10 Of Male Pensioners Retire With Debts Of Over £50000

By Author: Katie Simpson
Total Articles: 11
Comment this article

According to new research, one in ten men who plan to retire this year will do so with personal debts of over £50,000.

Overall, 1 in 5 retired homeowners are still paying off a mortgage. Research conducted by Scottish Widows UK found that on average, they each owed £38,000.

This further shows that the recession and the current poor economic climate has affected everybody and continues to prove detrimental to people's ability to pay off their debts, let alone save any money toward their retirement.

Pensioners have seen the biggest increase out of any age group in bankruptcy cases over the last 10 years. Figures released from the Insolvency Service showed that in 2000, just 309 men over the age of 65 were declared bankrupt. In 2009, there were 1,756, which was a six-fold increase.

Insurance company Prudential gathered data from 10,000 clients which found that 20% of people who plan to retire in 2011 will do so with a degree of personal debts, including mortgage debts, credit card balances and also money outstanding on personal loans and store cards.

The shocking revelation that one in ...
... 10 men who plan to retire this year will have debts of more than £50,000 shows how much interest rates can financially cripple people for years, well into their 60s and 70s. The survey found that there is a difference between the level of personal debt of men and women. Only 2% of women hold debts of the same magnitude at retirement age, proving that men borrow more money in their lifetime than women do and have poorer money management skills than their female counterparts.

Prudential also asked pensioners who had debts how they would cope with the repayments into their later years. The most popular response was that they would seek employment past retirement age if the repayments became too much of a strain. They also found more extreme responses such as selling the family home in favour of cheaper accommodation, releasing equity in their homes, selling assets and even relying on family and friends for financial support.

This is especially worrying as older people tend to have more difficulty in finding suitable employment, and also jobs are scarce in the wake of the recession, which has seen many businesses forced to cut employees' working hours and make job cuts in order to stay afloat.

If you or someone you know is struggling with any form of debt, help is at hand in the form of a debt management plan, tax payment plan or remortgage.