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Retirement dreams on ice for thousands of over-50s

The pandemic has taken a wrecking ball to even the best laid plans. Older workers have stood in the firing line of mass redundancies, powerless as their retirement dreams are put in peril.
Many of the newly unemployed have been plunged into an early retirement they can’t afford. Others, who had prepared for an early end to their working lives, must now face years longer in work.
The Institute for Fiscal Studies, a think tank, has warned that millions of pensioners could find themselves significantly worse off than planned in retirement. Pension savers have watched their retirement pots fall dramatically, taking a dive in tandem with the stock market this March.
There were 10.7 million over-50s in work before the pandemic struck, according to the Office for National Statistics. As many as 850,000 could delay retirement, an IFS survey has shown.
More pain is on the way as the Government’s furlough scheme draws to a close at the end of October. Nearly one in four older workers has been furloughed, and 15pc of those in this age group think their job is unlikely to return after the pandemic.
In our latest series, we guide you through retirement planning by focusing on what the pandemic has meant for all age groups: those with 10 years left of work, those about to retire and those who have just retired.
One Telegraph Money reader from Hertfordshire, a consultant, has seen his salary halve during the crisis. In our Money Makeover, he asks whether he will be able to generate retirement income of 70,000 a year without touching his 900,000 pension pot.
Meanwhile, property owners have taken their best shot at using the Government’s emergency support policies to their advantage, fuelling a “mini boom”. House prices surged to an all-time high in September but experts have warned it can’t last as mortgages become harder to secure.
For those daring enough to venture into buy-to-let, we have investigated the hotspots where employment has been most resilient since March, working with three budgets: 25,000, 40,000 and 60,000.
For more news and analysis about the housing market, don't forget to sign up to our Property newsletter, delivered to your inbox every Monday.
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