Start saving early for a better future

People are more likely to be better with their money and achieve their learning goals if they start saving at a young age, new research shows.

A University of Kansas study reveals that young people tend to keep savings accounts for longer when they start them at an early age and will have put away more money than those who start saving at a later stage of their lives.

The study took into account differences between savers, such as whether they are in two-parent or single-parent families and the education levels of their own parents, and found that in all backgrounds those that started saving earlier ended up with better finances later.

Further research found that those who save money early are more likely to go into higher education. Those who put away money specifically in order to go to college were twice as likely to do so than those who started saving later in life.

Even opening the most basic of savings accounts is enough to improve many people's financial outcomes when they are older, the study suggests.

Copyright Press Association 2015