Savvy shopping starts at 30

People are now getting married at 30 and buying their first home at 35. New research also reveals the thirties is the decade when most people’s confidence increases about being clever with their money.

At a time when across many industry sectors there has been widespread concern about the financial capability of consumers in coping with a range of cost of living hikes, new research from AXA Self Investor, sister company of AXA Wealth, discovers how confident people are making their own informed decisions from over twenty different lifestyle purchases.
 
This latest research from the ‘Buying Britain’ series, which explores consumer buying habits and shopping strategies, showed that, across more serious lifestyle purchases – such as buying or renting a house, choosing an energy supplier and buying a car – consumer confidence in making savvy personal buying decisions rocketed when people reached their thirties and stayed at this level for the years that followed. Reliance on advice from others fell sharply after people hit 30, suggesting consumers are seizing empowerment and control over the important financial decisions they have to make.

Looking at the more serious purchase categories that were surveyed, stocks and shares was the only purchase where there was no major jump in self-confident buying as consumers got older.
 
Gordon Hull, managing director, AXA Self Investor, commented: “For me, the key finding from the research is that, unsurprisingly, after a challenging few years consumers are taking control of the buying decisions they make. I think these more savvy decisions that people have been forced to adopt during this difficult period will last through the recovery.
 
“A real concern though, is the lack of confidence when it comes to buying investments. For most people, confidence and personal control of buying decisions correlates with when they are settling down, starting families and planning for the future. It is clear from this research that the financial services community needs to work a lot harder to ensure this is a time when people decide to take control over their financial planning, so that buying an ISA, for example, is seen to be no more complex than buying a car or choosing a mobile phone tariff.
 
“Across the AXA Wealth business, we want to help people plan for their individual and their family’s financial future, so we are working hard to lead the industry in making investing much more simple and straightforward. We also intend to look at the industry sectors where consumers feel more self-confident making buying decisions to see which learnings can be brought into the financial services world.”