Plymouth (04/12/24) – New Year’s Eve will soon mark the 25th anniversary of millennium celebrations around the world.
Figures from the national independent financial advice firm Continuum show the value of regular saving since then.
Set aside £100 per month since January 1, 2000 and it would now* be worth:
- £30,000 in a sock under your mattress
- £37,369 in a typical bank savings account or cash Isa
- £74,152 in a fund tracking UK equities
- £64,489 in an “average” managed fund
- £81,276 in an “average” managed fund in a pension
Download pdf: The Value of Regular Saving Since the Millennium
Source: Trustnet
*Figures to 30.11.24
Martin Brown, Managing Partner at Continuum, said:
“Anyone of a certain vintage remembers precisely where they were and who they were with on New Year’s Eve 1999, as they celebrated the new millennium.
“Many will wonder where the past 25 years have gone. Many more will wish they did more to provide for their futures during that time.
“For those that have saved regularly since then, the results are startling.”
The past quarter of a century has thrown up plenty of unexpected events as the timeline below shows, some of which affected savings significantly in the short term. The bursting of the dotcom bubble, the pandemic, a financial and banking crisis, a flash crash, Russia’s war in Ukraine, and 2022’s ill-received mini-budget, to name but a few.
None of these challenges were foreseeable. All underlined the importance of calm, regular investment for the medium- to long-term, and of seeking expert financial advice to help savers make the most of whatever they can afford.
“Something we always stress to clients is the benefit of regular saving over the longer term,” Martin Brown said.
“This mitigates risk from those unexpected events that can and will hit the value of savings hard in the short term. Since we celebrated the millennium, there have been a fair few and there is no reason to expect the next 25 years will be any easier to navigate than the past 25.”
To mark the 25th anniversary of millennium celebrations, Continuum is running a competition. Email our media relations team at the addresses below with what you consider to be the single event to have hit long-term savings hardest, peak to trough, in the past 25 years. A winner will be drawn out of the hat between Christmas and New Year, and a decent bottle of wine from 2000 will be heading their way.
About Continuum
Continuum is an independent financial advice firm with offices across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. It advises on nearly £2.4 billion for more than 16,000 clients.
For further details:
Gary Parkinson
Media Relations
T: 0345 643 0770 M: 07756 668500
garyparkinson@mycontinuum.co.uk / press@mycontinuum.co.uk
Katherine Mitchell
Brandon Consulting Services
T: 07917 855881
kmitchell@brandonconsultingservices.co.uk
25 Years Later… Year by Year
2000-2024
2000
- The world celebrates the arrival of a new millennium.
- There is a collective sigh of relief after Y2K fails to cripple computers everywhere.
- The number one song in the UK at the start of the year is “I Have a Dream”/ “Seasons in the Sun”, a double-A side by Westlife.
- The dotcom bubble bursts.
2001
- Former Texas governor George W Bush is sworn in as the 43rd President of the US.
- On September 11, terrorists destroy the World Trade Center in New York.
- Apple launches the iPod.
- Enron files for bankruptcy.
- Wikipedia is launched.
- The War in Afghanistan begins.
- China joins the World Trade Organization.
2002
- The euro becomes legal tender in twelve EU member states.
- Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother dies at the age of 101.
2003
- The US invades Iraq.
- Environmental activist Greta Thunberg is born in Stockholm.
- England win the Rugby World Cup.
- An 18-year-old Cristiano Ronaldo signs for Manchester United.
2004
- Mark Zuckerberg launches Facebook.
- Ten more countries join the EU, including the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta and Poland.
- The former actor and US President Ronald Reagan dies aged 93.
- George W Bush is re-elected US President.
- On Boxing Day, a massive undersea earthquake off the coast of Sumatra, Indonesia, unleashes a series of colossal tsunamis that leave about 230,000 people dead in 14 countries.
2005
- YouTube and Google Maps are launched.
- Suicide bombers in London kill 52 people and injure more than 770 others.
- The IRA ends its 36-year armed campaign.
- Hurricane Katrina floods New Orleans.
- Angela Merkel becomes the first female Chancellor of Germany.
2006
- Twitter is launched.
- Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein is executed.
2007
- The global financial crisis, the most severe since the 1929 Wall Street crash, begins.
- There is a run on Northern Rock, Britain’s fifth-biggest mortgage lender, in spite of emergency support from the Bank of England.
- Gordon Brown replaces Tony Blair as UK Prime Minister.
- The SNP, led by Alex Salmond, passes Labour to become the largest party in Scotland.
