Mortgage burden for 1.4m pensioners
MORE than a million Britons face paying their mortgages well into retirement.
As many as 1.4 million baby-boomer home owners now in their late 50s still have 10 years or more to run on their mortgages.
The average owed is £55,046 and they could be spending more than £725 a month repaying their loans, according to research by financial advice website Impartial.co.uk
Latest official figures show men pensioners have a total income from all sources of an average £257 a week, while pensioner women receive £229.
The report found that only 44 per cent of mortgage holders sought independent advice when arranging home loans.
The website’s Karen Barrett said: “This study suggests that many baby-boomers are facing up to the reality of still having a mortgage debt close to, or even beyond, their retirement age.”
She added: “It is crucial that the next generation of home owners do all that they can to be debt-free earlier.”
Those aged 35 to 55 typically owe £92,153 in mortgage, repayable over 13.4 years. Other research shows that growing numbers of baby-boomers could be forced to delay their retirement after racking up crippling levels of unsecured debt.
The average person aged between 50 and 60 who has taken out a debt management plan owes £41,400 through credit cards, loans and other unsecured borrowing, according to debt solutions group Payplan.
The figure is around a quarter higher than the amount of debt accumulated by other age groups, which averages £32,700.