UK 2009: Coming to terms with a life void of interest

While most of the not so long ago “upwardly mobile” families are clinging on to logs that seem to be floating rapidly towards a torrent, the baby boomer generation are finding themselves facing an even bleaker future. And one that they might justifiably feel that they don’t deserve.

With the thought of a pleasant retirement looming, bolstered by some money in the bank, a healthy pension and even the thought of “downsizing” their property, one step at a time, they have seen these options dissolve and fade away before their eyes, with an overwhelming feeling of powerless to do anything about it.

Many of the UK’s population in their late fifties and early sixties have been looking forward to their golden years in the knowledge that they had prepared themselves with a “nest egg” that should have been valued at at least

£250,000 , with experts saying that the sum of one million pounds, in a savings, pension and property package not an unreasonable sum to expect after a life time of hard work and relative frugality.

What those approaching retirement age feel that they were entitled to expect was that the UK business and banking communities would provide them was a reasonable framework where their assets and savings would be protected and would also receive a reasonable return. .

What the current situation means now is that most people will be unable to retire at the age of sixty five, and instead will need to continue working and earning an average salary for at eat another two years after their retirement date to have any chance of making up the shortfall in their pension packet.

Recent research now show that, if the current situation prevails, UK citizens will need to accumulate an average of £34billion annually by 2037, in order to maintain their pensions at their current value.

Even more alarming for many , is the warning issued by the National Association of Pension Funds (NAPF) that the Pension Protection Fund, company pension schemes are now showing a shortfall of over two hundred billion pounds, the highest level since the fund was launched.

Savings are also seriously under siege, with interest rates in the last year dropping to a level where they almost non- existent, with very little sign that they are liable to rise to anywhere like a reasonable level anu time soon.

Many soon to be pensioners feel that the UK government hastened to bail out the banks without thinking too long and hard about the welfare of the sector of the senior citizens of the country, and especially those who were about to fall into that category.

Meanwhile Rosie Winterton, UK Minister for Pensions, has defended the government’s actions by saying ” “I certainly have sympathy with people who have saved and have seen interest rates cut. But at the same time what I would say is that remember we have taken swift action to prevent the collapse of the banks, if we hadn’t taken that action then imagine the situation that savers would be facing,” she says.

• Daylight saving time [/caption] Daylight saving time (DST; also summer time in British...
• What First? Pay Off Student Loans or Save For Retirement? We've made it known on StupidCents on how important it...
• Saving With Purpose: Retirement Phase II This is the fourth post in a series called Saving...

Tags: Financial News, Interest Rates, Minister for Pensions, Money Management, Rosie Winterton, Savings, UK