Cooking, cleaning, doing the laundry, shopping, maintaining a garden and generally taking care of a home are all things that can eventually exceed capabilities.

There are various options to consider when this happens, such as moving in with younger family members or a more able friend; relocating to sheltered accommodation where help is on hand to assist with everyday living; or even moving into residential care.

However, as is often the case where someone has lived in their home for many years; the home where their children grew up and they shared many happy family memories, the thought of relocating is quite distressing, as is the thought of becoming a burden upon family or friends or losing independence.

In home care is therefore the option of choice for many and this could be anything from a visiting carer to a housekeeper. However, these services do not come cheaply, and for those just about covering their everyday outgoings with their state pension, the option is quite simply not viable.

If you or an older relative is in this situation, needing that bit of extra help around the home, imagine the difference it could make if it suddenly became affordable. Meals on wheels; a housekeeper; a gardener; someone to help with those odd jobs; a qualified carer: anyone who could help make things easier for you at home.

The good news is, if the home you are living in is yours, you could unlock some of the value built up in it, releasing cash to pay for ongoing support at home.

This is called Equity Release and providing the right type of plan is selected and independent specialist advice is taken, you will have the peace of mind of knowing you’ll be able to continue to stay in your home for life.

There are plans that allow you to draw regular amounts of money to pay for the care and assistance you need, in your own home: exactly where you want to stay.

For example, a flexible drawdown Lifetime Mortgage allows you to withdraw cash sums whenever you choose up to a specified number of years or until the reserve has been used up. They can keep you within the limits for means tested benefits and you only pay interest on the money taken, which is at a fixed rate.

Whether it’s a bit of extra help around the home, or fully fledged in home care that is needed, it is worth looking into Equity Release as a possible funding option.

Equity release may involve a lifetime mortgage or home reversion plan. To understand the features and risks, please ask for a personalised illustration.

Pensions linked to earnings: restored

For the first time since 1980 basic state pensions will be linked with earnings, meaning a more generous increase for those being paid a state pension: in the long run. In essence this means pensions will rise with earnings, inflation or 2.5%, whichever is higher. But in the short term pensioners are unlikely to see any substantial change and some pensioners’ groups see this rise as a smokescreen.

Dot Gibson of the National Pensioners’ Convention feels that there are no short term gains to be had here: “Restoring the link with earnings on its own, without also raising substantially the basic state pension, will take decades before it has any real impact on tackling pensioner poverty,” she said.

Rising Inflation

According to figures released in the budget, inflation will rise and will continue to do so in the foreseeable future. Naturally those on fixed incomes will suffer most and the fact that the retired population spends most of its income in areas where inflation is highest, such as travel for example, casts a worrying shadow.

Compulsory Retirement and Annuitisation Consultations

The Chancellor announced a consultation on ending compulsory retirement which is perhaps good news for those who wish to continue working, and indeed need to continue working. There will also be a consultation on abolishing the need to buy an annuity with a pension, which avoids being forced to make a purchase even if the product is clearly poor value.

Raising Retirement Age

Accelerating the policy of raising the retirement age to 66 will leave anyone expecting to claim their pension in the near future no doubt reeling.

VAT Rise

Day to day living is set to  become more expensive from January 2011 as all but the most basic items and food stuffs face VAT rises from 17.5% to 20%. Any major purchases, such as a new car for example, should therefore be made before the rise takes effect.

Alternatives?

Geoff Charles, Managing Director of Bower Retirement Services, has a suggestion on the back of the budget for those in retirement. “If compulsory retirement is abolished, this doesn’t necessarily mean you have to go on working if you don’t want to: for homeowners, there is a solution in many cases. And this same solution can be applied to those finding themselves waiting an unexpected extra year for their pension; that solution? Equity release; releasing value tied up in a property to boost income in retirement.”

Geoff Charles feels that people needn’t be forced to work if what they really want to do is stop, get off the treadmill and take a well earned, restful retirement. “Having spent your working life investing your earnings in your property, why not put that investment to good use by releasing some of the cash from your home via a lifetime mortgage or home reversion plan so that you can stop work and enjoy a well earned rest?” he says.

