Later life advice needs to start with planning, not products – Harris

Consumers do not experience their finances in those silos, and our advice and distribution models should not force them to.

As industry leaders, we should be asking whether our advice, distribution and referral models consistently allow consumers to consider every relevant part of their financial position.

The route through which a consumer enters the market should not determine the options they are able to explore.

A client may face a maturing interest-only mortgage, pressure on retirement income, a wish to support family or the cost of adapting their home. The circumstances differ, but the strategic question is the same: what role, if any, should housing wealth play in the client’s wider financial plan?

This question is current and timely. The Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA’s) Later Life Mortgages Market Study is examining the role of standard mortgage advisers and other financial advisers in meeting consumers’ later life lending needs. In parallel, the regulator is considering policy options to support more holistic advice on housing wealth.

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For many households, their home is their largest asset. Yet when mortgage repayment challenges surface, retirement income comes under pressure, or intergenerational financial support is discussed, housing wealth often remains absent from the wider assessment, even when it is relevant to the consumer’s options.

As a result, it’s vital that we, as a sector, don’t lose sight of the importance of understanding the underlying need of a client and assessing the relevant options.

Why housing wealth matters now

The Pensions Commission’s 2026 interim report estimates that around 15 million working-age people are undersaving for retirement. At the same time, FCA data shows that 830,000 mortgages with an interest-only element remained outstanding at the end of 2024, with maturity peaks projected for 2031 and 2032.

These figures describe different groups, but together, they highlight two pressures that can converge in later life: inadequate retirement saving and mortgage debt. For homeowners, both may sit alongside substantial housing wealth.

For many consumers, the role of housing wealth will first become relevant during a mortgage conversation rather than a later life lending discussion. That creates an important opportunity to ensure they understand the full range of options available.

The key question is whether the consumer’s eventual decision, i.e. whether to borrow, sell, downsize, use other assets or take no action, follows a sufficiently broad and informed assessment of their circumstances.

Better conversations, better outcomes

Vulnerability, health considerations, bereavement, income pressures, family involvement and care needs can all influence and direct how consumers engage with financial decisions. These factors should not predetermine the outcome; they should shape how the conversation is conducted.

Good financial advice must therefore do three things: ensure understanding, explore relevant alternatives and assess suitability in the context of the individual’s circumstances. The starting point remains the same: recognising when a broader conversation is needed.

Why consistent signposting matters

Access to specialist support should not depend on where a consumer first enters the market. Instead, at defined trigger points – such as an interest-only mortgage approaching maturity or pressure on retirement income – mortgage lenders and advisers should make consumers aware of specialist later life advice and provide a clear route to an appropriately qualified adviser or relevant guidance service.

This is not a challenge solely for advisers. Lenders, networks, providers and distributors all influence whether those pathways work, and we should improve them now, while the FCA considers what the consistent regulatory baseline needs to look like.

Some consumers will borrow; others will sell, downsize, use different assets or take no action. It’s important that we don’t lose sight of the fact that good advice is measured not by the option chosen, but by whether the consumer had a fair opportunity to understand the relevant choices.

Housing wealth will not be the right answer for every consumer, nor should advisers begin with a predetermined solution. But consumers deserve confidence that every relevant option has been considered. As the FCA examines the future of later life lending and advice, the industry has an opportunity to improve those conversations now. The issue is not whether housing wealth is always the answer; it’s whether we are consistently asking the question.