Are the 50-plus recession proof – part 1?

The Sunday press has lot of stuff about the 50-plus. The Observer puts a positive spin on the subject with its article:” That five-trillion-pound lifebelt can keep you afloat in the downturn.” The conclusion of the article was that the over-50s are a relatively safe bet since they are worth about £200,000 each on average. People over 50 tend not to have unsecured borrowing and hence are people the banks like during a credit famine.

CACI reckons that one in four unsecured loans is being made to this age group and the loans are larger than for the young. The average personal loan is for £9,690, but the average such loan made to an over-50 is 8% higher, at £10,419.
During 2007, Manchester was the city where the over-50s extended themselves most through taking out personal loans, followed by Liverpool and Wigan. At the other end of the scale, 50-pluses in Cambridge took out fewer loans than anyone else, followed by Harrogate and Bradford. This can be explained by a mixture of socioeconomics and ethnicity.

The article concluded by identifying a big disadvantage faced by the age group of not having future income streams. This brings me onto the second article. Dick Stroud