Decreased spending power is causing households to fear what will happen in the future

It has recently been reported in the National Press that households prosperity prospects fell to an all-time low in November - this conforms the squeeze that is being experienced on household finances.

The Markit Household Finance Index records consumer feeling on the future impact to their finances.  Any figure below 50 indicates a drop in finances.  In November the index fell by 0.4 to 34.6.

Of all respondents to the survey, over 33% have noticed a drop in their personal finances with a mere 6% experiencing greater spending power.

The index suggests that the lowest paid households are experiencing the highest impact (50% of people who took part in the study recorded a fall in their purchasing power).  In the wealthiest group just 19% have a noticed a decline in personal finances; whilst 14% of households in this category actually saw an improvement.

Homeowners aged over 55 years who have been affected by the downturn in the economy and would like to know how much money the value of their property could release to increase their income, can find out by contacting therightequityrelease.co.uk for equity release advice.