Tuesday 7th of July 2009
Individual voluntary arrangement (IVA) help may not just be needed by young Britons trying to keep up with a celebrity lifestyle.
New research has revealed that an increasing number of people are entering retirement with unpaid debt.
Chartered accountants Wilkins Kennedy analysed figures from the Insolvency Service, which showed that the finances of people over the age of 65 have been hit by a poor return on savings and large mortgages taken out during the boom years.
An IVA could, however, reduce the level of personal debt, such as credit card balances, leaving more money to be put towards meeting mortgage payments.
"Pensioners may have outstanding credit card debts which were taken on during the credit boom, so they find themselves unable to meet repayments when their incomes shrink back on retirement," said Anthony Cork, director at Wilkins Kennedy.
Repaying debt through an IVA is a "really good idea", Peter Sargent, president of R3 - the trade association for insolvency practitioners - recently said.
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- Government announces 'breathing space' for those needing IVA help
- Lack of subprime lending creating need for IVA help, expert suggests
- IVA questions to benefit those burned by reward credit cards?
