Debt advice: Rising costs threaten older people

11/02/2010

Face-to-face debt advice may be needed to help older people prepare for retirement as mounting evidence suggests that life after work is becoming more costly.

Yesterday's report from Aviva showed that a worrying proportion of people aged 55 to 64 have very little savings and are still struggling to pay off their mortgage debt.

Today, the Pensions Policy Institute (PPI) has highlighted that relying on a pension alone will not allow people to maintain their desired standard of living.

Chris Curry, PPI research director said: "Many people will need to contribute more to their pension during working life, work longer, or run down savings, investments or housing wealth to achieve a standard of living in retirement they might consider acceptable."

With the Bank of England's Inflation Report suggesting that inflation is continuing to rise, it is likely that everyone, including pensioners, will need to adjust to higher costs of living.

It is likely that, with winter conditions continuing to affect the country, older people will be left even more vulnerable if they do not make sufficient financial arrangements.

As price comparison website Moneysupermarket reported that winter fuel bills rose by an average of 20 per cent last year, it is inevitable that older people will be the hardest hit.

Director of EuroDebt Kevin Still commented: "The major drop in income after retirement is a strong concern for many. We are also concerned at the number of people going into retirement with large levels of credit card debt and unsecured borrowing without the disposable income to service it.

"Debt advice and debt solutions are required for those facing loss of income either through retirement or other changes in circumstances."

Posted by Fiona Smith

Contact EuroDebt for debt advice.

Tags; Retirement Money Problems,

• Share
• 
• 
• Store
• 
• Follow
•