It’s no secret that the UK has an aging population. This has been seen as a problem in terms of the socio-economic balance of the country, but there are considerations to take into account when it comes to addressing the financial capability of the ‘baby-boomer’ generation. This group of people has a lot of accumulated wealth when compared to other generational groups. The question that is worth asking here is how do the baby-boomers best manage their finances as they approach retirement and beyond?

Bank Savings

Savings accounts with banks and building societies are far and away the most popular and straightforward way to gain a return on your money. There’s a broad range of accounts and savings options that people can choose here to maximise their returns and save in a way that suits them. The issues across using banks to save is that savers returns are at the mercy of interest rates.

For all the various ISA products that are available, if the wider market and economy are not performing well, savers are destined to see very small amounts of accumulation on their money over long periods of time. Additionally, it could be argued that savers are less trusting of putting their money into banks after the 2008 financial collapse, and the controversy around Northern Rock.

Stocks and Shares

This stock market is becoming increasingly popular with those who are at the age of retirement and who want to try and put their savings to work. The high-risk strategy of investing in this way oftentimes means that we’ll see a more affluent market for this way of saving. These people have money to spare and can accept the risk. This might be used to cover off the cost of a planned funeral or for a retirement hobby like a boat or holiday.

Getting the most of your money requires a good amount of knowhow of how the market reacts to certain conditions and where the real opportunities for growth lie. For this reason, many people opt to work with a financial advisor who can give a steer on the often confusing world of open market investment. We are seeing a growth in this type of investing as people are increasingly recognising that the stock market is potentially a better place for their money to gain growth, compared with the aforementioned banks and building societies.

What we have seen in the last few years, with the changing global marketplace is a greater opportunity for ordinary people to get involved in the investment game. There are more investment opportunities out there as the financial advisory industry has realised that the baby-boomer generation has money to spend it.

What we are likely to see in the future is more people looking to contact financial advisors upon their approaching retirement to make sure that they have a good pension pot to retire on. It’s a riskier strategy than putting your money in a low-interest ISA, but there is potentially a lot more money to be made.