Have this week's events brought good news or bad for older
people?
By Rebecca Law, Media and PR officer
This was a bad week for Wilf Cooper of Lockleaze
in Bristol after his wife finally got wind of his double life.
Contrary to what you may be thinking, this 90-year-old was not
guilty of indulging in illicit trysts, gambling or drinking but of
sneaking out and secretly running half marathons.
Wilf had already successfully completed six events behind his
wife's back - who believed Wilf to be watching the races from the
sidelines - before being caught out by a neighbour who spotted him
on TV. "He was in the doghouse that day," says Mrs Cooper in an
interview in the Daily Mail.
Despite his wife's concern, the 90-year-old, who suffered a heart
attack 20 years ago, is planning a swan song: he'll be running one
last time to raise money for St Peter's Hospice.
As well as keeping himself super fit, Wilf clearly enjoys flexing
his social media muscles too. He has his own JustGiving page here. If you'd
like to see the full story, read it
here.
This was a good week for Britons with a mortgage
as record low interest rates mean that mortgage borrowers have
shaved £51 billion off their payments since the bank rate hit 0.5%
two and a half years ago. That is, of course, really positive news
for many, since we're all feeling the strain in the current
economic climate, but it is, sadly, the silver lining of a rather
grey cloud.
Those same low interest rates mean that savers - who outweigh the
number of borrowers - are estimated to have lost out on £43billion
in interest earnings in the same period. Pensioners, in particular,
many of whom have paid off their mortgages - so don't see the
benefits that borrowers do - are reliant on the interest from their
savings to live.
While borrowers celebrate their gain, pensioners are seeing their
spending power slashed, especially when combined with high
inflation rates (CPI rose to 4.4% in July). It's a double whammy
for pensioners who get the rawest deal with price rises since they
typically spend more on things like electricity and fuel, which
have seen eye-watering price hikes this year. You can read more
about this
here.