Equity release may involve a lifetime mortgage or home reversion plan. To understand the features and risks, please ask for a personalised illustration.

Bower Retirement Services is an FSA regulated independent financial advice company that offers specialist advice on equity release throughout the UK. For more information email info@brsequity.co.uk or call 0800 4118668. Bower Retirement Services offers a no obligation initial consultation to homeowners considering equity release.

Equity release is used in many different ways to bring a range of enjoyable benefits to life in retirement: dream purchases, home improvements, helping family or friends are just a few examples. But another, exceptionally popular way in which equity release is being used is to pay off a mortgage or consolidate existing debts. By doing this, homeowners are left with more disposable income, which brings many benefits. So what are those benefits? Here are just a few examples:

Lifting the Pressure

Freeing yourself from financial burden; the feeling of knowing you have enough money to pay your way through a rainy day. What better than financial peace of mind in retirement?

Spoiling the family

There is nothing better than the feeling of being able to spoil the children or grandchildren. With increased disposable income gifts, day trips, holidays and even regular pocket money all become possible.

Getting Away from it all

What better way to use your extra disposable income than take regular holidays? Enjoy warm winters, relaxation and pampering or an activity packed trip depending on your personal taste. Now you no longer have the worry of paying a mortgage, that extra cash could be put to good use to seriously improve the quality of your life in retirement.

Living a Leisurely Retirement

With the need to watch the pennies eliminated, you could be out and about making new friends at local clubs, pursuing your leisure interests and taking part in your favourite sports. Properly enjoying your retirement as you should be!

Whilst equity release is often used as a way of freeing cash for larger purchases or projects such as new windows or a kitchen refurbishment, it’s good to remember that the smaller things in life can often make the biggest difference. Freeing cash from your home to pay off a mortgage or consolidate debts could be the answer to a comfortable, fun and happy retirement!

Equity release may involve a lifetime mortgage or home reversion plan. To understand the features and risks, please ask for a personalised illustration. By consolidating existing unsecured debts, the term and overall costs of these debts may be extended.

Bower Retirement Services is an FSA regulated independent financial advice company that offers specialist advice on equity release throughout the UK. For more information email info@brsequity.co.uk or call 0800 4118668. Bower Retirement Services offers a no obligation initial consultation to homeowners considering equity release.

For some, this improvement means having extra cash available to spend on regular holidays; for others it’s a way of funding a dream purchase such as a new car or motor home or even a trip of a lifetime. However, these are not the most popular reasons for releasing equity, according to new research. So, what are they?

Repaying a Mortgage & Consolidating Debt

Paying off a mortgage in retirement eases the burden of monthly repayments and increases disposable income. Currently one of the most popular uses of equity release, repaying a mortgage helps to free up cash to spend on enjoyable pastimes or quite simply, to make it easier to meet day to day living expenses. Consolidating debts is almost as popular, with many equity release plans being used to reduce monthly outgoings.

Helping Family and Friends

A large number of homeowners release equity from their homes so that they can provide financial assistance to family and friends. Helping children or grandchildren onto the property ladder by funding what is now an almost impossible to achieve deposit is one of the most popular gestures, although many are using the money to generally help their loved ones through the current tough economic times.

Home Improvements

The long dreamed-of new kitchen; a refurbished bathroom; a light and airy conservatory to enjoy with friends and family: thousands of homeowners are realising the benefits of releasing the value they’ve built up in their property to allow them to make improvements to the home. And these benefits are not just lifestyle related as in many instances, home improvements can increase the value of a property.

Geoff Charles, Managing Director of Equity Release Specialists Bower Retirement Services, has this to say in summary: “Having invested hard earned money into a property over the years, homeowners deserve to use some of that money to live an enjoyable life in retirement. Whatever it is that provides that enjoyment; whether it’s improving the home, increasing disposable income so as to feel more comfortable financially, or making a helpful gesture to loved ones, anything is possible with equity release.”

Equity release may involve a lifetime mortgage or home reversion plan. To understand the features and risks, please ask for a personalised illustration.

