If you want to spark up a conversation with a complete stranger, all you have to do is mention the weather. Why is it then, if you consider our obsession with the weather, coupled with the fact that we have a lot of rainfall in the UK, why don’t we adhere to that old saying of saving for a rainy day?

It could be argued quite simply that the reason people are not saving is because they have no money. The SMF report launch wanted to look beyond that reality and provide solutions to get more people to save through improved savings policy – increasing the savings ratio and reducing asset inequalities.

Society and advertisers push us towards spending everyday of our lives. Acquire the latest, get this brand new, upgrade, switch, and even spend our way out of the recession. It is very hard to convince people to do otherwise especially when funds our low and rich people tend to save more than poor people. Education makes a big difference to asset accumulation. The impatient and risk averse will accumulate less wealth.

In order to turn more of us into savers and to get us all saving more there should be matched pension savings and tax credits should be paid to people as a lump sum rather than just adding to income. We need to make savings a crime of opportunity that is almost better than spending. Some difficulties in saving include buying a house, saving for a pension and graduate taxes all hinder many people’s chances of saving for a rainy day.

Another issue is financial literacy. There is a huge problem of financial innumeracy amongst many people. We need similar simple information where the content and risk is simplified along the lines of what drugs companies provide on the back of medicines.

We could also try to restore the savings ethic that has been lost over the years. Privatisation, share issues, PEPS and TESSAs got the country interested in savings during the late 80s and early 90s. People understand match savings schemes. We have a perfect match saving scheme but you have to be earning of 150k to access it. Young people are generally really good at saving for things when they are younger but turn into debtors by the time they leave university. We also need to understand the difference between good and bad debt.

The paradox between spending and saving is the contradiction within our economic system. We should look into the relationship, with mild nudging from the financial services, and limited access to money could turn us into a nation of savers.

There are three distinct groups – the non-savers who never save; saving inclined who want to save; and the saving engaged who save regular amounts. Saving is desirable in both the desire to save and the desire to have savings which ensure you don’t have to go without in the future. More should be done to highlight the desirable ‘saver’ qualities. You want to live for today but you need to live for tomorrow too. Most of us lack the self discipline to save and are disorganised with money management as the list of costs keep going up in the future from child care, university, mortgage, parents care, etc.

The Office of Budget Responsibility has produced a report about bringing down personal debt as that falls on the consumers. Marketing is always on the lending but not as much encouragement for people to save. We need a more balanced and fair approach to marketing as it seems as if the industry is reliant on customer ignorance. Saving is about deferring gratification.

Many people ask what you have to give up if you want to save as savers are generally viewed as boring as they won’t spend on nights out. People are using credit for the same financial needs as people use savings for. People on low incomes are probably better savers than people with a little bit of money as they don’t have any money to spend. Some of the income gaps are just too big for some people to save. People need to understand, use and manipulate financial products as most financial services are usually trying to hoodwink people at the best of times.

The ultimate goal is to make savings normal so we can all save on a shoestring when those shoestrings are normally attached to an expensive pair of brogues.