Opening a nest egg can spring a surprise

Older people in Ireland own a huge portion of property, so Liam Croke details the best way for them to capitalise on this financial muscle

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.