Many people do find that they become short of money in later life. The situation has not been helped by the low interest rates as so many people rely on interest from their savings to get by and the pension from the government is often just not enough to live on, especially as the price of fuel and other commodities is so high.

One option is to look at equity release schemes on your home. If you own your own home outright then there are some companies who will give you all of the value or part of the value of your home back to you, like a mortgage.

This will give you a lump sum to live on and in return they take part or full ownership of your home.

You still have life enjoyment of the property, though, which means that you can make full use of it in your old age and it will only pass to the company when you pass away. For some this can be a very good answer as it is not the ideal solution to have to scrimp through your retirement years.

Some people do not like this idea as it means that they will have nothing to leave their children, but most offspring would say that they preferred mum or dad had a happy retirement.