英國中產階級延遲退休以資助子女

Middle class workers aged 50 and above are being forced to delay their retirement until they are 'at least 70', with many blaming their children, a report revealed yesterday.

It said their retirement dreams are being crushed with Most postponing their retirement date by around five years.

The report, from the investment firm Heartwood, said the delay is 'not driven by a love of their job, but by concerns of their ability to fund their retirement'.

It is not just the soaring cost of living which is triggering the delay. Many blame the fact that they are constantly having to bail out their grown-up children at an age when they presumed they would be financially independent.

Asked about the reason for the delay, one in five middle class workers said they 'needed to keep working in order to support their children'.

Many grown-up children need help to get on to the property ladder, while others ask their parents to clear their university debts.

More than 40 per cent said they plan to remain in work 'for an average of five years longer that they had originally planned'. Around one in four said they will delay their retirement until they are aged 70 or above.

Many are planning to 'semi-retire', which means they will stop working full-time to switch to part-time work.

Simon Lough, chief executive of Heartwood, said longer periods of semi-retirement are 'increasingly becoming the norm' among wealthier people in their 50s and 60s.

He added: 'In many cases, they are being faced with greater demands being placed on their pension pots, rises in the cost of living and unexpected financial commitments, such as supporting their children for longer than they had originally anticipated.'

It comes as a separate report, from the pensions giant Scottish Widows, found one in four women is saving 'nothing at all' for their retirement, compared to 17 per cent of men. This leaves many forced to rely on the State pension, which is just £102.15 a week if they are eligible for the full amount.

To make matters worse, the age when a woman can claim her State pension is being increased. It used to be 60 but it will reach 66 in 2020 – and will continue to rise in the future.最新報告顯示，英國50歲以上的中產階級職員被迫推遲到“至少70歲”再退休，其中很多人將此歸咎於子女。

他們的退休夢想破滅了，大多數人都將他們的退休年齡延後了五年左右。

英國哈特伍德投資公司發佈的這項報告稱，延遲退休“並不是因爲熱愛工作，而是擔心能不能給自己養老。”

延遲退休不僅僅是由於生活成本的飛速增長。許多父母抱怨他們不得不一直資助早該經濟獨立的成年子女。

問及延遲退休的原因，五分之一的中產階級稱他們“需要繼續工作以資助子女”。

許多成年子女需要父母資助買房，還有一些子女需要家長償還上大學時的貸款。

超過40%的受訪者表示“打算延後退休大約五年”。另有大約四分之一的受訪者表示，他們要在70歲以後再退休。

還有許多人正在計劃“半退休”，即從全職轉向兼職工作。

哈特伍德投資公司董事長西蒙·洛夫稱，相當長時期的半退休狀態在五六十歲的富人中正“日益成爲常態”。

他還補充說：“很多情況下，人們所需的養老金越來越多，生活成本在上漲，還要應付計劃外開銷，比如資助子女的年頭比預計的更久。”

另一份來自養老金業巨頭“蘇格蘭寡婦公司”的報告發現，四分之一的女性沒有爲養老存錢，而男性中這一比例爲17%。這使得許多人只能依靠一週僅有的102.15英鎊國家養老金過活，而且他們還得符合條件，才能拿到這麼多。

更糟的是，女性能夠領取國家養老金的年齡也在推遲。之前是60歲，但到2020年將推遲到66歲，而且未來還會繼續延後。