Bower Retirement Services is an FSA regulated independent financial advice company that offers specialist advice on equity release throughout the UK. For more information email info@brsequity.co.uk or call 0800 4118668. Bower Retirement Services offers a no obligation initial consultation to homeowners considering equity release.

The Alliance Trust Research Centre conducted the research and came up with the 5% figure based on the premise that 50-65 year olds spend relatively more of their disposable income on transport, and it is in this sector that prices are increasing rapidly at a rate of 11% per year. Petrol alone has risen by 25% in just the past year.

Combine this with the fact that increasing numbers are entering retirement with a mortgage but without sufficient savings or pension income, and the outcome equals a rising expectation of continuing to work up to and beyond the age of 70 in order to maintain a sufficient level of disposable income. 

What about the Retirement Dream?

So what of the retirement dream? Holidays; spending quality time with grandchildren; improving the home; making the most of leisure time? Geoff Charles of Equity Release specialists Bower Retirement Services feels strongly that this dream should not be dismissed wherever possible.

He says, “If a property is owned, why not put the value locked into it to good use? Older homeowners could be sitting on enough equity to be able to release some of it to spend on whatever it is they dreamed of doing in retirement. Equity release can be used to pay off a mortgage and increase disposable income, or utilised as a funding option for home improvements, holidays or basically anything that is desired.”

Equity release may involve a lifetime mortgage or home reversion plan. To understand the features and risks, please ask for a personalised illustration. 

Bower Retirement Services is an FSA regulated independent financial advice company that offers specialist advice on equity release throughout the UK. For more information email info@brsequity.co.uk or call 0800 4118668. Bower Retirement Services offers a no obligation initial consultation to homeowners considering equity release.

The report, by Nationwide, also showed a 1% increase in house prices during April putting the average at £167,802.

Good news for those considering releasing equity from their properties to help boost their retirement income, pay off debts or fund home improvements, says Geoff Charles, Managing Director of Bower Retirement Services.

“The Higher the Value of the Home: the more Equity can be Released”

“The higher the value of the home, the more equity can be released and used to improve the standard of life in retirement,” says Geoff, whose specialist equity release company won Best Financial Adviser at the 2009 Equity Release Awards.

“With the increase in house prices, this could be the ideal time for homeowners to release cash. With equity increasing in the property at this time, those who have been considering a lifetime mortgage or home reversion plan could do well to seek independent advice sooner rather than later and perhaps think about getting their application moving whilst property prices are higher.”

Equity release may involve a lifetime mortgage or home reversion plan. To understand the features and risks, please ask for a personalised illustration.

Bower Retirement Services is an FSA regulated independent financial advice company that offers specialist advice on equity release throughout the UK. For more information email info@brsequity.co.uk or call 0800 4118668. Bower Retirement Services offers a no obligation initial consultation to homeowners considering equity release.

Bower Retirement Services, specialist independent equity release advisers offering face to face advice throughout the UK, have responded to the findings by publishing their own set of ‘reasons why’ the tax free cash is benefiting their clients, and the list makes interesting reading.

Managing Director Geoff Charles agrees that there has been an increase of late in enquiries from homeowners wishing to release equity in order to repay their mortgage which is in line with the recent Daily Mail report that stated one in four pensioners has a mortgage in retirement.

But addressing a more diverse range of statistics, he says, “We have helped our clients fund a varied range of retirement dreams courtesy of a lifetime mortgage or home reversion plan. These include buying a canal barge; maintaining a Grade II listed farmhouse; funding private education for grandchildren; purchasing a holiday villa abroad, a trip on the Queen Mary and visiting relatives in Australia.”

Any number of retirement aspirations can be realised by releasing some of the value locked into a home, not least repaying a mortgage, making improvements to a home or repaying debt.

Equity release may involve a lifetime mortgage or home reversion plan. To understand the features and risks, please ask for a personalised illustration.

Bower Retirement Services is an FSA regulated independent financial advice company that offers specialist advice on equity release throughout the UK. For more information e-mail info@brsequity.co.uk or call 0800 4118668. Bower Retirement Services offers a no obligation initial consultation to homeowners considering Equity Release.

