Retirees 'still face debt problems'
Published On 13 August 2007
Retired people in the UK are still struggling with debts on things like mortgages, credit cards and homeowner loans, new research suggests.Figures gathered by Scottish Widows show that 1.1 million retirees in the UK still have an outstanding mortgage on their home - typically £38,000.
Worryingly, one in eight retired homeowners owe more than £50,000 on their mortgage.
Similarly, retired people in the country are also struggling with short-term debt. Almost one in three retired people admit that they have carried credit card or personal loan debt for the last three months.
In total, this means that the debt retired people in the UK still owe has exceeded £57 billion.
"Our research shows that by the time they come to retire a significant number of pensioners still have a mortgage outstanding on their property, adding financial pressure to their hard-earned retirement fund," commented Ian Naismith, head of pensions market development at Scottish Widows.
"With more and more people taking out mortgages later, and paying them off later, we are seeing many people turning to the equity in their home as a method of providing income in retirement.
"The knock-on effect of getting on the housing ladder later is that money that could have been put into a pension is being used on monthly mortgage payments."
