Quarter of Brits to ramp up investing activity next year
Almost a quarter (23 per cent) of UK adults plan to either start investing or investing more in the next 12 months, according to new research from Marcus by Goldman Sachs.
This is an increase from just 15 per cent last year.
However, for millions of Brits cash is still king, with 65 per cent saying that keeping cash savings for an emergency is the most worthwhile financial behaviour.
Despite this, the Marcus research found that UK investors are starting to explore alternatives to cash savings, with 14 per cent of existing investors claiming to have invested in crypto currencies, and a further one in 11 per cent looking to do so in the future.
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15 per cent of investors have engaged with non-fungible tokens (NFTs) in the last 12 months, and 22 per cent of investors have invested in art within the last 12 months.
“For the second year, our research has shown just how highly we value the practices of building an emergency fund, and regularly contributing to a savings pot, even in a low interest and high inflation environment” said Amanda Le Brocq, head of strategy for Marcus by Goldman Sachs in the UK.
“Yet we’re increasingly engaging with alternatives to saving. More people are investing their money in the stock market, probably in response to higher living costs and because some people have accumulated extra cash during recent lockdowns.
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“It seems that more of us are seeing the benefits of balancing saving with investing, and the value of taking a risk for potential reward.”
When asked about their financial behaviours one in three (33 per cent) said maximising the return on their savings is a worthwhile endeavour, yet only one in five (21 per cent) actually do this.
64 per cent said that they believed it was important to not borrow money unless absolutely necessary, but just 58 per cent actually did this.
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