Scottish rural residents save more than city dwellers

People living in the rural areas of Scotland may be poised for a better retirement than their urban counterparts as they have more in their savings pot, recent research has suggested.
Those living in rural Scotland have an average £8,805 in savings, compared to £6,846 for those in populated urban areas, a study by the Bank of Scotland revealed.
One of the reasons why rural savers may have greater provisions for retirement is that the inhabitants are generally older than those in cities.
That is according to Nitesh Patel, economist at Bank of Scotland, who said: "These savers have generally had a long working life to build up their savings pot compared to younger savers in urban areas and this appears to be a key factor in explaining the typically higher level of savings in rural regions."
Aberdeenshire was shown to have the highest average savings balance of £10,191, compared to £5,450 in East Ayrshire and people in the Scottish Borders are the country's best savers, with their average balance of £8,972 the equivalent to 41% of local average annual earnings.
Age Scotland spokesman Lindsay Scott said: "It's admirable that people are even able to save given the economic climate of the last few years, and it's true that even a small amount of savings can result in a better retirement.
"But, with people living substantially longer, it's important that they start thinking and taking action a lot sooner to ensure that they have made adequate provision for later life, otherwise, a bleak retirement could beckon."
Statistics used in the research referred to Bank of Scotland balances at the end of October 2011 and average earnings data was based on ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings figures for April 2011. Tweet