Britain is 'financially overweight'
Published On 12 March 2008
Many people in the UK are "financially overweight", meaning that their debt levels are larger than their savings, a new report has suggested.Lloyds TSB carried out research to determine the Bank Mass Index (£BMI) of the nation by analysing a person's savings, investments, pensions, home ownership and levels of unsecured debt.
The analysis revealed that the average person in the country was "financially overweight", suggesting that many could require debt management tools like IVAs in the future.
Worryingly, the study found that the younger generation was far more likely to have more debt than savings and the average £BMI of people aged between 18 and 24 labelled them "financially obese".
"Our physical health is something that the nation is taking increasingly seriously. Most of us know our Body Mass Index, but our financial health seems to be less of a priority and often people have misapprehensions about the real state of their money," warned Ian Larkin, the managing director of consumer banking at Lloyds TSB.
"As a London 2012 Partner, physical fitness is at the forefront of our minds but financial fitness is equally important. [This] is a great wake up call for people who might have been neglecting their financial affairs - helping to put them on the right track."
Recent figures from Credit Action suggested that personal debt at the end of January 2008 stood at £1.4 trillion, up 9.1 per cent on the pervious year.
