42% of Luxembourgers say they are “comfortable” with the amount they have in their savings, the highest level from the 13 European member states surveyed by ING International as part of their annual survey on savings.
14,000 people were surveyed by ING International in the EU, Australia and the United States of America. Among them, at 84%, more Luxembourgers had savings than their peers in France, 73%, Belgium, 71%, or Germany, 62%, as well as the highest level of comfort with the amount they have stashed away.
The survey also found that a comparatively high number of Luxembourgers hold personal debt, with 55% saying they owe money on credit cards, personal loans, overdrafts and hire-purchase agreements, though not including mortgages on property. Only Romanians, at 57%, Americans, at 65%, and the Turkish, at 75%, are more likely to hold personal debts.
Of the 500 Luxembourgers polled, 43% said they hold both personal debt and savings at the same time, exceeded only in Turkey (46%), and the USA (49%). The report describes this seeming anomaly as the “co-holding puzzle”, referring to research carried out by the University of Nottingham in 2014 which found that the average UK household with both debt and savings was accruing an average of around €730 in unnecessary interest charges a year.
Notwithstanding that, 36% of Luxembourgers say they are comfortable with the amount that they owe, more than the citizens of any other European country surveyed.
Historically low interest rates are causing some concerns among some savers, with more than a fifth of Luxembourgers saying they are worried about saving for retirement. In the face of this however, only 40% have changed their savings behaviour in the last year, not much different from the average across Europe, while 23% say they are putting less aside than before.
