SCOTLAND’S over-50s are among the most caring in the UK – because they put their families before having enough money, a new survey has revealed.
More than half of Britain’s 50 to 90-year-olds admitted that having enough money was more important to them than their health or spending time with their families.
But not in Scotland – where the majority of over-50s (60%) put their families first.
Financial stability came second – with 55% making it their most important concern – while 53% prioritised maintaining and improving their health and more than a third (37%) put enjoying their retirement at the top of their priority list.
The responses come from the LiveMore Barometer, a comprehensive survey of the priorities of more than 2000 of the UK’s 50 to 90-year-olds by LiveMore, the mortgage lender for the over-50s.
Those surveyed were asked to tick three of the most important priorities in their personal lives from a list which included financial stability/maintaining my standard of living, family life/spending more time with my family, maintaining/improving my health, enjoying retirement, helping family financially, holidays/travel, hobbies, personal development and work opportunities.
The responses also challenged the perception that Scottish parents are happy to run “the bank of mum and dad” – just a quarter of those surveyed put helping their families with money as their main concern. And even fewer (17%) prioritised holidays or hobbies (11%).
Those in the south east of England were most likely to put financial stability first, with 61% doing so. They were also the least likely to help family with money, with just 19% making it their top priority.
The findings also differed across age ranges – more 80 to 89-year-olds put family life above financial security and 70 to 79 -ear-olds made enjoying retirement their top priority.
“Financial institutions tend to make lots of assumptions about how older people think,” said LiveMore’s chief executive officer Leon Diamond.
“We want to have a proper understanding of their real needs – not just financially but in their wider lives, too. These responses show that there is no such thing as a “generic” over-50-year-old, both in terms of age or geography.”
