- Moneybox Financial Confidence Index finds confidence is stronger than in 2024, but investing and retirement still lag against everyday money management
- Southampton is the UK’s most financially confident city, with Cambridge and Birmingham seeing large confidence gains
- Financially confident Brits having an estimated net worth of £228,000, more than three times the £74,000 among those who lack confidence.
- Financially confident Brits are also more likely to set goals, research their options and make plans for their money
Brits are feeling increasingly confident about their finances compared to two years ago, despite continued economic headwinds, according to the latest Moneybox Financial Confidence Index* (FCI).
Now in its third year, the Index shows that financial confidence has strengthened across every area since 2024. Confidence in planning for a comfortable retirement has seen the biggest increase, rising eight percentage points from 46% in 2024 to 54% in 2026, while investing confidence has increased from 33% to 40% over the same period – representing an increase of more than a fifth overall.
While confidence growth has been more modest over the past 12 months, with savings dipping slightly from 84% to 83% and retirement planning easing from 57% to 54%, investing still sits well behind saving overall. These findings suggest that, despite encouraging progress, many people are still finding it harder to manage their longer-term finances than their day-to-day money or cash savings.
| Area of confidence | 2024 | 2025 | 2026 |
| Managing personal finances | 79% | 83% | 85% |
| Saving | 79% | 84% | 83% |
| Investing | 33% | 39% | 40% |
| Planning for a comfortable retirement | 46% | 57% | 54% |
Confidence across the UK – Southampton goes from joint-bottom to the top
The latest Index also reveals a significant shift in financial confidence across the UK.
Southampton has recorded the biggest increase of any city, rising seven percentage points from 62% in 2025 to 69% in 2026. The city has consequently moved from joint-bottom in last year’s rankings to become the UK’s most financially confident city.
Cambridge and Birmingham have both climbed four points, to 68% and 66% respectively, with Edinburgh, Leicester and Plymouth also seeing modest increases of +1%. At the other end of the scale, Belfast has recorded the biggest fall, down nine points to 65%, followed by Brighton and Hove (-6%), Glasgow (-4%), Bristol (-3%) and Norwich (-3%).
The confidence-building habits
Moneybox’s modelling shows how financial confidence is closely linked to the habits people build around money. Financially confident Brits are more likely to set long-term goals than those who lack confidence (85% vs 67%), research financial products (88% vs 71%) and make specific plans to achieve their goals and save or invest accordingly (86% vs 70%).
It also revealed how financially confident Brits draw their confidence from a broad mix of support, with 51% turning to personal sources such as friends, family or a partner, 40% using financial advice websites and 23% looking to news or social media. This suggests confidence is built not from one source alone, but a combination of trusted support, and taking the time to understand their finances.
For those who still lack confidence, the findings show there isn’t one single barrier holding people back. However, affordability is the biggest challenge when it comes to saving, while fear of losing money tops the list for investing. For retirement, almost half (46%) point to the rising cost of living, while 31% simply don’t know how much they need to save to retire comfortably.
This is seeing a substantial difference in estimated net worth between the two groups, with financially confident Brits having an estimated net worth of £228,000, more than three times the £74,000 among those who lack confidence.
Brian Byrnes, Director of Personal Finance at Moneybox said: “While it’s encouraging to see financial confidence improving in the UK, we strongly believe there is a lot more work to be done to truly boost the nation’s financial wellbeing. Confidence can have a transformative impact on your life, but with progress slowing over the past 12 months – including dips in saving and retirement planning – it’s clear that feeling comfortable in one area doesn’t mean feeling secure across all of them.
“The next big challenge is helping people turn growing financial awareness into lasting habits. We all know knowledge is power, but confidence is what actually turns that knowledge into action, whether that’s starting to save, investing for the first time, or engaging with your pension earlier in life.
“Building this financial confidence isn’t about becoming an expert overnight. It’s about understanding your own habits and behaviours so you feel empowered to take control. The more people understand how they interact with money, the better placed they are to make decisions that work for them and stay on track towards their long-term goals.”
