I apologise if this goes on a bit, but i need some advice on behalf of my parents. My 74 year old mother phoned me today and was clearly upset, she and my 64 year old stepfather have been struggling to make ends meet for a couple of years now and this month they have actually gone overdrawn for the first time. The main problem has come from my stepfather having to retire at 60 due to stress which had pushed him close to having a breakdown, and although he received a resonable settlement, they still had a small mortgage and a few other debts to pay off which pretty much took up all the lump sum. Because he had to take his pension early he obviously isn't receiving as much as he was expecting to had he been able to work till he was 65. He had planned to get a part time job when he had recovered, which he did, but was then diagnosed with Parkinsons disease & this has progressed to the stage where he cannot go on working. The only way they can see to raise any money is to take out one of these equity release schemes against their house, and have asked me to look into them. Their house is probably worth £225,000 and is now in need of some updating and decoration, plus they need a stair lift put in and a downstairs cloakroom added as mum has mobility problems. The trouble is that having looked at some of these deals, they really seem to offer terrible returns, probablly as he is only 64. Have any of you had any experience of these schemes or do you know of any other options that they could look at ? I am really sorry to have gone on for so long, but this has been worrying me all day and writing this has helped a bit
Andy
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