‘Window of wealth’ for adults comes in their 50s

Published on 28/09/2012 03:27

The typical British adult has just seven years of financial freedom during his or her lifetime, a study has found.

The “window of wealth” appears between the ages of 58 and 65, when people tend to have paid off their debts and their children have flown the nest and are supporting themselves, Skipton Building Society found.

This is also often an age when people have some years of earning left before seeing their income reduce on retirement.

Three-quarters of the 1,000 over-55s surveyed across the UK said they had little leftover cash between their 20s and 40s, with the money swallowed up by their mortgages, household bills and children.

But four in ten anticipated their finances improving towards the end of their careers.

Skipton’s head of corporate communications, Tracy Fletcher, said: “As an adult, there will be financial commitments throughout your working life, but you can get to the point, albeit potentially quite brief, where things ease up and you finally have a little money to spend on yourself.

“The mid to late 50s can be the point where you stop forking out for your children’s education, cars, weddings and rent. If you are tied into a 25-year mortgage, this might also be the time when you’ve cleared the balance.”