LV can be relied upon to darken your Monday mornings

Just in case you are feeling a bit too chipper this Monday morning and want a dose of bad news to darken your mood then have a read of LV's press release about the plight of older Brits. I know that it is along the same theme that I have been developing for the past year or so but it still is no less concerning for that.

What we are seeing is a slow evaporation of wealth as it is converted into income to fund day to day living. The cycle of wealth creation and wealth conversion to income has always existed. My fear is that the second part of the process - the wealth creation bit - is happening less or not at all.

A fifth of Brits in, or nearing, retirement have cut their retirement savings by an average of £342 a month
Public sector pension-holders have cut pension savings by an average of £321 a month compared to cuts of £434 made by those with private pension plans
17% of over-50s do not want to work past the age of 65 but may be forced into doing so due to a lack of pension funds

Still feeling bright about the prospects for the next 5 days? OK, let me mix in a bit of bad news about the employment prospects for the over-50s.

This analysis, by IPPR, shows that all age groups have increases in long-term unemployment, with the largest rises for the over 50s. Nearly half (45.9%, 182,000 people) of all those unemployed over 50 have been unemployed for over a year, up from 31% in 2009.

Have a good week. Dick Stroud