One in four people are approaching state retirement age with outstanding consumer credit commitments, owing four times as much as their counterparts did ten years ago, according to a study by Bristol University Personal Finance department, issued 26 March 2008
Credit users in their late 50s and early 60s owe on average at least four times as much in unsecured credit as their counterparts did a decade ago;
It was also recently announced that almost 600,000 people over the age of 65 were still paying off their mortgages with an average of over £30,000 per person still owed.
As well as increasingly having a mortgage into retirement, a lot of pensioners also owe money on store cards as well as overdrafts and loans Indeed the report by Bristol University found a quarter of all people now approaching state pension age have outstanding consumer credit commitments.
Whilst paying for such credit may not pose a problem whilst you are working and possibly having a spouse to share the costs with, but when you retire or worse loose a lifelong partner along with their income people can soon find them experiencing problems keeping up with such commitments as well as paying for everyday expenses.
Debt Solutions
If you are now finding retirement more of a struggle we can help by;-
- Making sure you are getting the best income form your investments.
- Checking whether you are claiming all State Benefits you may be entitled to
- Checking to see if you could save money by re-mortgaging.
- Discussing ways of releasing equity from your home including downsizing or specialist equity release schemes which allow you to remain living in your home but releasing money to pay off your mortgage or personal debts to cut costs. To find out more about how equity release could work for you click here or to check to see just how much you could raise click here.
A Lifetime Mortgage involves borrowing against your home. It may affect your eligibility for state benefits, your ability to move and the amount of any inheritance you may leave.
For information on how we charge for our advice please click here.
