Are younger people really saving?

By Laura Carpenter

Sometimes I think that life would be a lot easier if I had started saving earlier on in life. Putting a few extra pounds aside during my 20s would have lead to a nice little safety net for my later years.

However, the urge to spend got the better of me, and here I am in my 50s struggling to make mortgage payments and fretting not only about my own financial security, but the respective fiscal futures of my two kids.

It was relief then that I read an interesting article that seemed to suggest that younger people are now putting money away on a more regular basis. And, after speaking to my two over a cup or tea and a few biscuits, it appears that this is a growing trend.

Instead of being big spenders, young people are taking a cautious approach to money and squirreling away as much as possible in the hopes of getting on the property ladder and ensuring a comfortable lifestyle.

Apparently, several of my kids' friends are already thinking about how to pay for their own children's education, and even contemplating putting some money aside to treat the grandkids when they reach retirement. This is pretty impressive for people in their 20s – I'm sure all I could think of at their age was buying a new dress and getting my hair done.

However, as I'm more prone to saying the older I get "the times are a-changing". Recent research from Birmingham Midshires seems to back up this notion.

The savings and mortgage provider says that one in seven Britons aged between 18 and 24 have recently opened savings accounts – up from one in 14 earlier this year. An encouraging move, when you consider all the expenditures the younger generation face. If it's not paying off student loans, it thinking about applying for mortgages, making credit card repayments and whatever else.

"It's great news to see more young people enter into the savings market," said Rachel Thrusell from price comparison website Moneyfacts. "Starting the savings habit at a young age is a great step to securing a healthy financial future."

Sterling words of advice there, and similar to what I tell my two youngsters. I know I shall be able to rest assured they will make sensible money decisions. But at the same time I can't help think how much I would have benefited from this kind of guidance.