Working hard for most of your life can leave you feeling eager for some freedom and excitement in your retirement, but reliance on a pension that’s a major drop from your working salary can be a sudden shock.
All those things you planned to do as soon as you retired can look out of reach, so much so that gardening or sitting around watching TV threaten to be the only viable options. Where did all the money go that you worked so hard to make? Ah yes – you’re living in it.
Untying your money from your house
Twenty-five years or so of paying your mortgage means you have a lovely home that has kept your family safe while they grew, but they’re all flown with families of their own and you’re left with this huge investment filled with memories and love, but no cash!
One way to turn it back into useful readies is to downsize. Sell your lovely family home and settle for a small two-bed flat somewhere close to the shops or within walking distance of a beach somewhere, but should you have to do that just to get the money that is yours anyway?
Should you have to leave your familiar surroundings and that warm glow of nostalgia? What about the lovely feeling you get when your grandchildren sleep in the rooms that used to be their parents? Selling your house will get you money but losing your home won’t necessarily get you any joy.
Thankfully, equity release lifetime mortgages exist to turn that solid investment back into a fluid bank account. You can go on those spectacular holidays you always dreamed of, or simply enjoy the rest of your days without worrying that the meagre weekly stipend of your pension is going to run short of covering the heating bill.
Equity release – a happy alternative to downsizing
With a lifetime mortgage or home reversion plan you effectively sell part of your house with the agreement that it’s only claimed for once you die. It’s like a loan you are never going to have to worry about paying back! And because everyone still wants to leave something for your family, you can even protect a percentage of the house from being touched, ‘ring fencing’ some of the value to be put aside for your loved ones.
But why wait for your death before those funds can be enjoyed? Take the grandchildren to see polar bears in Alaska, help your youngest with that car she’s so desperate for, give your niece the few thousand pounds she really needs to kickstart her enterprise, or just make sure you’ve got enough in the bank for delicious cake and a little pampering every time you pop into town. It’s your money – you can spend it any way you want.
Do it all while keeping your home intact. No one is going to try to push you out early or insist that you use some of the money to pay them back after a few years. It’s a watertight agreement backed by the standards of the Equity Release Council. Government approved and properly regulated.
