Yet, it is the now that is important. And as a result of assured leadership from the Equity Release Council, standards across the equity release market are rising, not falling.
Last month, I attended the ERC’s summit at Church House in the heart of London’s Westminster, a stone’s throw from the Houses of Parliament.
Although I was only there for a couple of hours, I got the sense that the mood music across the sector – be it from advisers or providers – was rather good. More Abba’s "Waterloo" than Barber’s "Adagio For Strings".
Jim Boyd, chief executive of the ERC, is doing a pretty good job in cajoling the industry to become more consumer friendly.
I like the pressure that he and the council are applying on providers to standardise the way they disclose their charges in plan literature, thereby enabling potential buyers to compare and contrast different plans. Greater transparency is a force for good.
With an eye on new consumer duty requirements being imposed across the financial services industry by the Financial Conduct Authority, it is also good that the council wants providers to ensure that customers and family members are given key information at key points in the equity release journey.
For example, when a loved one dies, leaving the surviving partner with a plan that maybe they don’t fully understand – and also when the plan ceases and family members have to grapple with a plan they never fully grasped.
Equity release is not for everyone. There are alternative solutions, none more so than downsizing. Yet it is a market that is not going away.
What I will say quite emphatically is that equity release is an area of the personal finance world where quality, face-to-face financial advice is worth its weight in gold.
Some of the advisers I either met, or took questions from, at the summit oozed trust. It was a joy to smell it.
The future for equity release is a hell of a lot brighter than it was 35 years ago.
Jeff Prestridge is group wealth & personal finance editor of DMGT
