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Savvy’s new personal finance survey of 1002 Australians discovers people's average monthly savings, where they put their money and how they feel about inflation.
- 24% of Aussies save $250 or less each month
- 32.5% save $750 or over per month
- 78% rely on savings accounts, followed by super contributions (24%), then stocks & shares (19%)
- 21% of Australians “not confident at all” investment returns will continue to outpace inflation
A new survey commissioned by Savvy into the savings and investment habits of Australians (n=1,002) shows that saving rates among significant portions of the population are low, with 19% reporting that they did not save any money regularly.
How much are Australians saving?
24% of respondents said they saved at least $250 per month, with 15% saying they save between $251 and $500. More than 32% responded that they were saving over $750 a month, however.
Bill Tsouvalas, Savvy Managing Director;
Bill Tsouvalas, Savvy’s resident money expert, says that even in times of rising cost of living, paying oneself first and putting money aside is as important as ever,
“Though everything seems to be getting more expensive, now isn’t the time to stop putting money away for the future. When inflation is high, you should be looking for easy investment options that will protect your savings, like term deposits, savings accounts, shares and managed or indexed funds; all of which can provide a better return on investment and help you save for big ticket items, such as a house deposit.”
How are people currently investing their savings?
The top three places where Australians place their savings are savings accounts (78%), superannuation (24%) and shares (19%).
When given an opportunity to identify all preferred saving and investment vehicles, the vast majority of respondents, some 782 of a total 1002, use a savings account. This figure was slightly higher for females (80%) than males (76%). The division between sexes was more pronounced when it came to stocks and shares, which were chosen by 23% of males, compared with only 14% of females. Similarly, more men than women were contributing to their superannuation; 26% vs 21% respectively.
How confident are people about investment returns keeping up with inflation?
When it comes to returns on savings and investments, compared to rising prices, 43% of Australians are “not confident” that their investment returns will continue to outpace inflation in the near future.
While 37% of total respondents expressed a “neutral” sentiment, 22% of the 1002 total respondents were “unconfident”, while a further 21% were less optimistic again, answering “not confident at all”. Female survey participants were the least confident, with 25% choosing “not confident at all”, compared to 18% of their male counterparts.
For more information, contact Adrian Edlington – [email protected]
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