The Money and Pensions Service outlines its efforts to boost the UK’s financial resilience.
Most people want to save when their income allows for this. Many want to save for a rainy day, dipping into these savings to cover an emergency, such as an urgent repair, and so reduce their need to take out credit to cover this expense. Many others want to save and plan for a specific goal such as a family event or holiday.
But we know that not enough people are saving in the first place – nor making the most of their savings – especially those on lower incomes. That is why the Money and Pensions Service (MaPS) launched the UK Strategy for Financial Wellbeing in 2020. Set to run until 2030, the UK Strategy includes a pillar called Nation of Savers.
Working in partnership with many others in financial services, government and the community, we want through Nation of Savers to have helped an additional two million working age people on low to modest incomes to have started saving by 2030.
To help you build more financial resilience and security, there are three main strands to Nation of Savers:
- First, we’d like many more employers to offer workplace savings schemes, instant access accounts that you can draw on in times of need.
- Second, we’d like to promote Help to Save, a government backed savings account for people who are in work but need an income top-up through tax credits or Universal Credit.
- Third, we’d like you to know that we at MaPS are working in partnership with financial services to raise the profile of saving more broadly through a Savings Charter that we’re asking financial services providers to sign up to.
By signing the Savings Charter, financial services firms are agreeing to a range of commitments to help you on your savings journey. Key to this is for signatories to make starting and continuing to save as easy as possible for you as their customer as well as making it as easy as possible for you to draw on this income in times of need. This requires savings providers to understand your wider needs as their customer as your financial goals change, whether to build some financial security or for another savings purpose.
We hope that you will recognise in the years ahead the role that the Savings Charter for financial services plays in helping us build a Nation of Savers together.
To help you on your savings journey, MoneyHelper has lots of guidance and tools, including How to save, Types of savings, Savings calculator and a Budget planner.
