Nearly one in ten pensioners still have a mortgage

Some owe hundreds of thousands of pounds, and have no option but to remortgage.

Also instead of enjoying retirement, many pensioners are having to continue working in order to cover the cost of their mortgage

A survey of 6,000 Britons for Saga found that 8.6 per cent of over-65s have a mortgage.

A separate report, from the economic research group Policis, suggests the problem will get worse. It found that 53 per cent of over-50s with a mortgage have a loan which stretches past their 65th birthday.  Nearly two-thirds said they ‘intend to borrow into retirement to support their financial plans for later life’.

Does this suggest it is time to retire ........

Most people believe 'retirement as we know it is over'

This is the result of a survey of 1000 people carried out for the Newsnight programme on Sept 7th. There is an excellent review on the BBC website. I think they are right and not before time. It is even more bizarre when one reads of the French taking to the streets when it is suggested that their retirement age is increased from 60 to 62. And as for the Greeks! What world are these people living in. Clearly one in which the State somehow supports you to live for around a third of your life.

Retiring at 66

I have to say that my initial reaction to the increase in the state retirement age for men in 2016 was largely positive. TAEN have produced a very thoughtful report on the issue before coming out against it. If this is a topic of interest to you download their report and see what you think. In spite of their case I think overall I am still in favour although I certainly was unaware that our pensions are about the lowest in Europe. Those Greeks certainly had it made. No wonder they have taken to the streets.

Over 50's flocking to the south west

A very interesting article by Steve Doughty quotes official statistics to show the mass migration of largely middle class over 50's and retirees to the south west with implications for the health services in the region.Two out of every five people in the region are over 50 and more than one in five - 1.2million people - are over retirement age.

Their presence has made Taunton in Somerset and Christchurch in Dorset the only towns in England where more than a third of the residents are retired, while Dorset is the county with the oldest profile in the country, with 29 per cent of its people over pension age.

And as well as the existing pensioner population, the number of over-65s in the South-West is likely to double in the next 25 years, with places such as Exeter and Westonsuper-Mare particularly affected.

Few of the West Country retirees depend on the state for their living.

Taking the tired out of retirement

I just came across a blog that is worth checking out from time to time - Live  for the Moment. In the latest posting I came across this quote which I reproduce here.

"People want to take the ‘tired’ out of retired. Retirement is no longer a matter of ’stop work and start dying’. It’s now more like, as one client put it to me, “what’s for dessert? I’ve finished the main course and I’m still hungry!” Such people want to continue having an active involvement in society – preferably paid – but on their own terms rather than on an employer’s terms. Total health is a critical factor in this issue.

A growing health issue here is what’s called the Retired Husband Syndrome – the man (usually) who has left work and finds himself with no interests to pursue. He develops a “me too” attitude, seeking to become involved in the interests of his wife or partner. Sometimes he assumes the role of an efficiency expert, advising his partner how to better run the home. If unresolved quickly, strong emotional issues can arise, leading to possible divorce or even death.

The Retired Husband syndrome highlights the fact that preparations for a healthy retirement need to be in place long before the event". 

Do you recognise any of this?

Spain shows the way

Spain's government said Friday it had approved a plan to raise the official retirement age from 65 to 67 to help social security system to cope with a rapidly ageing population.

Deputy Prime Minister Maria Teresa Fernandez de la Vega said the plan, which would be debated in parliament, "would bring the new retirement age to 67."
The current legal retirement age is 65 for both men and women.
"Our (social security) system is good shape today," but reforms are necessary to maintain it in the future, said de la Vega.
Finance Minister Elena Salgado said the government would introduce the reform gradually from 2013.
"It's a proposal ... we have a lot of time to debate it," she said.
Two major unions, the CCOO and the UGT, have already condemned the plan but Spain's employers' association, the CEOE, has called for the retirement age to be brought up to 70.

Who  is going to have the courage to do this here? This G'ment says nothing and the Tories are talking about upping it to 66 in 2016. Really courageous.

50+'s retiring gradually

Some new research from Saga suggests that more and more over 50's have adopted a gradual approach to retirement.

Around 24% of people in the age group have rejected full retirement in favour of continuing with some paid work, as well as carrying out voluntary work and having more leisure time. This is up from 19.5% 10 years ago. The group predicts there will be a 50% increase in the number of people who take this approach to retirement during the next 10 years, with around three million over-50s combining work and volunteering by 2019.

The research found that people typically start scaling back their working hours when they are 57, with the average person carrying out 27 hours a week of paid work and eight hours of voluntary work.

Around 97% of people aged over 50 said they would not want to continue working full-time until they reached the state pension age, but 38% would like to work on after 65 if they were offered shorter, more flexible hours, while 69% would like to do some voluntary work.

