"Most people's parents would be horrified by the results of your
survey," says financial-life planner Tina Weeks, who last year became
the first British woman to be accredited to the US-based Kinder
Institute of Life Planning.
She's reacting to the results of the Work:Life UK survey, which was commissioned by the Guardian and Unum to take a unique snapshot of working life in the UK today.
The Work:Life UK survey 2011 of 5,002 UK employees reveals that one-third of respondents regularly go overdrawn. Furthermore, if interest rates were to rise by just a little bit, 21% would have to "severely" restrict spending on luxuries, while 17% would cut down even on the basics.
According to Weeks, the ability to have money and sustain what people consider an "acceptable" standard of living is a significant part of what makes people content. But pressure on people's finances, and keeping ahead of rising costs to afford the basics – let alone luxuries – has become more and more intense. "Within the space of a generation, it's become a lot harder for people to spend less than they earn," says Weeks. "It's no wonder people are becoming worried about having enough to live on."
It seems Britons are increasingly becoming a nation of worriers when it comes to their finances. A survey last year for a major hotel chain found 79% of people were finding it hard to get to sleep. The biggest factor keeping them awake (affecting more than a quarter of people), was money issues. This statistic is backed up by the Work:Life UK survey, in which 35% of respondents admit they lose sleep worrying about money. But, as a financial planner, Weeks believes a lot of worry can be relieved by just a little bit of forethought. The government also seems to have recognised this, as in April it launched moneyadviceservice.org.uk, a website full of practical advice to help people control their finances. But, as Weeks says, "people still have to seek it out for themselves."
Far better, she says, is for employers to listen to staff demands to give them some form of financial advice on pensions, investments and salary protection provision, such as income protection. Nearly half (46%) of respondents say they would happily accept financial planning advice from their employers.
"It makes sense for staff to feel able to talk to their bosses about financial education," says Weeks. "Half of the issue is them feeling that their financial worries are taken seriously. The reward for firms is better productivity and engagement."
The insurance firm Axa has found that giving staff just 15 minutes of financial advice a week has helped the average employee save more than £1,000 a year. Today 70% of Axa's 13,000 employees spend an hour or more a month planning their finances. If more employers did this, perhaps it could help reduce the 1.4 million days lost every year through sickness linked to anxiety and coping with financial worries.
Financial planning can be intimidating, though. "It's crucial people see advice as something that isn't scary," says Piper Terret, a former financial journalist who quit in 2007 to adopt a self-styled "The Good Life" existence. Terret wrote the 2009 book The Frugal Life: How to Spend Less and Live More, but says living frugally doesn't have to be about eating beans on toast. "Financial planning is about having a goal – it can be used to channel savings towards a holiday. It's lifestyle boosting rather than lifestyle denying."
Terret argues that the more staff ask their employer for a wider range of financial benefits and education, the more likely employers will listen and provide them. "Traditional working is itself responsible for many of people's financial problems in the first place," she says. "I used to spend £3,000 a year travelling to work, and once you're there, you're time poor and forced into using pricey metro-style supermarkets, or expensive coffee/sandwich bars."
Many companies have been unable to award pay rises this year, but by giving financial advice, they can effectively give their people the equivalent of a pay rise by giving them financial information that enables them to save money. "It's great if employees can encourage employers to be providers of financial advice," says Terret.
She's reacting to the results of the Work:Life UK survey, which was commissioned by the Guardian and Unum to take a unique snapshot of working life in the UK today.
The Work:Life UK survey 2011 of 5,002 UK employees reveals that one-third of respondents regularly go overdrawn. Furthermore, if interest rates were to rise by just a little bit, 21% would have to "severely" restrict spending on luxuries, while 17% would cut down even on the basics.
According to Weeks, the ability to have money and sustain what people consider an "acceptable" standard of living is a significant part of what makes people content. But pressure on people's finances, and keeping ahead of rising costs to afford the basics – let alone luxuries – has become more and more intense. "Within the space of a generation, it's become a lot harder for people to spend less than they earn," says Weeks. "It's no wonder people are becoming worried about having enough to live on."
It seems Britons are increasingly becoming a nation of worriers when it comes to their finances. A survey last year for a major hotel chain found 79% of people were finding it hard to get to sleep. The biggest factor keeping them awake (affecting more than a quarter of people), was money issues. This statistic is backed up by the Work:Life UK survey, in which 35% of respondents admit they lose sleep worrying about money. But, as a financial planner, Weeks believes a lot of worry can be relieved by just a little bit of forethought. The government also seems to have recognised this, as in April it launched moneyadviceservice.org.uk, a website full of practical advice to help people control their finances. But, as Weeks says, "people still have to seek it out for themselves."
Far better, she says, is for employers to listen to staff demands to give them some form of financial advice on pensions, investments and salary protection provision, such as income protection. Nearly half (46%) of respondents say they would happily accept financial planning advice from their employers.
"It makes sense for staff to feel able to talk to their bosses about financial education," says Weeks. "Half of the issue is them feeling that their financial worries are taken seriously. The reward for firms is better productivity and engagement."
The insurance firm Axa has found that giving staff just 15 minutes of financial advice a week has helped the average employee save more than £1,000 a year. Today 70% of Axa's 13,000 employees spend an hour or more a month planning their finances. If more employers did this, perhaps it could help reduce the 1.4 million days lost every year through sickness linked to anxiety and coping with financial worries.
Financial planning can be intimidating, though. "It's crucial people see advice as something that isn't scary," says Piper Terret, a former financial journalist who quit in 2007 to adopt a self-styled "The Good Life" existence. Terret wrote the 2009 book The Frugal Life: How to Spend Less and Live More, but says living frugally doesn't have to be about eating beans on toast. "Financial planning is about having a goal – it can be used to channel savings towards a holiday. It's lifestyle boosting rather than lifestyle denying."
Terret argues that the more staff ask their employer for a wider range of financial benefits and education, the more likely employers will listen and provide them. "Traditional working is itself responsible for many of people's financial problems in the first place," she says. "I used to spend £3,000 a year travelling to work, and once you're there, you're time poor and forced into using pricey metro-style supermarkets, or expensive coffee/sandwich bars."
Many companies have been unable to award pay rises this year, but by giving financial advice, they can effectively give their people the equivalent of a pay rise by giving them financial information that enables them to save money. "It's great if employees can encourage employers to be providers of financial advice," says Terret.
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