Equity Release offers hope as saving for the future remains a pipedream

Published: 12/08/2011

In the current climate, people are forgetting to save for that rainy day and instead are having to use those funds to help fend off the tornado of debt that now encompasses the UK and beyond.

According to Credit Action, The National Education Money Charity, “the average household debt now owed stands at £55,803.”¹ While this figure is in itself high, more worryingly is the “£177 million being paid in personal interest every day in the UK.”¹

Rising food bills and fuel costs are definite factors to the current state of debt. But this, experts fear, is only the tip of the iceberg for “when the full brunt of the tax increases and spending cuts take hold, the situation could worsen.”¹

Research from the price comparison website, moneysupermarket.com, has demonstrated the sorry state of affairs our current saving habits are in; “a quarter of Brits do not believe they will ever start saving again”².

According to the study, 40 per cent of the UK are not currently saving. While this may not be surprising to many, what is perturbing is of those current non-savers, two fifths had managed to put money away in the past.

Kevin Mountford, Head of Banking at moneysupermarket.com, said:

“The perceived wisdom is that we should all have been three and six months worth of salary as savings, but clearly in the current climate many will feel that this is out of reach.”²

With depleting savings and controversial proposals regarding State pensions, more and more people are investigating additional financial avenues to help fund later life; Equity Release being a definite contender for retirement salvation.

If you would like to find out more about Equity Release, it is essential you seek both financial and legal advice.

The GWLifetime team at Goldsmith Williams are specialist Equity Release legal advisers. As a founding member of the Equity Release Solicitor’s Alliance (ERSA), we can explain the legal nature, effects and implications an Equity Release plan could have as well as referring you to a panel of qualified financial advisers.

Sources:
¹AG Financial Services (Aug 2011)
²AG Financial Services (Aug 2011)

Content correct at time of publication