The Financial Conduct Authority recently warned that too many consumers only consider later life lending when they are already under financial pressure. At the same time, we’re seeing another significant change in the housing market – the growing number of first-time buyers in their 50s and beyond.
At first glance, these seem like two unrelated trends. One concerns aspiring homeowners, the other older homeowners unlocking wealth. But they have something important in common, both are influenced by an emotion we rarely discuss in financial services – shame.
For many people, financial decisions aren’t just about affordability or product suitability, they’re actually about identity. Buying your first home at age 55 can feel like admitting you’ve somehow fallen behind your peers. And a homeowner now considering equity release can feel like acknowledging that your retirement hasn’t gone to plan. Even claiming Pension Credits or other benefits that they are fully entitled to can be viewed as a personal failure.
The FCA’s comments suggest advisers need to think beyond individual products and consider the wider consumer journey. I would argue that journey often begins long before someone walks through an adviser’s door. It begins with overcoming the emotional barriers that prevent people from asking for help in the first place.
Many of today’s later life clients grew up believing that money should remain a private matter. Discussing debt, financial hardship or relying on family simply wasn’t done. That generational mindset explains why many older people continue to struggle in silence, why scam victims often hide devastating financial losses and why conversations about accessing housing wealth are delayed until circumstances become desperate.
By the time many clients enquire about later life lending, they aren’t simply looking for a financial solution. They’re often looking for reassurance that they haven’t failed.
That presents an opportunity for advisers. Asking, “Have you considered equity release?” can unintentionally reinforce the perception that the client has reached a last resort. We have found that framing the conversation differently is far more powerful.
For example: “Many clients in their sixties are now using property wealth alongside pensions because people are often living longer and as such, retirement looks very different from twenty years ago.” This positions housing wealth as one part of retirement planning rather than an emergency measure.
The same principle applies to conversations with older first-time buyers. Rather than focusing on why home ownership has happened later than expected, advisers can recognise the reality of today’s housing market. Divorce, later relationships, career changes, caring responsibilities and decades of affordability challenges mean there is no longer a single ‘normal’ route into home ownership.
Removing judgement from these conversations allows clients to focus on solutions instead of perceived failures. Advisers should also think beyond the individual client. Increasingly, later life financial planning is becoming a family conversation.
Adult children can be the first to notice that their parents are struggling financially. They may see deferred home maintenance, reluctance to spend money or quiet sacrifices to support children and grandchildren. Yet these conversations are notoriously difficult to initiate. Older parents can interpret offers of help as a threat to their independence, while adult children worry about appearing motivated by inheritance rather than concern.
With the client’s consent, advisers are uniquely placed to act as neutral facilitators. Inviting trusted family members into appropriate discussions can reduce misunderstanding, improve transparency and help families make informed decisions together. Crucially, it also reinforces that later life borrowing is not simply a product purchase but part of a wider financial planning conversation.
As our population ages and housing wealth increasingly forms part of retirement planning, technical expertise alone will not be enough. The advisers who make the greatest difference will be those who understand the emotions that sit behind financial decisions.
Quite often we see the biggest obstacle to better outcomes in later life isn’t always affordability – it’s simply the fear of asking for help.
Malcolm Davidson, managing director UK Moneyman
