Rather than looking forward to a happy New Year, money worries look set to remain high on the agenda with little to suggest that consumers’ concerns will be alleviated anytime soon, new research reveals this week.
The report was published on Monday by independent price comparison and switching service, Switcher.ie. Already, a huge 95% of Irish adults admit to worrying about their finances.
One in five (18%) say they’re always worried, while a quarter (25%) say they often are – just 5% say they never have any financial concerns.
As we head into 2018, this looks set to continue. Despite talk of a recovery and changes to income tax and the USC in Budget 2018, less than three in ten (28%) feel they’ll be better off than they were in 2017.
In contrast, over a quarter (26%) believe they’ll be worse off, with almost half (46%) expecting their financial position to remain unchanged.
Sadly, only 29% of consumers are confident that in 2018 they will be able to meet all of their day-to-day expenses (such as rent or mortgage, energy costs, telecoms and groceries), as well as setting savings aside and being able to cover unexpected expenses.
Others (27%) expect to be able to meet their day-to-day expenses but won’t be able to save, while a third (33%) say they’ll manage to meet their day-to-day expenses, but will struggle to do so.
