Londoners spend the most on loved ones

London males spend an estimated £2,458 on their loved ones per year, double the national average, according to the latest figures.

Findings from moneysupermarket.com show that women spend £659 on their partner each year while men fork out £1,326 on items such as anniversary gifts, dining out, flowers and special holidays.

According to the figures, female and male Londoners spend an average of £1,776 on each other compared with those in the north where £873 is spent.

Richard Mason, director at price comparison site moneysupermarket.com, said: “People might laugh at the north where the starry-eyed spend is less than half of that in London, but £873 a year is still a pretty respectable figure.”

“And it’s the Midlands that has the dubious honour of having three per cent of people spending nothing on their partner,” he added.

The research also found that British males spend seven times more on gifts for their partners than on extras for their cars, which came in at £191.

Further findings from the firm show many Brits miss out on the significant tax-free savings available in Individual savings accounts.

Tags: Credit card, london, spending, Human Interest, Driving, nothing, Richard Mason, individual savings accounts

Savers not taking full advantage of Isas

Up to one in three savers are not taking advantage of their tax-free allowance with their individual savings accounts, according to new research.

Findings from Marks and Spencers Money shows that by not saving the maximum of £3,000 in current and previous tax years, savers could have lost out on £35 per head in tax free interest.

The firm said that this means savers could have lost a potential £23 million per year.

Brendan Cook, chief executive of M&S Money, said: “With an estimated 2million new Cash Isas to be opened in the current tax year, savers could be losing out on a huge amount of tax free interest.”

He urged savers to “take more interest in their savings”, and make full use of their Isa allowance, especially when the allowance increases from April 6th.

Last week, Adrian Lowcock of Bestinvest said that one way to get good value on an Isa was to search for a broker who only took a low rate of commission.

Tags: Marks, Last week, individual savings accounts, tax, ISAs, value, April, Brendan Cook

Boost in saving predicted for 2008

The number of consumers saving money is expected to grow during the course of 2008 “in terms of the proportion of the money in society”, claims one financial expert.

Halifax said that the slow down in the economy is likely to make consumers feel they need to deposit their money into their savings accounts in a bid to save.

Jason Clarke, spokesperson for Halifax, said: “When the economy is growing, people are confident.”

“When things begin to slow down, people think ‘now I need my rainy day money’ – it’s almost the reverse of what it should be. It’s down to [the] human psyche,” he added.

Halifax also advised those consumers looking for a savings account to research their options before committing to a deal.

According to the Buildings Society Association, building societies attracted a record £16.1 billion of savings inflows in 2007, which is almost double the inflow of 2006.

Meanwhile, in December 2007, HBOS forecasted that savings in Individual Savings Accounts (Isas) would rise by £30 billion to £240 billion in 2008.

Tags: individual savings accounts, hbos, building, confident.""When things, record, psyche

Isa investments hit highest level

The last tax year saw the highest number of subscriptions to Individual Savings Accounts (Isas).

Figures from the Tax Incentivised Savings Association (TISA) show that £33 billion was invested in Isas in the year 2006/07.

The total number of people now investing in Isas has reached 20 million, with £300 billion earning interest with tax breaks.

Tony Vine-Lott, director general of the TISA, said that the figures put paid to scare mongering about a lack of people saving.

“While there are headlines claiming the savings ratio is at its lowest ebb, we can see from official HMRC [HM Revenue & Customs] figures that Isas are booming.

“The 2006/07 tax year was a record – showing that tax incentivised savings remain hugely popular with millions of people.

“TISA will be looking to ensure the popularity of Isas remains high on the public policy agenda,” he added.

Isas can only be invested in ahead of the tax year beginning, so savers will have to wait until April next year to qualify for the next round.

Tags: individual savings accounts, savings, vine, Tony Vine-, Lott, director, round, tax