Charlie Nunn, the CEO of Lloyds Banking Group – which provides one in four UK current accounts – has admitted he "hates budgeting and always has". Instead, the boss of Britain's biggest bank turns to automation to build savings. "If you're able to carve out a little bit and put it somewhere else where you won't have access to it and be able to spend it," he says, "I think that's the easiest way to start having a saving mindset."
Nunn recommends "saving little, saving early and saving regularly" – whether through a standing order, cash envelopes or round-up tools. He says he looks at his current account as soon as he gets paid and decides how much to move into savings, adding: "Do it as soon as you can."
“Lloyds CEO Charlie Nunn advises automating savings and having emergency funds to manage money.”
Beyond regular savings, he urges people to build an emergency fund for surprise bills like a broken boiler or car repairs. The amount needed depends on circumstances, but he advises setting aside one to three months' salary if possible.
Money management also extends to relationships. Nunn and his wife use a joint account and have "complete transparency" over money. His red flag is "someone who isn't careful with money", reflecting his own "relatively prudent" nature. That prudence was shaped by his childhood: his parents divorced and his mother raised four children, meaning he grew up "constantly worrying about what we were spending money on".
He tries to pass on those lessons to his own children, though "they take no advice from me because I'm their dad". They receive pocket money to help them budget, and he notes that two are natural spenders while others are savers – a split he says mirrors the bank's customer base. Nunn does not think younger people are generally financially irresponsible, but is concerned about the bigger challenges they face – the article cuts off as he elaborates.