Financial confidence among UK adults has risen from 79% to 85% since 2024, according to an annual study of over 4,000 adults commissioned by Moneybox. The research, part of the savings and investment platform's Financial Confidence Index, tracks how confident people feel about saving, investing, retirement and managing their money day to day.
Savings and investing confidence grow
Confidence in savings has increased from 79% to 83%, while fewer than half of adults feel comfortable with investing – though this has risen from 33% to 40%. Just over half now feel confident planning for retirement, up from 46% to 54%.
The research shows those who are more financially confident are more likely to set long-term financial goals (85% vs 67%) and research helpful products before making decisions (88% vs 71%). They are also more likely to put specific plans in place to help them save, invest and achieve their financial goals (86% vs 70%).
City rankings and regional shifts
Southampton recorded the biggest increase in financial confidence of any UK city, with confidence rising from 62% in 2025 to 69% in 2026. The rise saw the south coast city move from joint bottom of last year's rankings to become the UK's most financially confident city.
Cambridge and Birmingham also saw increases, with confidence rising from 64% to 68% and from 62% to 66% respectively. Edinburgh, Leicester and Plymouth recorded smaller increases. At the other end of the scale, Belfast saw the biggest drop, with confidence falling from 74% to 65%. Brighton and Hove also saw confidence fall, dropping from 70% to 64%.
Sources of confidence and challenges
The findings, carried out by OnePoll, revealed that Brits who are confident with money rely on a broad mix of sources. More than half (51%) turn to their loved ones for support, while four in 10 use financial advice websites and 23% look to news or social media.
Almost half (46%) cited the rising cost of living as a challenge to retirement planning, while 31% simply don't know how much they need to save to retire comfortably. The impact of financial confidence is reflected in long-term wealth: Brits who are confident with money estimate their average net worth at £228,000, compared with £74,000 among those who lack confidence.
Brian Byrnes, a director of personal finance for Moneybox, said: “It’s encouraging to see financial confidence improving, but the gap between how people feel about managing their money today and planning for their financial future is still significant. Saving is often where people build their confidence first.
“The challenge is helping more people take the next steps – whether that’s putting money to work through investing, engaging with their pension earlier or building a plan for the longer-term goals that matter to them. Too often, people think they need to know everything or have large amounts of money before they can get started. In reality, confidence is built through action.
“Starting with what you can afford, building regular habits and seeing your progress over time can make longer-term financial decisions feel far more achievable. We all know knowledge is power, but confidence is what turns that knowledge into action.
“Our ambition should be to make saving, investing and planning for retirement feel like increasingly normal, accessible parts of managing your money throughout your life.”
Expert tips to build confidence
Byrnes added: “Building financial confidence isn’t about becoming an expert overnight or waiting until you have more money to get started. It comes from understanding what you’re working towards, taking manageable steps and building habits that can grow with you over time.
“For many people that might begin with building a savings buffer. From there, it could mean starting to invest for longer-term goals or paying more attention to their pension. The important thing is to keep moving forward and make your money work harder for the future you want.”
Byrnes offered several tips: give your money a purpose by setting clear short, medium and long-term goals; build habits before chasing big numbers by saving or investing manageable amounts regularly; make the move from saving to investing when it's right for you, remembering that investments can go down as well as up; don't leave your pension until later, taking time to understand contributions and investment; and make progress easy to maintain by using regular contributions and automatic tools.
