Financial woes sending retirees abroad, says expert

The cost of living increases are a “massive contributory factor” to the rising numbers of people moving abroad for their retirement, the director of Shelter Offshore has said.

Rhiannon Davies said day-to-day living costs and inflation levels were “spiralling” and working people are finding it difficult to cope, meaning pensioners would be finding the situation even more wearing.

“The large and truly significant rise in the numbers of retirees moving abroad has probably got more to do with fiscal fundamentals than anything else at all,” she said, adding places like Cyprus are cheaper than home for British retirees.

Ms Davies’s comments come after a report from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation found a state pension supplies around three-quarters of what it considered a sufficient income for a retired couple.

The shortfall may result in debt management problems for older people who may be urged to seek debt advice.

The foundation’s report, released earlier this month, said a single person required £13,400 per year to maintain a basic but acceptable standard of living.

By Morwenna Kearns