Age seen as wisdom in family financial matters

Despite the age-old tradition of passing wisdom down through the generations, new research  from Bacs Payment Schemes Ltd (Bacs), the organisation behind Direct Debit, has found that a large number of Britons ignore the financial guidance offered to them by relatives. 

According to Bacs’ data, just under half (45%) of all GB adults aged 16 – 65 years+, admit to being offered financial guidance from a parent or other family member, but only 14% of those who have received relatives’ financial advice say they always accept it. 

Mike Hutchinson, head of marketing at Bacs, says: ”Our research illustrates that while people are evidently still happy to offer financial advice to members of their family, a great majority of people are not prepared to accept their relatives’ recommendations in return.”

The research shows that, of all adults, 16-24 year olds are most willing to act on family financial advice (27%).  Positive responses from older generations are significantly lower with just 8% of 55-64 year olds and a mere 6% of 65+ year olds saying they always follow financial advice proffered by family members.

Hutchinson adds: “Our data suggests that the older generations may be reluctant to take financial advice from younger family members.  We believe that these people may be missing out on valuable tips and could benefit from actively seeking the advice of their young relatives.  For example, 35-44 year olds are the greatest advocates of Direct Debit, with 73% choosing to use Direct Debit to pay for all or most of their bills and, thus, taking advantage of the time and money saving benefits the automated payment system offers.  In contrast only 59% of their parents and grandparents generation (65+ year olds) prefer to use Direct Debit for all or most of their bills, with many missing out on the ease of financial management and peace of mind it provides.”