In spite of the media emphasis on the benefits of comparison websites, it seems that many people are failing to shop around for better deals on things like insurance, telephone tariffs and energy, preferring to stick with their existing provider. But is better the devil you know really the right course of action? If there is money to be saved then surely it is worth spending some time seeking better deals?

Perhaps the issue is that there is too much information available and that trying to obtain quotes can become overwhelming suggests Gordon Cunningham, specialist equity release adviser at Bower Retirement Services. He says:

“Part of our equity release advice service includes investigating whether savings can be made that could reduce outgoings and in many cases we do find that simple changes can make quite a difference. Combining this with equity release could make a difference to the quality of life in retirement, allowing older homeowners to do many of the things they dreamt of, like taking regular holidays and treating their families.”

The two ways to boost retirement income then: release tax free cash from a property, and review outgoings. Managing Director of Bower Retirement Services, Geoff Charles, says: “Choose a specialist equity release adviser that offers truly independent, in depth advice, preferably one that has won an award for that advice, and you can be sure your entire financial situation will be reviewed.”

Equity release may involve a lifetime mortgage or home reversion plan. To understand the features and risks, please ask for a personalised illustration.

Bower Retirement Services is an FSA regulated independent financial advice company that offers specialist advice on equity release throughout the UK. For more information e-mail info@brsequity.co.uk or call 0800 4118668. Bower Retirement Services offers a no obligation initial consultation to homeowners considering Equity Release.

A survey of 3,500 people aged 65+ reported that 27% had a mortgage and even more worryingly, the average size of that mortgage was higher amongst those over the age of 70.

Those in the 65+ age range were facing an average mortgage of £35,441 and this increased to £52,576 for those aged 70+. This constitutes an average monthly repayment of £389 on a 15 year mortgage: pretty much wiping out the earnings from a state pension.

Geoff Charles, Managing Director of Bower Retirement Services, says this research further highlights the financial issues faced by those in retirement; issues that could put a halt to the aspirations that form part of the retirement dream.

“Living through retirement just about being able to pay the mortgage really isn’t what most people had in mind during their working years. What about the holidays? The new car? The kitchen refurbishment? The conservatory? Helping the children out? All the things you ever dreamt of?” he says.

According to this same research, 12 million British pensioners are also faced with average credit card debts of £8,881 at 65+ rising to £9,084 at 70+.

Geoff Charles summarises by saying, “Paying off a mortgage in retirement could make a considerable difference to the standard of living, freeing up cash and opening up a whole scope of possibilities. Equity release: taking some of the value out of a home, could be the answer for many homeowners and according to one equity release provider, repaying a mortgage and repaying debt are two of the major uses of this retirement finance solution.”

Equity release may involve a lifetime mortgage or home reversion plan. To understand the features and risks, please ask for a personalised illustration. 

Bower Retirement Services is an FSA regulated independent financial advice company that offers specialist advice on equity release throughout the UK. For more information e-mail info@brsequity.co.uk or call 0800 4118668. Bower Retirement Services offers a no obligation initial consultation to homeowners considering Equity Release.

However, depending on the amount released, state benefits could be affected and confusion regarding the issue is rife.

Equity release trade body Safe Home Income Plans (SHIP), the organisation that offers a set of guarantees to homeowners who take out plans under their endorsement, has called for more clarity about how equity release can affect state benefits by asking financial advisers to relay their opinions, and those of their clients. The body is concerned that those seeking advice via the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) will find it ‘inconsistent and confusing’.

Hopefully, clearer guidelines will be made available courtesy of the study says SHIP.

Geoff Charles, Managing Director of Equity Release Specialists Bower Retirement Services, says: “Homeowners taking out an equity release scheme need to be fully informed as to where they stand on the issue of benefits and how those benefits might be affected when they release their cash.”

Bower, winners of Best Financial Adviser at the 2009 Equity Release Awards, believes it is vital that clear information is made available to clients. Geoff says, “Part of our advice process includes a full benefits analysis of pension credits, savings credits and council tax benefits and we always strive to keep benefits intact where this is in the client’s best interests. I believe every Equity Release adviser throughout the country should include this service within their advice process.”

