Many retired Britons owe more than they can repay

I reposted this from my company blog – because I thought it might interest my most ardent readers – and because I thought I’d try a a poll just for fun (please give it a go).

“I have just been doing some work on our database (Probably the world’s largest Excel spreadsheet) of information from people who are worried about their debts. As a by product of this i discovered some facts about retired people and debt.

On average, employed people owe unsecured debts of just under £28,000 and retired people owe just under £25,000. So far so unremarkable.

However, I had a look at what their debt to income ratio was. And fell of my chair. Retired folk owe in credit cards and unsecured loans alone (not the mortgage – which I presume they have paid off) 234% of their annual income. People in employment owe 144% of their take home pay.

OK this is admittedly a skewed sample – it is only people who have sought our advice on their debt problems. But that’s a lot of us these days. Seems to me that preparing for retirement does not mean paying off one’s debts – that looks like an accident waiting to happen.”