Old, Wealthy and on Benefits?: Tonight
According to research, pensioners have never had it so good. They’re said to be better off than ever before with their average incomes forecast to race further ahead of working households’ in the coming years. And, it seems many are having a great time - retirees are spending around £37 billion a year on leisure, including meals out and holiday travel.
At the same time younger people are generally facing tough financial struggles with the prospect of a much poorer retirement when they hit pension age.
In a special report for the Tonight programme - on ITV at 7.30pm - pensioner Janet Street-Porter meets some of the old and wealthy but asks is this the end of the golden years for pensioners?
Janet meets some ‘golden oldies’ from Eastbourne. Most of this group were able to climb on to the housing ladder early, when prices were relatively low. And now, like nearly half of all pensioners, they’ve paid off their mortgages completely - which helps when you fancy a bit of the good life.
The baby boomer pensioners are enjoying their mortgage free retirement but the future's not looking so rosy for the younger generation who will have to work into their seventies.
The Financial Times added fuel to the fire when they tweeted that the average 25 year-old should be saving around £800 per month to achieve the same level of pension that today’s old folk are getting. Some of the responses were NOT printable - £800 didn’t go down too well.
The Tonight programme filmed with Bristol couple Sarah-Jane Freni and Erlwin De Gans who have two young children and earn about £50,000 a year between them, but can’t afford to buy the house they’re currently renting.
Things appear to have got quite critical now and back in January a Parliamentary Select Committee of MPs was set up to look into generational fairness.
The older generation have recognised the youngsters are struggling and are offering a helping hand. A growing trend of philanthropy is emerging among the old and wealthy. Janet Street-Porter spoke to multi-millionaire Marcelle Speller who has joined the ranks of Britain’s senior citizens willing to share their wealth.
From the 6th April, the new State Pension will come into force and all eyes are on next Wednesday’s budget to see how the Chancellor may change the rules around pension savings.
For more information:
National Pensioners Convention