Guy Olson talks care, financial advisors and equity release groups working together

My guest today is Guy Olson from The Equity Release Partnership who talks about why he set up his business and the importance of understanding what it means.

Having worked in financial services and advising on equity release for about 20 years, with Aviva, and The Age Partnership, at a time when equity release was in its infancy, he eventually set up his own brokerage around two years ago.

Equity release is a growing market place, where many people have heard of it but don’t really understand how it works and how it can work for them. Guy spends a lot of time explaining to people what it actually means and the benefits.

Originally it was created to help people pay for care by giving them access to money that wouldn’t otherwise have been available. Then over the years, people have used equity release for other things, such as going on big holidays, paying for family weddings, or building extensions. 

We talk about how now, with the larger number of elderly people in the population, the pressure on social services and on the provision of care is huge. In the past, and in many cultures families helped to provide care for their elders, but in the UK nowadays this isn’t so prevalent, and people are having to pay for their own care. 

Guy believes that schools should teach children about finance from an early age so that they understand about mortgages, pensions, and saving for a house deposit so that they can become financially savvy. He explains that good financial advisers should be talking to people in their 40s and 50s about planning ahead for their retirement.

Guy talks about something close to my heart – the fact that many people want to remain in their own homes. The idea of downsizing for many doesn’t work, because of the emotional attachment to their home. This is where releasing equity can help them to pay for the care in their own homes.

Whether you are nearing retirement age or it seems eons away and not yet relevant to you – this conversation is well worth listening to.

To contact Guy:

Website: www.equityreleasepartnership.co.

Email: guy.olson@equityreleasepartnership.co.uk

Mobile: 07583992335