- The first iPhone is launched.
- Netflix starts streaming services.
2008
- Lehman Brothers collapses as the global financial crisis deepens.
- Northern Rock is nationalised.
- The UK Government rescues Royal Bank of Scotland and brokers a deal for Lloyds Banking Group to buy HBOS.
- The UK enters the deepest recession since the Second World War.
- The Federal Reserve begins “quantitative easing” to try to shore up confidence in the global financial system.
2009
- The Bank of England follows the Fed and introduces quantitative easing.
- Barack Obama is inaugurated as the 44th President of the US.
- Bitcoin is launched.
- Michael Jackson dies.
2010
- A “flash crash” sees the Dow Jones lose nearly 9pc of its value in minutes.
- The Arab Spring begins in Tunisia.
- David Cameron becomes the UK Prime Minister.
- Prince William and Kate Middleton get engaged.
2011
- Apple founder Steve Jobs dies from pancreatic cancer aged 56.
- Game of Thrones premiers.
- Osama bin Laden is killed.
- News of the World prints its final newspaper after becoming embroiled in a phone-hacking scandal.
2012
- London hosts the Olympic Games.
- Facebook surpasses one billion users.
2013
- Xi Jinping becomes president of China.
- Nelson Mandela and Margaret Thatcher die.
- “Selfie” is named the word of 2013 by Oxford Dictionaries, beating “twerk”, “binge-watch” and “showrooming” as the most popular new term of the year.
2014
- Russia annexes Crimea.
- Malaysian Airlines flight 370 vanishes.
- “Gangnam Style” reaches 2 billion views on YouTube.
- Scotland votes by 55.3pc to 44.7pc to remain part of the union in a referendum on independence.
2015
- The Conservatives win the UK general election.
- Chinese shares plunge following consistently weak economic data and a surprise devaluation of the yuan.
2016
- Britain votes to leave the European Union.
- Theresa May replaces David Cameron as UK Prime Minister.
- Donald Trump is elected 45th President of the US.
- Leicester City provide one of the biggest sporting upsets ever by winning the English Premier League at odds of 5,000 to 1.
2017
- A general election sees the Conservatives lose their majority.
- The UK is hit by a string of terrorist attacks.
- The #MeToo movement begins amid sexual assault allegations against film mogul Harvey Weinstein.
2018
- The 100th anniversary of the end of the First World War.
- Carillion, a Birmingham-based construction group employing 43,000 workers globally, goes into liquidation.
- France win the FIFA World Cup in Russia.
2019
- President Donald Trump is impeached.
- Boris Johnson replaces Theresa May as UK Prime Minister.
- Pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong turn into widespread riots and civil disobedience.
- The first known case of COVID-19 is documented in Wuhan, China, in December.
2020
- About 14.9m people are dead, either directly or indirectly, because of COVID-19 by the end of the year, according to the World Health Organization.
- As countries implement lockdowns, oil prices tank and the global economy contracts by 3.4pc.
- The UK officially withdraws from the EU.
- Joe Biden wins the US presidency.
- George Floyd dies under the knee of a white police officer in the US, creating international support for the Black Lives Matter movement.
2021
- More than 13.7 billion doses of COVID-19 vaccine are administered in 2021, as the virus mutates.
- Prince Philip dies at the age of 99.
- Debenhams closes its doors for good after more than 240 years on high streets.
2022
- Boris Johnson steps down as UK Prime Minister after more than 50 members of his government resign in protest following a stream of scandals. He is replaced by Liz Truss.
- Liz Truss resigns after 45 days in office, the shortest tenure of any British PM, following swingeing tax cuts in her “mini budget” that sent the pound tumbling and panicked financial markets. She is replaced by Rishi Sunak.
- Queen Elizabeth II dies at the age of 96. King Charles III ascends to the throne.
- Russia invades Ukraine.
2023
- The World Health Organisation declares the end of the pandemic.
- Israel formally declares war on Hamas.
- A banking crisis sees a number of US regional lenders collapse.
- Credit Suisse fails and is rescued by UBS.
- India becomes the world’s most populous country, with more than 1.4 billion people, overtaking China.
2024
- The Israel-Hamas war spills over into other countries, including Lebanon.
- Sir Keir Starmer is elected UK Prime Minister.
- Donald Trump survives assassination attempts to be elected the 47th President of the US.
- 642 million Indians vote in the world’s largest general election.
- Taylor Swift is the first artist to become a billionaire solely on the basis of her music.