Retirement
Smokers and the overweight benefit from special pensions
Filed under: Retirement
If you smoke or are overweight, it's worth knowing that your unhealthy habits could help you net a much bigger retirement income. Smokers and people with weight problems - shocked into action by plummeting pension annuity rates - are rushing to buy into specialist pension schemes designed for their requirements because they offer much better payouts. And you need to do the same to avoid missing out.
Avoid the pension pitfalls: Retirement experts' top 10 tips
Filed under: Saving, Investing, Retirement
The halcyon days of golden-plated final salary pension schemes for all are long gone, and with annuity rates at record lows and life expectancy increasing every year, planning for retirement has never been more important. Perhaps we are getting wiser as well as older, though. More than a third of all searches for an independent financial adviser on unbiased.co.uk relate to personal retirement planning. Here, we air the views of some of its most sought-after pensions boffins.
Elderly targeted by rogue traders selling mobility aids
Filed under: Retirement, House and Home
Rogue traders are increasingly bullying elderly people into buying overpriced mobility aids and orthopaedic furniture such as scooters, stair lifts and walk-in baths. Sometimes posing as social care workers, they use hard sell tactics to flog their pricey equipment.In one case, a Hampshire man in his 80s was duped into buying a £5,000 motor scooter, even though he already had one. And a cold caller tried to sell an adjustable bed to a 75-year-old couple in Leicestershire for £3,500.
One in ten will work till they die
Filed under: Retirement
When do you plan to retire? 65? 70? Never?A new survey has revealed that one in ten people think they'll have to work until they die, up from one in 100 two years ago. So what can we do about this desperate outlook?
1 in 3 over 40 don't know partner's finances
Filed under: Saving, Retirement
Many couples risk spending their 'golden years' in poverty because they never discuss their financial planning for retirement.A study from Prudential found that nearly a third of couples aged 40 and above but not yet retired say they don't know or understand the details of their partner's retirement savings, with more than a fifth saying they have never talked to their spouse about their retirement planning.
Bank of mum and dad opens in retirement
Filed under: Retirement, Families
You'd be forgiven for thinking that after a lifetime of looking after everyone else - and opening your wallet at the first signs of distress - you could retire for a bit of a break from it all.You've done enough. Now is the time to put your feet up and look after yourself. Except there is a worrying new trend, for adult kids to tap their parents for cash even after they have retired.
Winter fuel allowance cuts - what can you do?
Filed under: Retirement, House and Home
The recession and the new government certainly haven't spelt happiness for pensioners, and now there's another thing to add to their list of worries: rumours that the government plans to cut the winter fuel allowance by as much as £100. At the moment it is all just speculation, but if it does come to fruition it will leave a lot of vulnerable pensioners even more at risk.
95% of over 55s not prepared for retirement
Filed under: Retirement
Are you looking forward to retirement? Is this a vague notion of waiting for the day when you can stop doing all those things in life you only do because you absolutely have to? Or have you genuinely considered what you life is going to be like when you stop work?If you have made some sensible plans then you're definitely in the minority, because 95% of people are set for something of a shock.
Charges eroding thousands from pensions
Filed under: Retirement, Budgeting & Planning
People could increase the value of their pension at retirement by tens of thousands of pounds simply by reviewing the charges levied by their pension.You would get a larger cash lump sum as well as a higher income in retirement so your pension pot could be over £30,000 bigger when you stop working.
The not-so golden years
Filed under: Retirement, Budgeting & Planning
Most of us spend half our lives looking forward to the day when we can leave work and concentrate properly on having fun.But retiring isn't always everything we expect, new research has found. For millions of Britain's retirees the 'golden years' bring unexpected life change and financial strain and their health can suddenly go downhill.
