According to research we recently conducted, the key to a happy retirement is having close family nearby and a partner, as well as loving where you live!
Our study found more than two-thirds (68%) of people over the age of 60 say they are happy with their lives, citing family and their home as the main reasons for it.
Around 69% say having a partner is important to their happiness while 58% highlight having close family living nearby and 61% say loving where they live is vital to their happiness. Just 49% said having enough money was important.
But when to comes to being unhappy in retirement, money is the root of all evil with 36% picking lack of cash as the main cause of their unhappiness. More than one in ten (11%) over 60s claim to be unhappy with their lives.
The least happy over 60s are in the North East and London - nearly one in five (17%) people in the North East claim to be unhappy, the highest number in the UK followed by London on 16%.
One in three (33%) across the country highlighted the fact that they don’t have many holidays as the main cause of their unhappiness while 32% feel lonely as they don’t have a close family that they see a lot of. Three in ten (31%) feel lonely because they don’t have many friends.
More than a quarter (28%) highlighted their poor health as the main reason for feeling unhappy while 26% cited that they don’t have an active sex life but wanting one as a key cause.
Our research showed that on a regional basis, 14% of over 60s in Northern Ireland claimed to be unhappy while in both Wales and the South East the number was 13%.
Just 6% in both the West Midlands and Scotland suggested they were unhappy, the lowest figure in the UK. Moreover, more than one in three (35%) over 60s in Scotland claim to be ‘very happy’ with their lives.
The research also highlighted that more than two thirds of over 60s claim to be happy with their lives because they still have their partner, while three in five (61%) highlighted the love of their property and where they live as the main reason for feeling happy.
Homewise could help you retire happy
Through our Home for Life Plan, we help people aged over 60 secure their next home at a reduced price - saving up to 59%*! We aim to revolutionise the way people approach retirement, helping them to avoid being stuck in unsuitable housing with unmanageable repayments and instead offering them a way to retire happy.
Mark Neal, Managing Director here at Homewise, said: “Family and where you live appear to be the main reasons for living a happy life in retirement and it is interesting that it is not necessarily all about money when it comes to happiness. Unfortunately that is the reverse when it comes to being unhappy where finances seem to be the biggest issue for many.
We believe that the Home for Life Plan can help by enabling over 60s to move to a new home under a lifetime lease and release money to not only clear any debts but also allow those in retirement to live happily.”
Did you know that we have an online Budget Booster, which can estimate how much of a saving you could make on your next home? Try it out today, and find out how we can help in under 3 minutes!
*Savings range from 8.5% to 59% and depend on the customer’s age, personal circumstances and property criteria. Only available to those over sixty years old.