Financial advisers could be commissioned by the government to offer free financial advice to asset rich, cash poor pensioners, following a recent report.
The Institute for Public Policy Research has said that the Pension White Paper didn't address the issue of whether pensioners should be given help when deciding whether or not to sell their homes.
Their report states that a government advice service could explain to pensioners living in large houses but on small incomes whether it is their best interest to trade down, by moving into a smaller property, or to use an equity release scheme. They have estimated that this would cost around £7 million and could be staffed by independent financial advisers.
Our view
Again, for many years, and indeed in one of our first ever submissions to the Financial Services Authority, we suggested a Financial Aid scheme, much on the basis of 'Legal Aid', now the Legal Services Commission.
We believe such a scheme will offer real value to pensioners.