UK FAMILIES would worsen their financial health rather than forgo the traditional summer holiday even if it meant drawing on savings, cashing in investments or incurring penalty charges from long-term saving product agreements.
As part of the Money Never Sleeps report, Apples for Oranges surveyed UK adults aged 25-54 who work full-time and found as a nation, Britain is led by the heart and not the brain when making financial decisions.
When asked to imagine a situation where a change in financial circumstances meant they could no longer afford their planned family holiday, over half (55%) of Brits said that they would still go on the holiday.
In fact, 34% would draw down on savings they had worked hard to accrue and more than 1 in 5 (21%) would worsen their financial health by cashing in investments and therefore incurring a penalty for doing so.
14% of Brits would even increase their borrowing and in effect increase the overall cost of their holiday.
Worryingly, the research also revealed that 44% of UK workers get no expert advice at all on investments, and a third (33%) get no professional help in planning their life’s finances.
Nearly a quarter (23%) of those surveyed say they seek financial guidance from family members.
Only 15% of UK adults take the initiative to teach themselves about financial matters or up-skill their knowledge and understanding of investments.
A spokesperson at Apples for Oranges, said: “Emotions can be a great motivator when planning your financial goals so use them to guide you towards your ultimate objective – whether that’s to be mortgage-free in 10 years or growing a nest-egg to support a change in lifestyle. That said, level-headed logical thinking will best direct your investments, and ensure that any of life’s little windfalls like an unexpected bonus or pay increase is put to the best financial use.
“That’s why products such as the Oaksmore Innovative Finance ISA is a great option for new investors, as it carries a 60-month ‘locked-in’ investment period. Not only does this give a bigger return on investment as a result (5% compared to just 1.2% of a typical ‘instant-access’ ISA), but it minimises the chance of emotionally-led and often reactive financial decisions being made to the detriment of the carefully assessed and planned for long-term financial goal.
“At the end of the day, playing the ‘long game’ when it comes to personal finance investments is a good rule to stick to. It requires logic over emotion to get there and resist temptations along the way.”
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