Many retirees have a second home

Over recent years many non-homeowners have found it more and more difficult to get onto the property ladder, with lenders becoming more stringent about lending money to first time buyers and demanding higher deposits, which most first time buyers cannot afford. This has resulted in many non-homeowners giving up on their dreams of homeownership for now and having to settle for renting a home instead.

However, whilst the younger generation struggles to even get a big toe on the property ladder many people that are coming up to retirement are the proud owners of second homes. A recent survey revealed that one in seven couples in their fifties and early sixties own a second home, with an average £250,000 tied up in their second homes, not including any mortgage on the second home and not including the value of their main home.

At the same time their grandchildren and in some cases even their children are struggling to get the chance to own even one home. Many are unable to secure the deposit that they need to get onto the property ladder and many others cannot afford the repayments on their current income. This has left them facing the toughest challenge to buy a home out of any other generation. The figures were released recently by the Office for National Statistics. This is the first time that calculations have been carried out to see how many people within this age group own a second home.

Overall 13 percent of people in that age group were found to own a second property, which in some cases was abroad. Many will have purchased these properties before the boom, with the average price when they purchased the home being £30,000 but the value for the same property today being an average £163,000.

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Getting Married? Do You Have Wedding Insurance?

Having a wedding insurance policy in place can avoid huge financial losses if something goes wrong in your home one or before the big say or even shortly after. This is something that all engage couples should consider as they plan the events of their wedding day, but the fact is that not many people know that this insurance cover even exists. Read more

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Couples urged to ‘divide and conquer’ financial responsibilities

Couples who take a shared responsibility in their finances are more likely to find themselves in a better position when it comes to their retirement, one financial expert has said.

Mike Kalen, president and chief executive office with The Hartford Life Limited, said that couples can provide their retirement provision with a major boost if they work together.

“When couples ‘divide and conquer’ their responsibilities they are more likely to have at least £50,000 to fund their retirement,” he said.

He added that approaching post-work life with this attitude meant that couples would be “more likely to enjoy retirement once they were in it”.

The Hartford has defined the ‘divide and conquer’ financial personality as one which provides couples with distinct responsibilities.

Research from the firm shows that nearly three quarters of ‘divide and conquer’ couples are enjoying retirement as much, if not more than they thought they would.

This is compared with other couples who do everything together or those in a relationship when one partner is responsible for all of a household’s money matters.

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Divorcing couples need a ‘clean, simple solution’

Couples going through a divorce should list their combined assets and agree on how to split them to ease problems and conflict, say leading financial advisers.

Lowland Financial said couples should look for the most straightforward way of splitting assets in order to “find a clean, simple solution”.

Graeme Mitchell, managing director of Lowland Financial, said: “An awful lot depends on how they [people] react – often what you find is when people first part, they say: ‘We’re going to try to deal with this amicably’. Then as time goes on they get more and more bitter and twisted.”

He said that couples should start by listing all their assets which were already in place, then those which were accumulated while they were together.

According to the most recent government statistics, the UK’s divorce rate was 12.2 divorces per 1,000 marriages in 2006 following two consecutive years of falls.

The divorce rate is now at its lowest level since 1984.

Tags: couples, Social Issues, place, law, United Kingdom, Christian

Opening joint account requires ‘utmost trust’

Couples considering opening a joint bank account must be sure to have the “utmost trust” in one another, according to the British Bankers’ Association (BBA).

Brian Capon, head of media relations at the association, explained that, while joint accounts are still a popular choice for couples and can be useful for bill paying and saving money, those involved must be completely confident in the others’ integrity.

“Regardless of who pays the money in, if it is an account which allows either to sign, either of those people can draw money out and there is nothing to stop them drawing it all out or potentially running up an overdraft,” he said.

He added that consumers must do their research properly before going ahead with such an endeavour, to find out their rights and responsibilities.

Recent research by Abbey National found that 93 per cent of people with a joint bank account used it for paying household bills, while 83 per cent used it for shopping and 72 per cent to pay for holidays.

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Joint accounts driving wedge between couples

Almost a quarter of people who share a joint bank account with their partner suspect that their other half is using it to make selfish purchases.

Research by Abbey shows that 24 per cent of joint account holders are suspicious of their partner’s use of the account and they may have good reason to be.

The study also highlights that 20 per cent of joint account holders do use the money held in it to by things for themselves.

With all this suspicion and dishonesty, it is hardly surprising that 25 per cent of couples have argued over the use of their joint account and this may be down to an aversion to setting ground rules.

Abbey found that nine per cent of joint account holders have never set any ground rules for the use of the money, while ten per cent had only done so after having the account for between two to six months.

“Money has always been a common source of dispute between couples and joint accounts are proving to be no exception,” commented Steve Shore, head of banking at Abbey.

“It’s important that couples are open and honest with each other from the start and discuss exactly what the joint account rules are, to avoid arguments at a later date.”

The majority of couples (93 per cent) open a joint bank account to pay for household bills such as gas and mortgage payments, while 83 per cent use it for supermarket shopping.

Tags: couples, partner suspect, dishonesty, good reason, finance, steve shore, business, common source