‘Thanks to equity release, we are living for today!’

For over 50 years, both Robert and his wife were self-employed, working hard at their respective jobs in Nottingham – Robert AS A CHAUffEUR AND shopkeeper and his wife as a machinist. Neither saved into a pension in all that time; instead they chose to put money aside in the earlier days so that later they could BUY THEIR fiRST HOME.

‘We were fortunate,’ Robert says. ‘We were one of those able to buy our council home through the right-to-buy scheme. Onwards and upwards happened for us – but it meant that all our money was tied up in the house.’

Robert, 73, and his wife, 69, retired several years ago, and rely mainly on the State Pension to cover their living expenses. While that’s been enough for day-to-day expenses, Robert says the pair wanted to ‘live for today’ – to travel with their family and make improvements to their home.

When a cousin mentioned that she had raised money through equity release, it set him thinking.

‘We called up Key, and they sent an adviser to see us. He was great – it was such an easy process, and he explained all the facts and figures. We’ve even got a guarantee that there will be an inheritance left over for us to leave to our family.’

The Bakers released £50,000 in a lump sum earlier this year, and have already managed to make the home improvements they’ve been hoping to do for years. They’ve had a new kitchen put in, the windows and flooring replaced, and bought a new boiler ahead of winter.

‘We’ve done a lot of the things we wanted to do with our retirement already, and that’s been possible because of equity release.’

They have also enjoyed a cruise around the Canary Islands with their daughter. ‘We’d never have been able to do to that without equity release, and it’s definitely been worth it,’ says Robert.