Gfc Meant Changes For One In Two Australians

Australia - The Lucky Country,
But GFC Meant Changes for One in Two

Results from the latest Citibank Australian Wealth Survey

* 48 percent of Australians made some changes to their financial arrangements in
the last 12 months
* 27 percent dipped into their savings
* 10 percent took on an extra job or extended their work hours

Sydney, December 2009: While Australia has been tipped the `lucky country' during the last twelve months of global economic upheaval, almost half (48 percent) of all Australians made changes to their financial arrangements in response to the global financial crisis.

According to the findings of the latest Citibank Australian Wealth Survey, almost half of those surveyed made some changes to their overall financial lifestyle either in their savings, investment mix or working longer hours.

More than one-third (35 percent) said they changed the way they manage their finances be it changes to spending or savings habits - and 27 percent dipped into their savings to maintain their standard of living.

The survey also found that only 10 percent of Aussies took on an extra job or extended their hours at work and 4 percent needed to downsize to a cheaper home.
But compared to other countries, the vast majority of Australians haven't needed to make major changes. Andrew de Graff from Citibank Wealth Management said Australia had been the lucky country with lower than expected levels of unemployment, coupled with lower interest rates, minimising the financial burden experienced by most Australians.

"The findings have revealed that most Australians have been able to get through the last 12 months without making major changes like extending their working hours or selling their homes. But the fact that four percent needed to downgrade their homes is still significant. We didn't ride out the GFC completely unscathed," Mr de Graff said.

When it comes to investment activities, the rocky investment markets haven't had a major effect on how Australians manage their money, with only 13 percent rearranging their portfolio, according to the findings.

From an investment perspective, 72 percent of Australians said the global financial crisis had no impact on their investment behaviour, though a minority (17 percent) admitted they had cut back on investment activity.

"Rocky share-markets may have spooked some investors but in recent months as
performance has improved, we have seen more investors putting some of their cash
back into investments."

"The events of the past year have highlighted to Australians the need to keep money for a rainy day for unforeseen circumstances, and to also have a diversified portfolio to better manage risk," Andrew said.

-Ends-

Methodology
The Citibank Australian Wealth Survey was conducted by Newspoll in September 2009. The survey was fielded by telephone among a national sample of 1,085 people aged 25 years and over.

Full report available at www.citibank.com.au

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Kristen Kaus
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Leila Dean
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SOURCE: Citibank