Over half of the people in Britain consider a home purchase necessary for reaching “financial adulthood”, new research from TopCashback.co.uk reveals.
Out of the 1,530 polled people 61 per cent said they would not feel grown up financially until they have gotten on the property ladder.
This is two times higher than the proportion of people who equate reaching “financial adulthood” with having a child (30 per cent).
Over a quarter of respondents (27 per cent) said renting a flat is a sign that they had grown up financially and almost a quarter (24 per cent) said signs for that are either paying for a wedding or buying a car.
A third of those polled said they reached financial adulthood between the ages of 22 and 25 and 61 per cent can remember the exact moment it happened. The main moments financial adulthood hit them, according to most survey respondents, were moving out of their parents’ home, receiving their first pay cheque and having a child.
Other key findings reveal:
- 14 per cent of people in Britain do not feel as though they have reached financial adulthood
- Londoners feel less like they have reached financial adulthood compared to other regions
- A quarter of residents in Wales say they reached financial adulthood between the ages of 16 and 18
“Our research shows Brits are being held back from financially feeling like an adult until they’ve reached key milestones such as buying a house, having children and paying for their wedding. By making small tweaks to spending habits, everyone can strengthen the value of their pound to make their money go further and reach these key landmarks earlier.
“To fast track to financial adulthood, everyone should think about implementing an early savings plan and take advantage of new schemes such as the Help to Buy ISA. There are also a host of new money-saving tools shoppers can use for one-off purchases and everyday spending,” Natasha Rachel Smith, consumer affairs editor for TopCashback, said.
