Sunday 13 September 2009

Kippers


No - not for breakfast! Just the latest mnemonic now being applied to certain members of our age group - Kids In Parents' Pockets Eroding Retirement Savings. The latest research reported in the Observer shows that one in four of people of retirement age cannot afford to leave their jobs and will have to continue working indefinitely.

"Falling house prices, shrinking pension pots and the need to support financially dependent children have created a perfect storm for retirement plans," said Simon Lough, chief executive of Heartwood Wealth Management, which commissioned the independent research of almost 2,000 people aged 55 and over.

The Office of National Statistics, found that most "kippers" are young men. Almost a third of men aged between 20 and 34 live with their parents, compared with less than a fifth of women.

The trend for young people returning home has emerged over the past eight years and in that period the number has risen by 300,000 to include two million young men.

The survey shows that for semi-retired people over 65, the situation is no better than for those approaching retirement: 49% said financial pressures were forcing them to delay full retirement. More than a third of those said they wanted to achieve their pension plan target before retiring fully and almost two-thirds said they would have to continue working until they were made to stop. Just over 6% anticipated having to work for another 10 years.

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