Online banking can help you keep your finances in tune

THINK, for a moment, about the things you need to do around the house.

Cut the grass? Wash the car? Sort out that dripping tap?

Chances are that sorting out your finances isn’t anywhere near the top of the list. Yet, when it comes down to it, having money under control allows us to get on with the other things in life.

Most of us would rather organise our music collection or our clothes than sort out our finances, suggests research.

A study carried out by Standard Life Savings shows that each year adults spend an average of seven hours arranging their music library, yet just four-and-a-half hours reviewing pensions.

More than half (58%) don’t review their pensions at all and, of those that do check their private pensions, the average is only once every nine months.

Even if retirement is a long way off, it seems many are burying their heads in the sand when it comes to day to day money matters, 40% of adults put off organising their day-to-day budget and just 57% know exactly how much money is in their current account.

Yet, thanks to developments such as internet banking and mobile apps, you can check on your money pretty much anytime and anywhere.

Jamie Jenkins, pension expert at Standard Life Savings, commented: “Despite the resurgence of vinyl, most music collections will be of limited long-term value when it comes to funding retirement. It’s easy to put off things you don’t enjoy but keeping on top of both day-to-day budgeting and longer term savings will help you relax, knowing things are under control for the future.

“More people than ever have access to a pension through their workplace, and technology is making it easy for people to regularly review their savings online, so there’s no better time than now to get organised.”

5.6 million people are victims of online scams each year in Britain