Opening a nest egg can spring a surprise
ACCORDING to research carried out recently by the Centre of Ageing Research and Development in Ireland, more than €171bn worth of Irish property is owned by the over-50s.
In the 26 counties, 87% of people over the age of 65 own their home, with the average property worth around €165,000. The research, called An exploratory study of the wealth of older people in Ireland north and south, also shows that in the south of the country, households aged 65+ have a median disposable income of €446 per week and the average value of savings held by people over-65 is €5,519. We also know 26% of people over the age of 65 — which amounts to 139,202 people — rely solely on the State pension as their only source of income, while it accounts for 67% of the total income of another 396,191 people aged over 65.
