AIBU to wonder why a pensioner struggling financially would not use housing equity?

All those wealthy, home owning boomers..just tell them what to do OP. Maybe she's an intelligent old old person who realises that equity release is a big fat con. Old at 58/59 is it? - well hopefully you will reach that age and see things differently.

I've had to sell the home I lost my dad in.

It was very upsetting and emotional.

But I couldn't afford to keep it. If I'd kept it because memories I would be in a similar position to the lady in the OP.

She doesn't need to starve herself.

It's exaggerated and she's made a career out of talking about her lack of money, for years and years.

She's been on the media for a very long time, but there is help out there and it's ridiculous to say she can't afford to put the oven on when she's spending £50 a WEEK on car fuel.

All that is completely valid.

But if you can't feed yourself because those memories are costing you all of your money then you either have to let them go or accept you're going to be cold and hungry.

You wouldn't sit there with a cheque for £100k because it's the last thing a loved one ever gave you and it's got their signature on which is all you've got left of them, while you can't afford to eat and heat your home. That's madness.

A house is the same, yes it's more emotional but life is for the living. Choosing to starve yourself because memories is batshit.

well thats me told. what a horrible lack of empathy there is on this thread. I just hope none of those people are faced with having to sell up a home just to be able to survive later on in their life because really I wouldnt wish that on anyone not even to those responding so negatively to my post.

she spends £50 a week on fuel.
I live in a village , I don't go shopping daily, nearest shops are 5 miles each way.
I am on a pension.
I get over 50mpg with my car.

What on earth is she doing?

@Powerbungalow Is this the woman who lives in a village in Northamptonshire?

She's become a bit of a media regular, going back some years. Always saying the same thing.

She isn't as hard up as she says. Spends £50 a week on fuel. How many miles is she doing a week? It sounds a huge amount of money.

Her late H was in the Army and she will have some of his pension plus her state pension and/ or pension credit.

Many pensioners live quite well on that amount- my mum in her 90s whose overheads for council tax and utilities are quite high.

The subtext of this woman in the media is she has never saved and even now is not spending wisely if she's using £50 a week on fuel just for shopping trips.

Don't take everything you read or see on TV at face value.

I understand the draw of wanting to leave your child an inheritance but as a child id be embarrassed and ashamed of myself if my elderly parent was hungry and cold just so I potentially inherited a bigger asset assuming care home fees didnt eat it all up anyway.

She’s 77, she could easily live another 20 years. I expect she’s scared she’ll be ripped off by conmen, or just as likely by legitimate providers of things like equity release schemes. Clearly she can’t afford the unbiased, impartial financial advice she needs to make an educated decision on which financial risks are in her best interests in this economic climate, so she is opting to take the only measures she understands - stay where she has shelter and feels safe, and eke out what small income she has without risking her shelter and security.

Well fine, but don’t moan about how poor you are then. My parents didn’t particularly want to move in their late 70s either, but they were sensible and realised it was the best option for them.

Another option is a lodger.

Lots of women are finding themselves in a situation where the husband has fucked off for a younger model and they're royally screwed in the divorce. I bet there are lots of ladies age 40 and older who would find being a lodger in a house with another woman very appealing.

Also things like :
Renting a drive.
Renting their garage.

It doesn't have to be releasing equity. KO

The ‘poor’ pensioner on the news was in fact a property owner without a mortgage and ran a car too. I just got the impression she couldn’t be bothered to cook.

I would say bar central London, there are plenty of options available for downsizing. People just don’t want to. One of my friend’s in-laws were considering downsizing but decided to stay put in the end because they needed the number of bedrooms they currently have as anything less would not do. They have seven bedrooms.

And all of that is perfectly valid. In which case this person has to accept that she cannot afford enough food. You either accept an alternative or you don’t. Young people go through trauma and have to deal with a lot of difficult situations as well, but they are expected to pick themselves up and get on with it.

Selling to downsize and buy a smaller property could be sensible, depending on the size of her house. Selling to rent would be a bad idea as rents are so expensive and would quickly use up the capital and be in the same position again. Equity release is bad news as the interests rates are so high there'd be no capital left after a few years.
Perhaps the older person may be entitled to pension credit which would then entitled her to other benefits like council tax relief.

In an ideal world so do I, but if I need to pay for my care I guess I won’t be able to.

Its not a house. its not an asset. its not a retirement pension. its a home.

people have memories tied up in their home. maybe her husband died whilst they were living there and this is the last place she can remember him "being". maybe she has wonderful next door neighbours who look out for her, take her shopping pop in for a chat. Maybe she is on a bus route or can walk to a shop or the pub. maybe she volunteers nearby or is surrounded by friends.

and if she sells up and moves away ALL of that is gone. and the next house stays a house and doesnt become a home. it needs emotional intelligence and empathy to realise this. perhaps as you get into your 60s and 70s like me you might realise how important somewhere being home is.

I assuming from your post that you are young and that you dont have to worry about social exclusion and boredom and feeling useless and unable to cope in this society. older people are being left behind massively by the influx of new technology. their home is their safe and familiar space.

Equity release is as good as handing over your home to the vultures

I’m waiting for all the posters who will start talking about the world wars as if today’s pensioners were on the front line or something. It’s so bizarre! An 80 year old today would have been born in 1946 - they weren’t putting out fires in the Blitz!

Not heating or eating seems to tick that box!

i want to leave my kids simething to make their lives easier

id struggle for that

They don’t want to use it OP, they want the government to spend yet more money on bailing out the (statistically speaking) wealthiest generation this country has ever seen. No amount of money is ever enough for today’s pensioners I’m afraid.

Who are these people? I guess if you know them then there is the possibility that you too live in a valuable property. I'm old and a despised boomer and my house is worth about £150K and none of my contemporaries live in homes worth anywhere near £1million. In fact I have a couple of friends who rent due to complicated and difficult life events.