Third of British Public Using Savings for Every Day Expenses

Troubling news has recently come to light in the British media from an investment group known as Schroders which monitors the economy in the United Kingdom in an effort to determine the effects of the recent global credit crunch. The latest research from the group shows that one third of UK citizens have avoided falling into debt at a very sharp cost: they are dipping into their long term savings and other investments as a means of making ends meet on the day to day basis.

According to the group’s statistics, this segment of the UK population has already spent well over £4,500 in the past year alone as a means of trying to dodge debt. All together, the demographic has spent more than £60 billion of their stored financial resources desperately attempting to avoid debt as the cost of living continues to rise, aided by taxation many critics blame for troubled British household finances today.

In order to obtain the results of the research, a survey over 2,000 adults in the UK was undertaken. Both men and women were surveyed and the findings indicated that nearly 35% of women proved willing to dip into their savings as a means of avoiding debt while mean did so less than 30% of the time. The real issue, of course, says Schroders’ Managing Director Robin Stoakley, is that those individuals who are getting close to the age of retirement have far less of a chance to rebuild the savings they have and this puts them at a severe risk for the future if times do not shift in their favour.

Many experts have sounded off to the media that this segment of the population is dealing with the same problems that those who seek debt management plans are dealing with. The difference, however, is that those already in a debt management plan have professional advisors on their side to help them restructure their spending to cope with today’s changing UK economy. It remains hard to say which group will fare better, but analysts suggest that those who refuse to adapt their spending patterns to meet with today’s economic realities could be in for trouble.