Abacus Daily Debt News

Cash-strapped Brits ‘prefer to spend’

People in the UK prioritise a comfortable lifestyle over saving for the future, new research has found.

Insurance, pensions and investment group LV= found that the number one financial concern of the average person was ensuring they had enough cash to fund day-to-day living.

Group executive for the organisation Mike Rogers suggested that individuals should consider debt management to ensure their lifestyle does not eat into savings or insurance payments.

He said: "Everyone can take some financial steps, however small, towards protecting the things they love most in life. For example, insuring the breadwinners in the family for loss of income."

Despite the results, there was a disparity between what many people believed important and the action taken.

For example, although home security came in sixth in the nation’s priorities, 70 per cent of homeowners had contents insurance.

This follows recent suggestions from David Elms, chief executive of comparison site Unbiased.co.uk, that the economic recovery could be causing people to take on more debt as optimism about the downturn increases.

By Francis Finch