Financial lessons to learn from the Noughties

As a new decade dawns, the one gone by can be looked back at and lessoned learned from it. The Noughties was a decade of mixed fortunes for Britons finances with highs and - as the economic crisis took hold - a number of lows for many people.

Online security is important

The Noughties was the decade in which broadband took off on a mainstream level with internet access available to most people in the UK. With this internet banking and online shopping took off and so too did the online scam.

From phishing to steal bank details to online lottery scams there were numerous ways in which the fraudsters tried to get their hands on peoples' cash. At the start of the new decade we know it is more important than ever not to give out bank details unless you are sure of the reputability of the person of company that you are dealing with. Some consumers learned the hard way that banks will never ask for bank details via e-mail and that overseas lottery wins really are too good to be true.

Pensions confidence collapse

One of the major talking points in the Noughties was the collapse in public confidence in pensions. There were a number of reasons why pensions hit the news in the decade. One of which was the state pension age increases which forced many people over-65 to continue working. Another was that share prices collapsed causing many pension funds to be dramatically cut.

Today, only three in seven workers - 43 per cent - contribute to a pension, which may suggest that in years to come the UK will be hit with a retirement crisis.

Banks can go bust

In September 2007 problems arose with Northern Rock. Savers panicked and began queuing to withdraw their money in high streets across the UK.

Soon after the bank was nationalised, and consumers learned that it is possible for banks to go bust. They may have been forgiven for being complacent as the last British bank to suffer the same fate was Overend, Gurney and Co in May 1866 - a victim of Victorian speculation into railway shares - some 141 years previously.

Perhaps one of the lesson that savers should take heed of is that it is important to keep their money safe. One way in which this should be achievable is by limiting investments in each bank to £50,000. Savers are then entitled to protection from the Financial Services Compensation Scheme.

Boom and bust economy

When the economic crisis hit in 2007 it put an end to 17 years of credit-fuelled economic growth.

The recession followed in 2008 and the economic turbulence has been looming over the UK for 18 months, the worst crisis in modern British history.

Then Chancellor Gordon Brown speaking in 2006 had said: "No return to boom and bust." It was poor timing for Mr Brown on reflection.

House prices can rise AND fall

The UK witnessed a property boom that lasted from the Nineties well into the Naughties. Property prices were on the increase and in 2002 demonstrated an increase of 25 per cent. A 220 per cent increase in the average property price in the 12 years between 1995 and 2007.

However, as the decade came to an end house prices fell and issued a stern reminder that house prices can go down.

As the "Tenties" begin property research group Hometrack's latest housing market outlook expects house prices to fall again - by one per cent - in 2010.

The group's director of research Richard Donnell said: "On the basis of the economic outlook and market evidence we believe it is unlikely that the improved market conditions of 2009 will be replicated in the new year."