Equity Release Council: ILC-UK’s Financial Wellbeing Report shows ‘obvious and urgent need’ to raise financial awareness during ‘squeezed middle age’

Nigel Waterson, Chairman of the Equity Release Council, says:
“As the ILC-UK report makes clear, there is no denying that property wealth becomes increasingly significant as people get older. The fact that almost half of older households are characterised as ‘conservative consumers’ shows just how restricted their options become and how much pressure they come under to make their incomes stretch to cover living costs.

“What the report also shows is that the seeds of financial hardship in retirement are often sown long before people leave the workforce. Use of unsecured borrowing may decline with age, but there is a clear danger that high use of consumer credit by older people in ‘squeezed middle age’ becomes another major obstacle to saving for retirement when many are already playing catch-up.

“For those who own their homes, choosing an equity release plan allowing you to draw down regular instalments to boost your income can avoid this scenario entirely or help you cope better in later life by boosting your pension pot. With interest rates for equity release plans around three times lower than credit cards or overdrafts, it offers a chance to plan long-term rather than surviving from month to month, while also taking steps to plan to leave an inheritance¹.

“There is an obvious and urgent need for politicians, policymakers, businesses and industry to unite in raising financial awareness so that older people are fully informed of their options as they make the transition from work into retirement. Failing to give the right information at the right time will leave a generation of older people with ever-decreasing options to achieve financial comfort.”