Get in a positive mood and spend more time looking at your finances
A SURVEY from Skipton Building Society suggests we spend more time making tea than we do looking at our finances.
The report says we spend just half an hour a week sorting out our money – the same amount of time as we spend cleaning our teeth.
And even when we do look at our finances, we still don’t seem to do anything.
Just over 20 per cent of those questioned say they take the time to actively manage their money each week, whether that’s to work out budgets, pay bills, look at their internet banking, set up new savings or investment products or visit their bank or building society.
Dr Richard Wiseman, psychologist and author at the University of Hertfordshire reckons it might be our make-up rather than money causing the problem.
He said: “The human attention span tends to be at its best for a maximum of 40 minutes at a time and after this point, our attention usually starts to wane.
“This new research from Skipton demonstrates just how difficult we tend to find long-term thinking.
“This is because short-term options usually give a quick emotional win, whereas longer term options, such as planning for retirement, require more logical thinking, which we can find more difficult to process.”
Even if that is the case, Jacqui Bateson, senior propositions manager at Skipton Building Society, reckons that we do need to find time for our money.
She said: “Looking at life ahead, it is sometimes hard to see beyond your next cup of tea or weekly shop.
“Unfortunately our research shows that we are simply not pausing to think about our finances enough.
“It’s understandable that we have other priorities in our lives but pausing to think now about how you will manage in later life will only benefit you in the long run.
“This could mean having enough money set aside for that holiday you’ve always dreamed of or simply having enough savings to enjoy a comfortable retirement, but either way, stopping to think now will help facilitate these goals and make you feel better and more positive.”