A third of people who have already retired said they would prefer to still be doing some paid work, although the majority wanted to do 10 hours or less a week.

Among those aged over 50 who had continued in paid employment 70% said they loved working.

Older workers were most likely to enjoy their jobs if they felt connected to the community, with those working in retail, teaching and nursing having the highest levels of job satisfaction.

Older workers to delay retirement

A CIPD survey of 2000 older workers sheds light on people's thoughts about retirement. 71 per cent of those aged 55 and above now plan to work on past state pension age, compared with just 40 per cent in a similar survey conducted two years ago.

Although financial reasons were given as a driver for wanting or having to work on, there were plenty of other motivations cited in the survey.

Sixty-five per cent said they would like to continue using their skills and experience.

Fifty-eight per cent said they wanted the social interaction that work brings and 44 per cent said work was good for their self esteem.

The older people get, or the closer to state pension age, the more likely they are to be planning to work on, the survey shows, suggesting that “reality bites as they get close to drawing their pension”.

Nearly half of those aged 45 to 54 expect to work on past a state pension age that on current plans will rise to 66 in 2026 and 67 in 2036.

In recent years, the numbers working on past state pension age have been one of the fastest growing sections of the workforce.

The most recent figures from the Office of National Statistics show that more than 1.4m are currently working past state pension age – 450,000 men aged over 65 and 953,000 women aged over 60.

Over the past year, that section of the workforce has risen by 5.8 per cent when employment has fallen for almost all other age groups.

The baby boomers come of old age

Do look at an excellent summary article in the FT which highlights the significant historical fact that the baby boomers are now all hitting traditional retirement age and yet more and more of us are not behaving in traditional ways.

Boomers all over the world are redefining retirement

Boomers at every stage they have passed through have had a fundamental impact on our social institutions. It is not surprising therefore that they are redefining retirement. In the UK more people are delaying retirement because they have to but many more are doing so because they don't want to. 30 -40 years of doing very little that is meaningful is having a real impact on people's thinking. We all need work be that non-paid or paid. Meaning is the new money. And the boomers want lots of it! Look at a recent Canadian article : "When I visited an art festival this summer in Peterborough, Ont., I was struck by how many artists were Baby Boomers who had retired from 30-year-plus careers in business or government and finally took the plunge as creative artists. Tina DiVito, director of retirement strategies for BMO Financial Group, noticed the same trend during a trip to Quebec City in August. 'They're not trying to make millions but it's very rewarding to a lot of people."

Other Boomers will build home-based businesses, using the Internet. Anyone on Twitter is familiar with the hordes of Internet-based marketers, selling products or services through multi-level marketing schemes, affiliate programs and their variants."

Three years ago, a BMO study found most Canadian Boomers planned to work "in some capacity" after traditional retirement, with the top two reasons being "to stay mentally active" and "stay in touch with people." Money was third. In 2009, the three were reversed, with more than 80% citing the need to "earn money" in retirement or semi-retirement.

The growth in self employment in this age group, often because of difficulty in finding a job after 50 or not finding one that is flexible enough is testament again to this development.

The 20th century model of education, paid work and retirement is collapsing in front of our lives.

What older workers say they want

Ipsos-MORI questioned 1,196 people born between 1945 and 1960 between September 11 and October 1.

Only one in four older workers plans to retire early, with 43% intending to work on into their late 60s and 70s, research has shown.

Around 26% of people aged over 50 who have not yet retired hope to give up work before they reach the state pension age, according to the Department of Work and Pensions.

But 25% plan to work on for a few years after being able to claim their state pension, while 12% say they will work for a long time after this date, and 6% will leave their current job but look for other work that suits them better.

Only 31% of those questioned said they planned to retire when they were able to pick up their state pension.

Around 28% said they planned to work for longer due to financial considerations, with 26% saying the recession had changed their retirement plans.

But 22% said they did not feel old enough to retire completely, 21% said they loved their job and 20% said they thought working kept them younger and fitter.

Many people did not know the benefits of working on beyond the state pension age, with 44% not realising they would not have to pay National Insurance, while 38% did not know they could defer taking their state pension in exchange for getting a larger income later.

Minister for Pensions and Ageing Society Angela Eagle said: "The idea that you reach state pension age and suddenly stop work is being challenged by our generation of baby boomers, with many not feeling old enough to stop work completely.

"People want the choice to decide what's right for them but, worryingly, many make this decision based on little or no knowledge of the financial facts."

Why cliff edge retirement is not the healthy option

An important research study from the University of Maryland from over 12,000 retirees found that it is better for physical and mental health to partially retire rather than sudden full retirement. The US use the term "bridging occupations' to refer to a job specifically taken up to ease a person into full time retirement. People and organisations please make a note.

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.

Looking forward to retirement?

