The use of wealth in retirement

This report from the Institute of Fiscal Studies (IFS) reveals the scale at which older people are moving post-retirement and identifies where their money for retirement lies.

We learn that the majority of non-pension wealth (60%) is held in owner-occupied housing whilst interestingly, around 30% of respondents will be expecting to use their primary housing to provide money for retirement (through downsizing, taking equity withdrawal or renting out rooms). This suggests that such wealth is not always considered 'off limits', while 10% report expecting to use other property (such as second homes).

The study found that around 4% of English owner-occupiers aged 50+ move house over a two-year period and are slightly more likely for those in their 50s and early 60s than for those in their late 60s and 70s. This perhaps suggesting that moving home is done at the point of retirement.

However, from 80+ people are more likely to move. The rate increases rapidly with age driven by moves into facilities such as residential care homes.

This suggests over 40% of those who are owner-occupiers at age 50 will move before the end of their life. Cumulating probabilities of moving across older ages suggests that over a third of owner-occupiers at age 50 would move by age 70, and over half would move by age 90.