Debt Advice Help and Support

Money Monday: comfortable older age (30 Jan 2012)

After news came out last week about how many people retire in debt, it's vital that people know how they can save money in older age.

Stats from Prudential showed that one-in-five people will finish work whilst still owing money, with the average debt amounting to more than £38,000.

With this in mind, Ros Altmann from Saga has now suggested doing away with pensions altogether and bringing in lifetime savings accounts, which will allow you to pay off things like student debt when you're in your 20s, rather than committing funds into a pension account.

However, with auto-enrolment due to start soon, it doesn't look as though anything like that will be happening in the immediate-term at least, meaning that older people will need to look at other ways of saving money, but fortunately there's quite a few.

There are free prescriptions, TV licences, passports, insulation and eye tests on offer for all, whilst you should check out the local situation with bus passes, which vary depending on if you're in England, Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland.

There's also a load of discounts you can get when you're older that you should be aware of - like discounts on trains and coaches, whilst public swimming pools may reduce prices for older swimmers.

Be sure to collect all the payments you're owed by the government too, including your pension, winter fuel payment and much more – Direct.gov.uk can help you find what money you're due.

And if you've finished at your previous job and have spare time on your hands, you could put it to good use by passing on some of your skills by tutoring, which can help keep you busy as well as earn you a bit of cash.