Most people have to get serious about saving money at some point – do it sooner rather than later with an offset mortgage.

Saving money each month allows you to build up a nest egg, gives you a better credit score and gives you a better chance of getting hold of better credit in the future – so the sooner you can begin saving the sooner you can become a better borrower.

It seems as though some people are realising this – the average age for Britons to start saving seriously is 25 years-old, according to new data from National Savings and Investments.

But there are still some people who are simply not able or not willing to save money – more than a fifth of the population say they didn’t start setting money aside in earnest until they were past their 30th birthday, while more than one in ten fail to seriously save until they are 40 years or older. Worryingly, 15% confessed that they had actually never saved at all.

But people are waking up to the benefits of saving thanks to the recent financial crisis. NS&I says one of the main reasons people get serious about saving is after reading stories about how others, without savings, have suffered in an emergency and a third confessed that it was when they suffered a financial shock personally that they began their savings habit. Others began after seeing their parents worrying about not having enough money now and in the future.

It doesn’t matter why you decide to start saving, the important thing is how you do it and how serious you are about putting money aside each month. By using an offset, you are incentivised to save with a reduced mortgage payment each month – so the more you save, the less you pay.

NS&I says: “We’re urging Britons to review their future financial needs and to develop the habit of saving.”

SOURCE: NS&I, 24/02/10

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