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Monday 10th March 2008
Home is where the heart is – What people are spending their equity release cash on
Probably not surprisingly to many, the equity release market report for 2007* revealed that home improvements is the most popular item that equity release customers spend their tax-free cash on, with 58% of people saying that they released money for this purpose. Next in line are debts – 40% have used the money released to pay their debts off.
A high percentage of equity release customers also concentrated on securing a more enjoyable retirement, with 34% spending on holidays and 6% on special celebrations. Due to the constantly changing social and economic environment many people find that staying close to their family ever more important. There are for instance over 13 million grandparents with more than one grandchild in the UK, according to Grandparentsplus. It seems that today’s grandparents see engaging with one’s children and grandchildren as an important way of making the best of the retirement years. This is also mirrored in the way money is spent: 22% treated family and friends with some of the cash released and 12% used equity release to potentially reduce the inheritance tax liability on their estate.
*published by Key Retirement Solutions