Coronavirus has been a huge shock and the lives and finances of millions of people have been disrupted. Our survey of the UK population’s financial confidence, health and attitudes to spending and saving reveals just how worried people are about the future.
Although relatively well-off families have been able to save more as they remain in employment and their monthly outgoings have reduced, coronavirus is further polarising the personal finances of people in the UK and many people – particularly those who are self-employed or working part-time – have been hit much harder.
The big challenge will come when furlough schemes come to an end and it is understandable that many people are saving more money into cash when the future is so uncertain.
With the stock market volatility of the last few months and fears about impending job losses, it’s understandable that people are taking a safety-first approach and saving more into current accounts.
However, saving too much into cash means you could miss out on future investment growth while cutting pension contributions can cause you to have less money in retirement. Talking to a financial adviser is a good idea before taking money out of investments or drawing an income from a pension.