Equity release may involve a lifetime mortgage or home reversion plan. To understand the features and risks, please ask for a personalised illustration. 

Bower Retirement Services is an FSA regulated independent financial advice company that offers specialist advice on equity release throughout the UK. For more information e-mail info@brsequity.co.uk or call 0800 4118668. Bower Retirement Services offers a no obligation initial consultation to homeowners considering Equity Release. Visit http://www.brsequity.co.uk for further information.

2010 retirees are anticipating an average income of £16,509 per year. In 2009, this average was £17,759 and in 2008 it was £18,663 showing decreases of 7% and 11.5% respectively.

Andy Brown, director of investment funds at Prudential said: “The recession has clearly had a major impact on peoples’ expectations of their pensions.”

61% doubt retirement income will be sufficient

Also shown by the figures is scepticism that pensions and savings will provide sufficient income to enjoy a retirement that could be constituted as comfortable. 61% doubted they would have enough money when they left work and 18% anticipated an annual income of under £10,000 a year.

Losing out on Luxuries

Geoff Charles of independent equity release specialists Bower Retirement Services says: “A £1,270 reduction in the annual income in retirement constitutes a fair amount each month; an amount that could mean the difference between, say, taking a holiday, pursuing leisure interests or treating the grandchildren. If this income is set to continue falling, as it has done for the past two years, clearly it’s time to start looking at alternative ways of raising money to live on in retirement.”

£22.3billion Increase in Equity

Geoff Charles suggests one of these ways could be equity release and says, “According to the Bank of England, homeowners have increased the equity in their homes by £22.3billion in the past year which means lots more of them could be reaping the rewards of releasing some of that equity to help boost their retirement income.”

Equity release may involve a lifetime mortgage or home reversion plan. To understand the features and risks, please ask for a personalised illustration.

Bower Retirement Services is an FSA regulated independent financial advice company that offers specialist advice on equity release throughout the south of England. For more information e-mail info@brsequity.co.uk or call 0800 4118668. Bower Retirement Services offers a no obligation initial consultation to homeowners considering Equity Release.

Alliance Trust’s monthly study of differing inflation rates amongst varying age groups uncovers stark differences in the rates being faced by different age groups and also shows that the gap is growing.

Inflation for 50-64 year olds 50% Higher than Official Rate

50-64s are facing a rate of inflation some 50% higher than the official rate. This is mainly because this age group spends more in those areas where inflation is highest, such as transport which is running at 11% inflation and fuel at 22%. Older people spend almost 8% of their budget on electricity and gas bills; whereas in comparison, the under 30s olds spend just below 4% in this area.

Price Increases Reflect VAT Increase and High Fuel Costs

Head of the Alliance Trust Research Centre Shona Dobbie said, “Price increases over the last year have still been relatively high in the case of many goods and services, reflecting the increase in VAT, high fuel costs and the fact that the recent depreciation of sterling has pushed up the cost of imported goods.”

“These price moves continue to have the greatest impact on the two working age groups who spend a larger proportion of their budgets on the goods and services which are currently seeing the highest price increases. Both working age groups still face an inflation rate in excess of 4.0%, while average earnings have only grown by 1.5% over the last year, highlighting the sharp erosion of purchasing power. This situation has been of great concern for several months now.”

Geoff Charles of Independent Equity Release Specialists Bower Retirement Services says: “Enjoying a retirement free from financial worry, despite the hike in inflation, could be possible for those aged 55 or over who own a property. A lifetime mortgage or home reversion plan could allow homeowners suffering from inflation related financial concerns to unlock cash from the value of their properties to supplement their income and enhance their quality of life in retirement.”

Equity release may involve a lifetime mortgage or home reversion plan. To understand the features and risks, please ask for a personalised illustration.

Bower Retirement Services is an FSA regulated independent financial advice company that offers specialist advice on equity release throughout the south of England. For more information e-mail info@brsequity.co.uk or call 0800 4118668. Bower Retirement Services offers a no obligation initial consultation to homeowners considering Equity Release.