‘FEWER of us are bothered about leaving anything behind for our loved ones. That was the conclusion of the Joseph Rowntree Foundation report into people’s attitudes to bequests.

The study, by Karen Rowlingson of Bath University and Stephen McKay of Bristol University, found that two-thirds of Britons thought it was more important to enjoy life than worry about leaving an inheritance behind. Only around a quarter of people with the potential to make a bequest said they would deliberately budget to do so.

With annuity rates at a 10-year low, pensioners are being forced to take part-time jobs, downsize or release equity from their properties via a lifetime mortgage or home reversion plan.

According to insurer Prudential, 1.4 million UK pensioners have been forced back to work in order to make ends meet, while the total amount of equity released from properties by pensioners was £1.2bn in 2004. A quarter of all pensioners in the UK are surviving on less than £7,500 a year.’

Read more at Scotsman.com Business - Personal Finance - Inheritance tax not a worry for most of us

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