Financial resilience: Getting the UK more comfortable with savings and investing
The Covid-19 crisis has put people’s financial resilience to the test – and unfortunately, it’s also highlighted that many are failing. But to suggest that Covid-19 is the root cause would be incorrect.
The fact is, even before the pandemic, the UK was not a nation of savers. For longer-term savings goals such as retirement, the introduction of auto enrolment has done a great job of getting people into pension schemes. But as it is, by its very nature, the antithesis of engagement (people are joined rather than encouraged to join), it has done little to change overall savings behaviour.
In a recent survey conducted by Cushon, the importance of putting money aside for emergencies was clear with 78% of employees saying that Covid-19 had made them realise they need savings to fall back on with 74% saying that not having enough savings was now a big financial concern.
Further research showed that eighty-eight per cent of employers feel responsible for their team’s financial wellbeing [¹].
We also found that 90% of employers felt that financial worries had a negative impact on an employee’s mental health, while 87% said that this had an adverse impact on an employee’s performance [²]. It’s therefore in the employer’s best interest to help its workforce as best they can to achieve financial stability before it escalates into a far bigger problem.
[¹] Cushon's Financial Resilience research - 2020
[²] Cushon's Financial Resilience research - 2020
Article by
NatWest Cushon
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