A new index examining how consumers view the savings and investments environments is to be launched by Bank of Ireland and the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI).

The Bank of Ireland Savings and Investment Index will be published for the first time in the coming weeks and thereafter on a monthly basis.

On the investments front, the index will seek to uncover where people are investing their money, how they feel about the amount they invest and whether they think it’s a good or bad time to invest.

A previous guide, called the Nationwide UK (Ireland) Savings Index, focused solely on consumer sentiment towards saving.

The new index adds insights into consumer attitudes towards longer-term investment intentions and will also look at how difficult or easy it will be for consumers to live comfortably during retirement and how financially prepared they are.