Simon Read

Borrowing from friends and family can have serious consequences

If a pal turned to you for financial help, would you lend a hand? If you have the cash it’s hard to say no, but for the sake of your future friendship that may not be such a good idea.

Money can be the root of all sorts of relationship evils. It’s the cause of many families or friends fracturing and so any planned financial arrangements need to be treated with extreme caution.

Research published today by StepChange debt charity shows one in three people who owe money to loved ones reporting negative effects caused by their financial problems. One in 20 says borrowing from a friend actually led to a relationship break-up.

It’s a growing problem, according to the charity. The number of people seeking debt advice who owe money to friends and family is rising rapidly and the average amount borrowed is now more than £4,000.

Total debt to friends and family Average Debt % of clients Amount of people
First half of 2014 £115,049,807 £3,176 20% 36,259
First half of 2015 £155,934,645 £3,570 26% 43,545
First half of 2016 £198,450,523 £4,046 28% 49,048

Yet it still remains the first port of call for many. Why? Because it’s easy and can seem painless. In many cases people are happy to hand over their hard-earned to family or friends with no expectation of ever getting it back.

One friend, for instance, tells me he owes his dad an ‘obscene amount of money’. He adds that ‘he probably has no idea just how much I owe him’.

In other words, he’s happy with the arrangement. Happy to help his son and happy to be able to afford to be without the cash.

Not many of us are in such a wealthy place. And that means that a well-meaning attempt to help a struggling loved one out could even cause us to face financial woes.

Look, the secret to happy financial management is planning a budget and keeping to it.

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