Probably not according to new research by retirement income specialists MGM Advantage. This highlights that UK workers are delaying retirement after seeing the value of their pension funds plummet.

A third of older workers in the UK have been forced to delay their retirement after seeing the value of pension funds and other investments dip in the recession. Apparently, around 35% of people aged over 55 who are still working said they had put off plans to retire while they waited for the value of their pension savings to recover. One in ten people said they were planning to boost their retirement pot by either releasing equity from their home or by moving to a smaller property. But the MGM survey found that many people are poorly prepared for retirement: one in five Britons who are within ten years of retiring have not started saving or making provision for their post-work years. Which doesn’t leave them with much time to build up that nest-egg… Not surprisingly, this is influencing how people feel about retirement. Whereas once workers might have been looking forward to retirement many are now expressing real concerns especially those in the 25-44 age group. And with good reason: some 44% of people who have now retired expressed regret about their financial decisions ahead of retirement, and 6% said that these regrets caused ‘real pain’. This pension panic isn’t just an issue affecting the UK’s senior citizens – it could have ramifications for the entire job market. Over a fifth of UK pensioners are now heading back to work – mainly due to financial problems, but also due to boredom. So young people, who are already being hit hardest by the rise in unemployment, are now facing extra competition for jobs from their grandparents. And even if they do get into work, they’re unlikely to have the benefit of final salary pension schemes (possibly any kind of pension scheme, in fact), or generous interest rates on their savings. So retirement is looking a lot less fun than it once did...

Retirement age up to 70!

This is one of options available to the G'ment - whatever its hue - according to the National Institute for Economic and Social Research. The influential think-tank reckons there are only three possible ways to plug the giant hole in the public finances: extend the retirement age to 70, hike the basic rate of income tax by about 15p , or slash public spending by about 10% . Either way, we'd all be feeling the pain for a long time to come...

Like most economists, NIESR reckons the Chancellor was wildly optimistic when he forecast a contraction of 3.5% this year (with a recovery in the later months). It is predicting a slide of 4.3%, which would be the economy's worst showing since 1931, during the Great Depression. It's also suggesting that unemployment won't peak until 2011, at about 3.1m (nearly 10% of the workforce); that wages will grow below the rate of inflation until 2012; and that consumer spending will keep declining until 2011. Oh, and it thinks quantitative easing is a waste of time.
As a result, it says, drastic action is required. Rather than extending the retirement age to 68 by 2046, as per the current plan, the NIESR thinks we need to extend it to 70 between 2013 (after the peak in unemployment) and 2023 - every extra year worked would reduce the deficit by 1% of GDP, it claims. However, even then we'd need to push up income tax by 8p in the pound - and without the extension, the hike would need to be more like 15p in the pound. The only other alternative is savage public spending cuts, which could mean less money for schools, hospitals and other vital services. This report by the way came out as the G'ment launched its £5 billion identity card scheme .....

Death of retirement

Baby boomers will abolish the current understanding of the concept of retirement. Those born between 1946 and 1964 are more ambitious for the future than any other generation before at this age.
This is taken from the latest report from the ongoing research from Standard Life into the over 50's. The most recent document is called “Age Old Stereotypes”. This report is the latest in the ‘Death of Retirement’ series. Certainly I meet more and more people who simply are not interested in the traditional concept of retirement. Many are of course, in particular those on final salary pension schemes. But even they, after a year or so, begin to yearn for something more meaningful in life than leisure or being a carer for their grandchildren.

Canada begins to think about upping retirement age to 70

An influential Canadian think tank, having examined all alternatives, is suggesting upping the state pension age to 70 asap. With Lord Turner suggesting that his earlier report on pensions in 2005 was far too optimistic a momentum is growing to tackle the issue that people cannot be expected to be supported by the State for 20 - 30 years at the end of their lives.

Retirement in rich countries is becoming unaffordable

Look at this excellent video from the Economist which graphically describes what lies ahead. I noted with interest that state pension age in the USA is already 66. When are some brave politicians going to start to tell people what the problems are? Given the dancing about and fabrications from this G'ment regarding the impact of the demographic time bomb - not in the immediate future.

Saving for Retirement?

A Guardian report by Philip Inman, reporting research by HSBC into retirement trends, says that 20% of the world's workers have raided their savings in the last year to reduce their debts and 13% have stopped saving altogether in the downturn . Almost 90% say they are unprepared for retirement and 75% say they don't know what income they can expect when they stop working. Reluctance to save in the downturn will add to the 'unpreparedness gap' evident in every major economy and the bank's chairman, Stephen Green, says 'A perfect storm is confronting pensions planning, created by an ageing population, falling pension fund values, a drop in state and employer contributions and an economic downturn which is forcing people to make financial choices.' He suggests governments support education schemes and financial advice centres to help people make informed choices about their retirement plans.