Wealth – In the news

13th January 2022

Scam victims suffer a £9.3bn hit to wellbeing

Scams unfortunately continue to be rife. The financial impacts can be devastating, but a new study has sought to quantify the cost to scam victims’ wellbeing. By using a model that allows researchers to value changes in wellbeing in monetary terms, they have calculated the impact of scams on victim wellbeing to be over £9bn a year1, a personal cost of £2,509 for each victim, although the impact can be higher for someone hit by online fraud (£3,684). The research suggested scam victims faced a decline in life satisfaction, considerably higher levels of anxiety, lower levels of happiness and in some cases, ill-health after being scammed.

Could we be facing a savings slump?

High inflation is causing everyday living costs to soar, with many savers saying they are rapidly eating into the additional savings they made during lockdown. Little wonder that nearly three-quarters (74%) of UK adults are worried about rising living costs, with 35% saying they feel more anxious about the future than before the pandemic2. This percentage increases to 42% for 45 to 54-year-olds.

A significant proportion of adults recently surveyed say they are eating into their lockdown savings fast. In fact, one-fifth say they have already spent their lockdown savings while a further quarter predict their savings will be gone before the year is out. With normal life resuming, the balancing act between spending and saving, particularly for those approaching retirement, is becoming ever more delicate. And, while you’re unlikely to save the same amounts now as you were in lockdown, even putting away a more modest sum each month can soon add up.

1Which?, 2021

2Aviva, 2021

The value of investments can go down as well as up and you may not get back the full amount you invested. The past is not a guide to future performance and past performance may not necessarily be repeated.