Happiness is … Just GBP5,000 Away

Having Savings of up to GBP5,000 Would Bring Happiness to 4 Out of 5 People, According to Research From Investment Company Skandia.

SOUTHAMPTON, England, October 13, 2010 - A study of 1,000 adults* conducted both before and after the financial
turmoil of the last few years shows that the resulting uncertainty has had a
significant impact on how people feel about money.

    - The price of happiness has reduced for many - today, 82% of people
      would be happy with savings of GBP5,000 or less, up from 66% of
      people in 2004
    - Unsecured debts have increased - only a third of people today
      would be able to clear their non-mortgage debts with GBP5,000 or less,
      down from 44% in 2004
    - 'Blow it all' spenders have reduced by 50% - only 7% of people
      would spend it all enjoying themselves, down from 14% in 2004

Price of happiness

Interestingly women, and those in Scotland or Wales are more likely to be
happy with up to GBP5,000 than men or those in English regions.

Unsecured debts

76% of people today have debts over and above their mortgage. In addition
to the 33% who would require up to GBP5,000 to pay off these debts, 13% would
require between GBP5,000 and GBP10,000, 8% would require GBP10,000 to
GBP15,000 and 12% of people would require a whopping GBP15,000 or more.

Blow it all spenders

On top of the 7% who would blow it all, half of those questioned would
split an unexpected GBP10,000 windfall between saving and spending. Only 7%
would save it all and a significant proportion (29%) would use it to pay off
their debts.

Colin Jelley, financial expert at Skandia, said:

"The price of happiness has got cheaper over the last few years and more
people nowadays expect to find happiness with up to GBP5,000 tucked away for
a rainy day than in the past. But in slight contradiction to that, fewer
people today would be able to settle their debts for that same amount.

"The catalogue of financial upsets over the past few years - from the
credit crunch, stockmarket volatility and current belt-tightening that the
Government and individuals are doing - seem to have re-based peoples'
expectations of how much they need to be happy.

"The great thing is that many people will be able to put themselves in a
position of happiness relatively quickly and simply. Even putting aside the
amount you could easily spend on a coffee each day would build you up lump
sum of nearly GBP5,000 in five years - and that's without even considering
the interest or investment growth you could get along the way."

*Published findings of the study (conducted by TNS with people aged
16-64) can be found at: bit.ly/dwaAfk

Henry Chan, Public Relations, Skandia, Tel: +44(0)2380-726-519