Money worries: A new report said middle class workers aged 50 and above could be forced to delay their retirement until 70, to help out their grown up children (dailymail.co.uk)
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 outtheir 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 ā102.15 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.
最新报告显示，英国50岁以上的中产阶级职员被迫推迟到“至少70岁”再退休，其中很多人将此归咎于子女。
他们的退休梦想破灭了，大多数人都将他们的退休年龄延后了五年左右。
英国哈特伍德投资公司发布的这项报告称，延迟退休“并不是因为热爱工作，而是担心能不能给自己养老。”
延迟退休不仅仅是由于生活成本的飞速增长。许多父母抱怨他们不得不一直资助早该经济独立的成年子女。
问及延迟退休的原因，五分之一的中产阶级称他们“需要继续工作以资助子女”。
许多成年子女需要父母资助买房，还有一些子女需要家长偿还上大学时的贷款。
超过40%的受访者表示“打算延后退休大约五年”。另有大约四分之一的受访者表示，他们要在70岁以后再退休。
还有许多人正在计划“半退休”，即从全职转向兼职工作。
哈特伍德投资公司董事长西蒙?洛夫称，相当长时期的半退休状态在五六十岁的富人中正“日益成为常态”。
他还补充说：“很多情况下，人们所需的养老金越来越多，生活成本在上涨，还要应付计划外开销，比如资助子女的年头比预计的更久。”
另一份来自养老金业巨头“苏格兰寡妇公司”的报告发现，四分之一的女性没有为养老存钱，而男性中这一比例为17%。这使得许多人只能依靠一周仅有的102.15英镑国家养老金过活，而且他们还得符合条件，才能拿到这么多。
更糟的是，女性能够领取国家养老金的年龄也在推迟。之前是60岁，但到2020年将推迟到66岁，而且未来还会继续延后。
Vocabulary:
bail out: 摆脱困境，给予帮助
property ladder: 房产
pension pots: 养老金
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