choices: live for the now and cope with old age poverty when it hits or make a few lifestyle tweaks based on the possibility of living until we are 100," explained Simon Fraser, president of institutional business at Fidelity International.
"It seems many are choosing to emulate the lifestyle of rich celebrities like David and Victoria Beckham even though we won't be able to retire like them."
Recent figures from unbiased.co.uk showed that UK consumers borrowed 41 pence for every £1 they saved in the first quarter of 2007.
