Daily Archives: September 8, 2011

Checking & Savings, Financial, Financial Information, Financial Services, Investment, IRA, Money, Personal Finance, Retirement

Standard Life Reveals Commitment Peak Begins At 35 For Average Person In The UK

Standard Life has published ‘Your Commitments, Your Future’, a study developed with psychologist Professor Janet Reibstein into the nature of commitment. It reveals that financial and emotional commitments peak between 35-44 years of age when people spend on average £1,160 a month on financial commitments and think about them for 45 minutes every day.

The research reveals that during a lifetime, the average person spends £914 a month on financial commitments and 37 minutes thinking about them everyday. In contrast, they spend £87 a month on emotional commitments, thinking about them for 2 hours, 18 minutes every day.

According to the Standard Life study there are three core commitment life stages with transition phases in between:

– Commitment Sleepwalkers (18-24) who have a smaller amount of financial and personal relationship commitments. Their regular financial commitments amount to just £458 a month. They spend the least amount of time thinking about their finances so are at risk of overlooking the long term cumulative affects of these costs.

– The Fully Committed (35-44) who are at the peak of their regular financial commitments, spending an average of £1,160 each month and likely to be paying a mortgage, looking after a child and paying off any debt accrued in earlier life.

– Commitment Slowdowns (55+) who are starting to become less financially and emotionally committed. They are spending £818 on their commitments each month, almost £100 less that the average.

Commenting on the research findings, Professor Reibstein said: “‘Your Commitments, Your Future’ shows a discrepancy in how much attention we devote to our financial and emotional commitments. We spend over two hours a day thinking about emotional commitments, but just 37 minutes on our financial commitments.

“People consider financial commitments as something abstract, separate to their emotional life. But our finances underpin our most important relationships and often our ability to achieve our future goals. The Standard Life report makes it clear how vital it is for people to engage with their finances, their personal relationships and future aspirations as one single entity.”

Standard Life’s John Lawson added: “‘Your Commitments, Your Future’ breaks our commitments down into life stages, giving a clear picture of how our commitments change throughout our life. This understanding can help substantially with planning our personal finances so that we can feel confident about the future and achieve our goals. It’s clear that financial commitments can support our relationships – they underpin them. If people were to dedicate more time to their long term financial planning, they wouldn’t just be better off financially, they’re likely to be better off all round.”

The full ‘Your Commitments, Your Future’ report is available at knowyourcommitments.co.uk where people can also compare their financial and
emotional commitment profile by using an interactive tool and watch Professor Reibstein analysing commitment in more detail.

Via EPR Network
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Accounting, Finance Jobs, Financial, Financial Services, Taxes

Hays Launches A Series Of Videos Offering Advice To Finance Professionals

Hays Senior Finance has launched a series of vodcasts offering expert career advice to finance professionals within the UK. The films are short interviews designed to offer bite-size advice and information, to equip finance professionals with information, and make the experience of searching and finding a job much easier.

Career pieces include:

– Paul Venables, Group Finance Director at Hays, explaining which skills are helpful to building a successful long-term finance career.
– James Brent, Business Director, and Louisa London, Senior Manager, at Hays Accountancy & Finance discuss the current finance recruitment market for accountancy professionals.

Nik Pratap, Director at Hays Senior Finance, the leading recruiting expert said: “Expert career advice is valued by finance professionals themselves and employers. Not only is sound career advice important in helping professionals understand what skills they need but it also helps employers find the most suitable people.

“The new web area allows finance professionals to ask questions – we are interacting with them and answering some of the most commonly asked questions by accountants looking to make their next career move. We recognise the need to provide advice in a number of different formats. Hays already offer face to face advice and write regular advice pieces – the online vodcasts allow us to give a new dimension to the way that people view the advice they get from us.”

The information is free to download from http://www.hays.co.uk/experts-talk.

Via EPR Network
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Financial, Financial Information, Financial Services, Financial Solutions, Insurance, Insurance Services

Admiral Reports British Parking Habits Getting Many Hot Under The Collar

Admiral has revealed new research which suggests parking a car can be a controversial issue, with more than one in six motorists saying they have argued with a neighbour over a parking space and almost one in five admitting they have parked illegally.

Car insurance expert Admiral surveyed 2,500 motorists to find out their habits when it comes to parking. It found that 16% of them have argued with a neighbour over a space. Regionally, motorists in the North West are the most likely to get into a row over parking, compared to those in Scotland who are least likely to.

Sue Longthorn, Admiral managing director, said: “For something we probably do every day it would seem parking can cause problems, with many motorists getting into an argument with a neighbour over it. As our roads get more crowded, we want to ensure we have our own parking space, preferably outside our own home, but this really isn’t something worth getting into a row about.”

Admiral also found that while four in ten motorists have never had a parking ticket, the average motorist has received 1.7 tickets. This could be because 18% of respondents said they sometimes park illegally on double yellow lines. This is much more common among men than women, with 22% of men compared with 13% of women saying they do it. In Wales, nearly one in four admitted they park illegally, the highest of any part of the UK. At the other end of the table, only 14% of motorists in Yorkshire and the East Midlands said they have done it.

Getting a ticket for parking illegally is most likely to happen in London. Londoners said they have had the highest number of parking tickets, with an average of 3.9. Only 21% in London have never had a ticket, perhaps not surprising considering the number of traffic wardens in the capital.

What is a surprise is that despite having the highest percentage admitting to parking illegally, Wales also has the highest percentage of motorists who have never had a ticket, with 50%. This compares with 40% across the UK as a whole.

When it comes to how drivers park, only 2% said they don’t always try to park considerately in car parks. However twice that figure, 4%, admitted they have parked in a space reserved for disabled motorists.

Motorists appear to be more willing to use spaces reserved for parents with children when they shouldn’t. One in eight owned up to doing this, and perhaps surprisingly, just as many women as men said they have done it.

Sue Longthorn continued: “Thankfully relatively few people admitted they park how or where they shouldn’t. Using a disabled space when you’re not permitted or parking inconsiderately in a car park can be particularly selfish and can cause problems for other road users. We’d just ask all motorists to think of others when choosing where to park their car.”

More information on this and the rest of Admiral’s Annual Survey of British Motorists can be found at www.admiral.com/surveyofmotorists.

Via EPR Network
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