Men caught up in financial fret

MEN are more likely than women to “fret” about finances instead of taking action to put them in order, a study claims.

Three-quarters of people worry about their cash flow but four in ten of them admit to spending more time fretting than taking action, the survey from Treasury-backed NS&I said.

Of those who are worried about the state of their budgets, a larger proportion of men than women said they spend more time worrying than planning, at 45 per cent compared with 37 per cent of women.

Researchers found that people who plan their finances save almost double the amount each month than those who spend more of their time just getting stressed about them.

Those who spend more time worrying than doing something about it typically put £53.47 aside each month, while those who plan more manage to save an average of £104.39.

This equates to around £600 more each year being set aside by those who plan their savings, enough to cover a standard-rate gas and electricity bill for about six months, the report said.

Households are under pressure from high inflation and soaring bills when they are seeing little returns on savings due to record-low interest rates.

John Prout, NS&I savings spokesman, said: “Brits seem to be in a cycle of financial fret. Time is spent worrying instead of focusing on money management and finances suffer.”

The study also found that one in ten people who said they worry about their finances on a daily basis only actually check the state of them once a month.

Meanwhile, about a quarter of those who manage their finances will regularly monitor different accounts to ensure they are getting a competitive rate, while a similar proportion have direct debits set up from their current account into a savings account.