Long-term saving is an alien concept to two thirds (65%) of UK adults, according to research from IFA Promotion, the organisation promoting the benefits of independent financial advice. And it’s not just the younger generation who live for today; a worrying three quarters (74%) of 30-50 year olds and nearly half of over 50s (43%) have never saved for anything for longer than a decade.

4.6 million UK adults (10%) admit they have never saved for anything at all, and this rises to a larger proportion (17%) of under 30s who have grown up with today’s credit culture. Saving seems to have fallen out of fashion in favour of instant consumer gratification.

David Elms of IFA Promotion commented, “We cannot afford to take a short-term view on long-term saving. Planning ahead is the only way to ensure a secure financial future, but as a nation we seem unwilling to make the connection between our situation in later life with the here and now.”

The research also revealed:
• When asked to think about what they have saved longest for in their lives 17% of UK adults revealed it was simply a holiday.
• Less than a third (31%) of people said they had saved longest for retirement and, rather alarmingly, this fell to just a quarter (25%) of women.
• Nearly one in ten men (9%) said a car was the one thing they had spent the most amount of time counting their pennies for whilst over one in ten women had been willing to save longest for home improvements.

Amongst 30-50 year olds, the age group that should really be thinking about their financial future, almost as many people had saved longest for a holiday (20%) as retirement (23%) showing a complete lack of foresight.

Elms concluded, “Long term saving just doesn’t seem to be registering as a priority in the British psyche, but it’s never been more critical. If you need someone to help you think seriously about financial planning - not just for next year but the rest of your life - sitting down with an independent financial adviser is a great place to start.”