Vanessa Hale
Director, Research
There are a number of familiar monikers used to describe people aged over 65 including the Baby Boomers, the Silver Surfers, the Grey Pound or even the SKIs (an abbreviation which stands for spending the kids’ inheritance!). However, these labels can be misleading as they are almost too generic.
For example, with Baby Boomers, the term tells you something about the relative age of the group but doesn’t really tell you anything else useful about the individuals who may fall within that age group.
With our latest piece of Housing Futures research, we have done a focus on those aged 65 or older in the UK who will move (or at least strongly consider moving) into a Platinum Place in order to try to understand this market better. We concentrated our effort on understanding the motivating differences behind different individuals in this sector, which lead us to create a new set of retirement ‘tribes’. In our report, Platinum Generation, we revealed six distinct groups who may be considering a move into retirement housing.
Blitz Kidz
Aged over 70, Blitz Kidz tend to be single (possibly widowed or divorced), without access to private pensions or income from investments, and are looking for a retirement product that they can rent. They tend to be lifelong renters, but if they currently own their home they are not likely to benefit from a large equity release when the property is sold, resulting in a higher possibility of renting. This tribe holds traditional values, will often have the approach of ‘make-do-and-mend’ and is seen as self-sufficient.
Peter Pans
Peter Pans are aged 60-65 and ‘kept up with the Joneses’ when they were working, but realise that retiring from high-income jobs will restrict their accustomed lifestyle. While they have private pensions and investments, these are unlikely to fully fund their retirement, especially as they have a desire to give financial help to their children and grandchildren, and to leave an inheritance. Members of this group who have lived abroad now want to return to the UK, but are finding the move financially challenging.
Sundowners
Likely to be aged over 65, Sundowners are probably retired but enjoyed a high household income while working and now have income from both pensions and investments. They also own their home outright. They have enjoyed spending on recreational goods, services and family members but haven’t planned for their housing and care provision in retirement. It is possible that they may need advice as to what opportunities may be available to them as they enter their later years.
I’ll cover the remaining three tribes in my next blog. To be continued….