There are two schools of thought about the outlook of people as we get older – one is that we mellow as the years pass and the other is that we become increasingly grumpy.

Interim findings from a new UK study of nearly 10,000 individuals has found that when it comes to being old, strangely, the more years you have against you the more satisfied you are likely to be with financial services firms.

In particular those British who are 60+ are more likely to demonstrate higher levels of trust in the financial businesses they deal with, are more likely to be satisfied and are also more likely to recommend a bank or financial provider to a friend or family member – perhaps while they’re getting a blue rinse, down at the bingo, or having a pint at the pub.

A first glance assessment of these findings may be explained by the fact that people in their younger (and working) years are more likely to have higher levels of debt to assets ratios, as most 20-somethings to 50-somethings are more likely to have mortgage debt and possibly other forms of debt.

This in turn could make individuals more inclined to see banks and financial institutions in a negative light as they toil to reduce these debts, whereas for the grey tops out there it is much more likely that many of this collective are enjoying the fruits of their working years now, having paid off many of their large financial debts.

This is somewhat supported by the fact that there are no distinctive differences in terms of levels of trust, satisfaction or intention to recommend or even how long someone has been with a certain group.

So much for the notion of grumpy old men.

Meanwhile the younger generations, perhaps more cynical of big business, tended to demonstrate lower levels of trust.

The findings could also be systematic of the way younger people have a different relationship with information, news and the world in general than their older counterparts.

Some may argue that the younger generations are more inclined to question anything that is put to them than their parents and grandparents.

This culture of questioning everything they read, see and hear has the potential to make people not believe anything they are told as there is a thin line between distrust and questioning everything.

Overall though while the above outlines some of the basic differences from a very general demographic perspective, the general output from the research was reasonably positive.

So while the British media continues to lambast the banking sector, it seems, for the majority, the levels of engagement with the financial groups they use are not too bad.

Further analysis will be required once the study closes off in the field, as the seemingly positive sentiment could also be a reflection of an old British tendency to accept second-best.