Enjoy a more Affluent Retirement with Equity Release

With energy bills set to increase yet again this August, the coming winter is looking bleak for many people in the UK, especially those on pensions or approaching retirement. What seemed like a good pension plan all those years ago is now looking more like small change since the cost of living has risen more rapidly than any of us expected.

However the future may not be all that bleak for many home owners as the equity in the property could be used to help finance their retirement. There's nothing new about equity release and many people over the age of 60 have been unlocking the value of their property to help subsidise their pensions (both state pensions and private pensions) or to enable them to pay for costly home repairs, replacing their cars, holidays or any other cost their regular pension does not allow them to afford.

Most people have a rough idea of what their home is worth, based on the asking or sale prices of neighbouring homes, but converting that rough figure in to something more tangible for the purposes of equity release isn't that straight forward. It's not just the value of your home which is the main factor for determining how much equity is available, but also the age of the occupier and their spouse, and the location of the house as properties on some parts of Britain increase in value more rapidly than others.

You could seek financial advice and this is highly recommended if you're more or less certain that equity release is right for you. However if you're in the early stages of considering releasing the equity from your home, paying for the services of a financial advisor is just another cost you could do without. The good news is however, you can get a good idea of how much the equity could be worth by using an online equity release calculator.

As mentioned, figuring out what the equity could be worth is a tricky calculation and the many equity release calculator websites may give differing results. They should however give you ball park figure to work with before seeking professional advice. As well as providing an equity release calculator, such websites also offer plenty of good information and advice which is well worth reading, as releasing the equity from your home to help finance your retirement may not be your only option.