Brits twice as committed to spending as they are to saving

UK adults with credit cards spend £3,804 on credit card payments each year, or £317 every month, according to the Standard Life report Your Commitments, Your Future. In contrast, people making monthly savings put £1,680 each year into savings and ISAs, or only £140 every month.

If these commitments remained unchanged over a 40 year period, Brits with credit cards would spend over £152,160 on credit card payments alone. This is £84,960 more than those who make monthly savings into their savings and ISAs would have saved.

Standard Life's John Lawson says: "Some people may be using their credit cards really effectively, paying them off each month and not splashing out on nights out or designer items that they really can't afford. It's always a challenge to set priorities and if money isn't managed well, then debts can easily mount up.

"Obviously paying off any credit card debt you have should always take precedence over savings. However, our research suggests that people are not thinking about their savings as much as they could be, even though it's our savings and investments that can prevent us from falling into debt in the first place. Savings also help us feel more confident and financially secure about our future commitments, which is why we've created knowyourcommitments.co.uk to help people understand their commitments, so they can set their priorities and plan their finances effectively."

Your Commitments, Your Future found people reach a peak of financial commitments between age 35-44 when they spend on average £1,160 a month on 11 financial commitments (from a list of the most common regular commitments) and think about them for 45 minutes every day.  Overall, people with savings and ISAs think about them for 24 minutes a week on average, while those making credit card payments think about these for just over an hour a week.

Some 44% of UK adults make monthly payments into savings and ISAs. More than half (51%) make monthly credit card payments and more than one in five are paying off a loan (21%).

People aged 45-54 making putting money into savings and ISAs every month save more than any other group - £154 a month.  But men who are saving in this age group save £177 a month compared to women savers who are saving only £128 a month.

To help people better understand their financial commitments Standard Life has published knowyourcommitments.co.uk with an interactive tool and further information about financially preparing for the future.