The state of the nation.» United Kingdom http://www.floramaudsley-barton.com How to prosper now. Sun, 27 Nov 2011 00:02:55 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 Optimistic fact of the day http://www.floramaudsley-barton.com/2009/04/27/optimistic-fact-of-the-day/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=optimistic-fact-of-the-day http://www.floramaudsley-barton.com/2009/04/27/optimistic-fact-of-the-day/#comments Mon, 27 Apr 2009 08:57:03 +0000 admin http://www.floramaudsley-barton.com/?p=134 The UK savings rate (that’s how much we all put to one side instead of spending on handbags) is up from virtually zero to 4%.  I’m proud of us!

I’m from the generation that has found borrowing easier than saving up, so I think we should be proud that we’re adjusting.  Hopefully this is a new trend, not just a recession coping strategy.

“But”

The post-war average was 7%, so we’ve still got some work to do – and we should all save 10%, so somebody isn’t saving properly yet.

“And, but”

I am aware that inflation is bad for savings – and see my previous post about that – but it’s still worthwhile…. You could always put your savings in inflation-proofed accounts.

I wonder – did the last bout of high inflation kill off our willingess to save? Answers on a post-card please….

]]> http://www.floramaudsley-barton.com/2009/04/27/optimistic-fact-of-the-day/feed/ 0