Twenty-eight to forty year olds are so consumed with nostalgia for their youth that they are neglecting to save for their future, according to a report entitled ‘The Re-Run Generation', published today 4 February by Standard Life.

Only 53% of the so-called Re-Runners are saving for their future. And only just under one in three (29%) of those questioned for the survey admitted to feeling anxious (22%) or filled with fear (8%) about growing up and getting older.

  ]
The same number - 29% - apparently expect fate to look after them.

So called ‘Re-Runners' are not unrealistic about their future, the report found, yet they do not plan for what they know.

Nearly two-thirds (62%) expect to live until their 70s (32%) and 80s (30%) and, when asked about their financial future, four out of five (84%) said they either knew they could not rely on the state to support them in retirement (36%), or said they would like to, but knew they had to make their own plans (48%).

“The Re-Run report shows we devote endless time, money and energy extending our youth, and yet by making the past so much a part of the present, we risk making our future riskier still.  We have to start looking forward as well as back,” said social commentator Damian Barr.

"Our parents and grandparents like to appear financially responsible, but actually they are accidental savers.  Final Salary pensions meant many people had a secure financial future whether they planned it or not.  Re-Runners don't have the luxury their parents enjoyed and so we must make informed choices."

Mark Polson, Head of Customer Management at Standard Life, said: "Re-Runners are one of the most diverse and fragmented of all generations who have grown up in a culture that was all about staying in the past.  This is a generation which is opting out, hoping for the best and rationalising on their feet.  These are smart, educated, savvy people who know they are not doing what they should to secure their financial futures.  They need a reality check to secure the future they hope for themselves."

Brand historian Robert Opie concluded:  "During the last decade, the influence of retro fashion, music and food brands has increased our awareness of nostalgia.  According to this Standard Life research, for those in the 28-40 age group, the impact has become worrying.  They feel they are not grown up and tend to cling to the familiarity of their formative years.  This feeling has been intensified by current financial uncertainty and has resulted in a generation who are more likely to look back or ‘live for the moment'."

To support this generation of under-savers, Standard Life has launched a website which includes tips and tools to help plan your financial future: www.getarealitycheck.co.uk.

---

Tag this article :