The recession may be over, but a recent financial planning survey has revealed that people in the UK are still extremely worried about money, debt and their financial futures.

The research, conducted and published by the Institute of Financial Planning (IFP) and National Savings and Investment (NS&I), asked 2,000 people about their financial concerns. Of those surveyed, it was found that 43 per cent worry about the state of their finances “more often than not”, whilst 17 per cent have concerns about their money “all of the time”.

When it came to savings and preventing future debt, 87 per cent of those asked said that they would be more inclined to put money aside for a rainy day if banks made savings accounts easier to use and more flexible.

Just 3 per cent of the 2,000 asked in this year’s survey said that they never worry about money. This is a marked difference from last year’s results, in which a lucky 12 per cent expressed no concerns about their finances.

John Prout, sales director at NS&I, advised people to think about their finances calmly and rationally rather than worrying or panicking. He said:

“It’s important to make an honest appraisal of your financial situation on a regular basis, through assessing three key things; the value of your debt and/or assets, the interest rate you are paying or earning on these and whether you could manage financially if your income was to reduce or your outgoings to increase.”

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