Many people aged between 25-34 are stretched to their absolute limit to
buy a house, according to a new survey by the International Longevity Centre.
The study found that many of these are relying on rising
property prices to
pay for their
retirement, with the percentage of those paying into
pension schemes halved over the last ten years. In tandem,
debts have almost doubled.
Sky-high
property prices and the reality of massive
mortgage repayments mean that many young consumers are unable to pay into a
pension scheme, if it is not provided by the
company that they work for. Little
cash is available for day-to-day living, and extra costs such as
pensions .
The senior researcher at the think-tank, James Lloyd, reportedly commented: "Despite the property wealth of older households more than doubling in value during the decade after 1995, these rising property
assets are not actually resulting in an improved standard of living for older people in retirement . Now a new generation are seeing their retirement saving skewed towards property assets, with bigger
mortgages and falling contributions to private personal pensions. But the young risk being let down badly if they think that buying a property is the best way to save
for retirement . They may find themselves in the same position as today's older cohorts, with large volumes of illiquid wealth that are failing to contribute to any extra
income in retirement."