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Personal debt: a look abroad

It's easy to think that Britain's badly off these days - with all the stories about personal debt, repossessions, unemployment, etc. - but economists do keep stressing the global nature of the problems we're facing.

Let's take a look over the Atlantic, to Canada. A recent poll by Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) shows us how Canadians feel about the debts they're carrying.

Fully 45% of the people surveyed said they're 'comfortable' with their personal debt situation at the moment. Perhaps more surprising, almost a quarter of Canadians (22%) have no personal debt at all.

And 93% said that paying down their debt was either as important as saving for the future or even more important.

Young adults, by and large, were the most anxious about their debts - 39% of 18-34 year-olds said they felt anxiety about it. Look at the oldest age group (55 and older) and you'll see that about half as many (just 21%) felt this way.

And age isn't the only factor affecting the way people feel about their debt. People with children, for example, were less likely to be happy with their debt situation (47%) than people without kids (61%).

"It's always interesting to see how other people in countries are coping with debt," said a spokesperson for the IVA Advisory Centre, "and reports such as the Personal Debt Snapshot by R3 [the insolvency trade body in this country] help us draw comparisons with the UK's situation.

"The latest Snapshot, published a month ago, shows that 47% of people in this country are actively concerned about their debts. That's clearly more worrying than the situation in Canada, where fully 67% of people either have no debts or are comfortable with the amount they owe.

"For someone who's worried about their debt, what counts is taking the next step - and moving on from worrying to doing something about it. When someone realises their debts have grown too large, it's time to sit down and review their household finances.

"Drawing up a monthly budget is an excellent way to start, as it should give them a good idea of how and where they can cut back on their spending so they can focus on reducing their debts as quickly as realistically possible. If they're not sure how to do that - or can't find any likely savings - getting some expert advice can make all the difference."