SILVER SPLICERS

RATES ON THE RISE

Young people are abandoning marriage but baby boomers show no signs of falling out of love with the institution.

Marriage rates fell in every age group between 2005 and 2015 – apart from men over 65 and women over 55, where they rose. The Office for National Statistics found that the number of brides and grooms aged 65-plus increased by 46pc between 2004 and 2014.

Second and third marriages are booming. The number of over-55s remarrying grew by a quarter in a decade, from 25,680 in 2005 to 32,395 in 2015.

Jamie Jenkins, of Standard Life, the pension and investment firm, said people getting married later in life should take care: savings are likely to be substantial and family structures complex.

He advised rewriting wills and updating “nominated beneficiary” details on pension policies. When someone dies under 75, any unspent pensions are passed on entirely tax free; over that age, savings are taxed at the recipient’s marginal rate of income tax. This can go on indefinitely, meaning pensions can cascade down the generations.

He said couples should have a plan for funding future long-term care costs: “How much this will cost depends on the level of support you may need, along with your income and local authority help available.”