Delaying their retirement is making financial sense for more and more workers everyday who are fit and happy enough to continue working. What with annuity and savings rates at some of their lowest levels ever, surviving on their pension income alone is not possible for many. And those with a personal pension that must be converted into an annuity to provide a pension, delaying means further risk. Reason being, is because every month an annuity purchase is delayed means that

A switch to a system called “Retail Distribution Review” where financial advisers must charge upfront fees could bring problems for savers – with the advice on how you convert your pension into a pension income will be given to only those who can afford it. Everyone who has saved into a personal pension or into certain types of company scheme must use their fund to buy an annuity that will pay an income for life when they retire. Presently, some independent advisers use com

Unsolicited mail offering many the chance to turn small sums of money into a fortune has plagued a 77-year-old pensioner for years. With the pensioner spending over £100.00 a week on lotteries that he had little or no chance of him ever winning. However the fear is that many of our elderly suffer so much loneliness, that so many look forward to receiving any postal mail that arrives. However, it goes without saying, if this mail is acted upon it can bring costly and painful

30 ways to reduce your energy use and save money 1. Insulate cavity walls - Solid walls are much more expensive to insulate 2. Lay mineral wool under your floorboards 3. Fill any gaps in the floor or skirting board 4. Fit a letter box flap... 5. Fit keyhole cover 6. Fit foil behind radiators on solid walls 7. Insulate loft to 270mm 8. Increase loft insulation from 50mm to 270mm Aged 70+ and/or on benefits? Loft & Cavity wall insulation could be free from you

Savers have long been hit by stock market falls and Bank of England’s attempts to breathe life in to the economy have seen pension payouts fall. Stock markets have fallen, annuity rates dropping and inflation rising has caused pensions havoc for millions of people approaching their retirement. Worst affected are those in non final-salary company and personal pensions which are still invested in the stock market as they approach retirement. Many savers have company pensions

Councils must not cut back on help for the elderly or disabled just to save money, judges warned in late May 2012. The Supreme Court judgment comes as thousands of vulnerable people are being denied home care packages because of stricter criteria used to decide who qualifies. The Judges said that councils must not take the state of their own finances into account when they decide how much help someone with ill-health or a limiting condition needs. Elderly people must not

With unfamiliar surroundings and loss of independence blamed as the cause. A study earlier this year found that the more frequent visits you make to the hospital increase the chances for the elderly developing Dementia. The elderly are more likely to lose their memory if they are taken to hospital, the Rush University Medical Centre, Chicago research says. Their ability to remember names or events and concentrate on tasks declines sharply after only a few days on wards.

A study by the University of Manchester has identified DNA specific to the female X chromosome which could trigger Arthritis. A cure for Arthritis could be within reach after scientists discovered 14 of the genes that lead to Arthritis. It may explain why 3x more women than men are hit by rheumatoid arthritis, which is the most crippling form of the condition. And it has been announced that new drugs are set to be developed which could effectively turn off the illness. A

Dodgy IFAs. The Warning Signs and the things to avoid I read a few weeks ago that an elderly man lost £500,000 after a salesman at a bank sold him a pension from a large reputable insurer. It appears the man agreed to put most of his entire life savings into a pension pot that he would never ever see. The man had in fact been diagnosed with Cancer. However, the insurer pocketed his near £500,000 because it is allowed to keep his annuity investment, and the salesman earned

Literally thousands of dementia patients can now be helped by 2 drugs that temporarily halt its symptoms. A trial of the treatments (which costs as little as 50p a day) gave sufferers in the latter stages of the disease extra time (in fact months) to live independently and they could even hold coherent conversations. Presently the 2 drugs being Aricept, and Memantine/Ebixa are given to just 50,000 patients in the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease. Aricept is given to