-ENDS-
Notes to Editors:
*Methodology
This online survey of 4,020 UK adults (weighted to be nationally representative on the basis of age/gender/region) was commissioned by Moneybox and conducted by market research company OnePoll, in accordance with the Market Research Society’s code of conduct. Data was collected between 22nd to 30th July 2026. All participants are double-opted in to take part in research and are paid an amount depending on the length and complexity of the survey. This survey was overseen and edited by the OnePoll research team. OnePoll are MRS Company Partners, corporate membership of ESOMAR and Members of the British Polling Council.
The net worth analysis amalgamated the survey responses across all cash, investments, and retirement, less debt (excluding student loans) to calculate net worth at the time surveyed. It then tracked that net worth against responses to financial confidence, education, and missed opportunities per person. All averages are weighted by age, gender and region – anybody with no household income was excluded from the analysis.
**Nationwide Financial Confidence Index 2026
The following table outlines Moneybox’s 2026 Nationwide Financial Confidence Index, with a city by city breakdown of confidence from 2025 to 2026, and the average net worth of confident and non-confident respondents.
The Most Financially Confident Cities in the UK 2026
| City | Confidence Index 2026 | Confidence Index (Change from 2025) | Net worth – Confident | Net worth – Not-Confident | Net worth – Difference |
| Overall | 65% | -1% | £228,000 | £74,000 | £154,000 |
| Southampton | 69% | +7% | £218,000 | £72,000 | £146,000 |
| London | 68% | 0% | £275,000 | £80,000 | £195,000 |
| Manchester | 68% | 0% | £250,000 | £37,000 | £213,000 |
| Cambridge | 68% | +4% | £212,000 | £29,000 | £183,000 |
| Birmingham | 66% | +4% | £190,000 | £59,000 | £131,000 |
| Liverpool | 66% | 0% | £224,000 | £93,000 | £131,000 |
| Edinburgh | 65% | +1% | £180,000 | £104,000 | £76,000 |
| Belfast | 65% | -9% | £248,000 | £134,000 | £114,000 |
| Newcastle | 64% | -2% | £222,000 | £68,000 | £154,000 |
| Leicester | 64% | +1% | £266,000 | £123,000 | £143,000 |
| Plymouth | 64% | +1% | £226,000 | £126,000 | £100,000 |
| Leeds | 63% | -2% | £162,000 | £74,000 | £88,000 |
| Sheffield | 63% | -2% | £181,000 | £76,000 | £105,000 |
| Bristol | 63% | -3% | £222,000 | £84,000 | £138,000 |
| Norwich | 63% | -3% | £196,000 | £67,000 | £129,000 |
| Glasgow | 62% | -4% | £231,000 | £73,000 | £158,000 |
| Brighton and Hove | 61% | -6% | £265,000 | £47,000 | £218,000 |
About Moneybox:
Moneybox is an award-winning wealth management platform on a mission to give everyone the means to get more out of life. Launched in 2016 by Ben Stanway and Charlie Mortimer, Moneybox has grown rapidly and now supports a community of over 1.9 million customers with more than £23 billion in assetsAn asset is anything that holds value and which can be bought and sold freely. under administration. The platform brings together saving, investing, home-buying, and retirement services—alongside powerful tools and educational content—to help people build wealth throughout life, no matter their starting point.
Moneybox is recognised as one of the UK and Europe’s fastest growing tech companies, acknowledged in the Deloitte UK Technology Fast 50 list for six years in a row (2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025) The Times Tech 100 (2025, 2026) and the FT 1000: Europe’s Fastest Growing Companies (2023, 2024 and 2025). Moneybox has also been recognised in the FT’s UK Best Employers list for two years in a row (2025, 2026). In July 2026, Moneybox announced a secondary share sale worth c.£45 million, valuing the business at c.£800m (c.US$1.1b), a 45% increase since its last secondary in October 2024.
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