Third of Britons to make financial New Year Resolutions

The latest research conducted in the week before Christmas by 72 Point Limited on behalf of F&C Asset Management has revealed that as many as a third of Britons are set to make financially-related New Year resolutions this weekend .

The survey also reveals widespread public concern that the Government does not do enough to encourage people to save with the majority of the public favouring an increase in the Individual Savings Account (ISA) allowance to £10,000 at the next Budget.

The survey of 1,791 adults revealed that 43.9% intended to make New Year Resolutions of which 43.1% stated they would definitely make financially-related resolutions and a further 36.4% answered that they might make them.

Key highlights of the survey:

44% of Britons intend to make New Year resolutions – although women are much more likely to do so than men (47% versus 36%);

79% of those intending to make New Year resolutions state that they “maybe” or “definitely” will be financially-related – this represents over a third of the public.

63% of the public are concerned that they “spend too much and don’t save enough”.

70% of the public do not think the Government does enough to encourage people to save.

ISAs, which the Government recently reaffirmed its commitment to, are a favoured route for saving with 39% of the public stating they will consider using them and an additional 32% stating they might use them.

Less than 10% of the public feel that the annual ISA allowance should be kept at the current level of £7,000. Although 21% believe it should be doubled to £14,000, the majority (56%) favour an increase to £10,000.

Despite bumper stock markets in 2006, cash remains the most likely option for ISAs, with less than 10% stating they are likely to consider a stock and share based plan.

“Our research shows that the tradition of making New Year resolutions remains strong despite the fact that almost half of those intending to make them – some 45% - readily admit that they are unlikely to keep them beyond January and only 17% are confident that they will stick to their guns throughout 2007,” said Jason Hollands, Director, Head of Communications at F&C.

“Financial matters clearly feature high on many people’s radars and the public feel the Government needs to do more to encourage them to save,” said Hollands. “However, the good news for those pessimists who doubt their ability to stick to their resolutions beyond the first few months of the year is that some of the most important financial deadlines of 2007 do in fact fall within the first few months, so there is no need to wait until the Budget.”

Hollands’ points out that an urgent priority for those yet to file their 2005/6 tax return is to do so by 31 January. A second goal should be to utilise their annual ISA allowances by the 5th April.

“We all hate paperwork but getting your tax return in is an urgent New Year priority or else you could face the prospect of an unwelcome penalty,” said Hollands. “Once that is out of the way, attention should be turned to your savings.”

“It is human nature to leave important decisions to the eleventh hour despite the fact that rushed decisions increase the potential for mistakes. A good New Year resolution for those considering an ISA would therefore be to act early in 2007 rather than leave it until the final weeks of the tax year. This will provide time to do thorough research and to seek good independent advice as to the right option. This has to be preferable to getting caught up in a last minute stampede or, worse still, missing the deadline altogether,” he concluded.