Retirees shun traditional inheritance and opt for ‘giving while living’

THE idea of leaving a traditional inheritance may be dying out as about half of the UK’s retirees say they are “giving while living”, a report has found.

Three in five retired people said they are already providing regular financial support to their family and friends, a survey of more than 16,000 people living in 15 countries including the UK for HSBC, found.

Some 50 per cent of retirees surveyed in the UK said they are giving regular financial support to someone, such as a spouse, a younger relative or friends.

In the UK, 19 per cent of retirees said they were giving financial support to their grown-up children and nine per cent were helping their grandchildren financially.

Across the global survey, Malaysia, Indonesia and Turkey had particularly high proportions of older people passing wealth on while they are still alive.

Australia, the United States and Canada all had lower proportions of retirees who said they were giving while living than the UK. France had a slightly higher proportion, at 53 per cent.

Charlie Nunn, group head of wealth management at HSBC, said: “The ‘living inheritance’ adds another dimension to the already complex financial pressures faced by retirees.

“A desire to support loved ones during your lifetime is of course understandable, but for many people this comes at a cost both to their retirement dreams and to their ability to leave a legacy.

“At the same time, today’s working age people are putting their future finances at risk by relying on a living inheritance from retired loved ones, as this may not always be forthcoming.”

The findings in the Future of Retirement report have been released just weeks after the UK Government launched new freedoms allowing people much greater choice over how they spend their pension pots.

Instead of being required to buy an income called a retirement annuity with their pension savings, people aged 55 and over with a defined contribution (DC) pension can take their money how they wish, subject to their marginal rate of income tax.

The global research found the potential for a “mismatch” between people’s hopes of receiving an inheritance and the extent to which it will help them in reality.

It found that while 74 per cent of working age people expect to leave an inheritance to their children, only 29 per cent are confident in doing so. In the UK, 58 per cent of working age people expect to leave an inheritance, but only 33 per cent have ever received one.