Are Premium Bonds the answer to the US savings problem?
The savings ratio in the US has tumbled in recent years – see this chart for the official figures:bea.gov/national
Many American financial minds are focusing on how to improve it. The brains behind theFreakonomics books – economist Steven Levitt and journalist Stephen Dubner – put together a fascinating podcast earlier this month on exactly this issue.
Their investigation latched on to the great universal love of lotteries. People are indifferent about earning a few cents in interest, they concluded, but are fixated on the opportunity of getting rich quick. You don't need to be an economist to work that out, I hear you say.
They then go on to share with their fellow Americans a rather quaint and quirky 54-year-old savings plan that already does this – our very own Premium Bonds – marvelling at its effectiveness of how a £1m prize encourages saving.
