A fear of running out of money is preventing over-55s from buying things they need, new research from Oxford Risk has indicated.

The fintech software provider said the trend is underlining the role of emotions and the troubled relationship many have with money,

Oxford Risk, which builds software to help wealth managers and other financial services companies understand their clients’ financial behaviour, surveyed more than 1,000 over-55s for the study.

It found that 30%, a figure equivalent to 6.4 million people based on population figures from Statista, agreed that spending money makes them anxious while 31% agreed they often do not spend money on things they actually need.

Oxford Risk said its research has highlight a need for “behavioural profiling” to help people in the run-up to retirement to learn about their own attitudes, emotions, and biases.

Around a quarter (26%) of those questioned for the research agreed that emotions influence their financial decision-making.

“People in the run-up to retirement need to maximise their retirement savings and ultimately their income when they stop work,” head of behavioural finance at Oxford Risk, Greg Davies, said. “Understanding how emotions affect their money decisions is an important part of achieving those goals.

“Advisers and wealth managers can play a significant role in helping clients to recognise the effect of emotions on investing and spending when approaching retirement, while providing them with personalised plans which can address the anxiety they feel.”

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