Our autumn years are meant to be a time of security and financial freedom; the kids have left home and we hope to put our feet up a bit more and indulge in some of those far-flung holidays we've always dreamed of.

But, according to recent research*, on average, we can't expect to escape the burden of debt until we are at least 50 years old...

...and even then we may still have a mortgage, because home loans aren't included in the figures.

The research showed that women are quicker than men at paying off their student loans, credit cards and other borrowing, freeing themselves of debt just after their 47th birthday. Men take an extra five years to pay their creditors; because they borrow more.

So, there is a male/female divide, but what about a north/south divide?

- Surprisingly, Londoners clear their debts fastest; at the age of 42 and 11 months.

- At the other end of the scale are the Welsh, who have to wait until they are 53 years and one month before they achieve financial freedom.

- Scots are around the middle of the table, ridding themselves of debt by the age of 49 and a half. Like the rest of the country, they pay off their creditors through a combination of earnings, investments and lottery and inheritance windfalls.

Hmm, well all of this may make your future seem rather daunting, especially if you believe in living for today.

But don't worry, as here are a few things that should help:

1. Overhaul your finances

Check all your bank, building society, credit card and loan statements so you can see how much you are spending, and whether any obvious savings can be made. You can also do the same with household bills, and then make sure all the paperwork is filed away carefully.

Look for small ways to cut your spending so you can clear your debts more quickly. For example, you may be able to take a packed lunch to work, give up your morning latte, reduce your gym membership or stay in an extra night a week.

2. Start saving

If you haven't already got a savings plan, start one. It doesn't matter how little you put in but try to make a regular contribution. If you think you will be tempted to plunder the account, use one with restricted access.

A good one to look at is the Reward Saver from Citi with a 6.28% AER.

3. Shop around

Your Money Matters suggests that up to £5,000 a year could be knocked off your average household credit bill, by shopping around for the best deals on financial products, such as insurance, credit cards and loans.

So get on the phone or online and start finding where you can make savings.

With energy prices on the rise this year, it's also worth visiting Energyhelpline, an energy price comparison site which matches your profile to available offers.

4. Get to know your credit report

Your credit report is a personal history of the credit you have taken out, such as credit cards, loans and mortgages, and your repayment record, including any court judgments against you.

Lenders use it to check that you make regular repayments and aren't overstretched, so it pays to make sure it's in good shape.

5. Set yourself a goal

There is no point taking stock of your finances without having a medium or long-term goal.

Decide where you want to be realistically in 12 months and 10 year's time and work out how you are going to get there.

Your targets could be as minor as paying off one of your credit cards or as big as saving for a house or a new car. Review your plan regularly to see how you're doing.

6. Don't lose your identity

Identity fraud is one of the UK's fastest-growing (and most annoying) crimes and it can take hundreds of hours to put right.

Because of this, you should take sensible precautions such as forwarding mail and notifying your bank and other lenders when you move, shredding personal documents before throwing them out, checking statements carefully and letting the police know if important papers are stolen.

The Government also recommends that you monitor your credit report regularly for suspicious activity.

If you're worried about ID fraud why not look at Checkmyfile? They have a free risk assessment page which only takes a minute to fill in.

7. Don't wait to get help

If your circumstances change or you are struggling to manage your loans, get help as soon as possible from your lenders; they'll be able to advise you.

Increasing numbers of people are going bankrupt or taking out an Individual Voluntary Arrangement to escape debt, but it should be a last resort.

Both options stay on your credit report for many years and can mean you are refused credit or charged very high interest.

8. Plan ahead

It's tempting to live for today and worry about your debts tomorrow, but if you keep your finances on track you should have no problem getting credit; or paying it back.

The easy way to keep an eye on your credit status is to take a free 30-day trial of CreditExpert, the online credit monitoring and identity fraud protection from Experian.

This will give you access to your full Experian credit report and also alert you by text or e-mail whenever there is any significant change to your credit report that could indicate an attempted ID fraud.

Click here to see your free credit report.

So, while many of us have debt, you shouldn't stress to much about it.

If you follow our 8 things to do before you're 50, you'll be able to keep your debts in check for years to come.

(* Online research conducted for the 2008 Your Money Matters exhibition in London)

Source: Credit Expert/Experian

How you can ride out the credit crunch

Did you know you are more likely to have your credit-card limits cut if you are older, but hiked if you are young?

No? Well it's true.

1 in 8 of us in the UK who own a credit card, have had our credit limits cut say the wise folk at independent finance website Fool.co.uk.

• Overall, our credit card spending limits have been pruned back by about 7%; while 1% of us have even had our cards cancelled.

• It appears that those of us aged 34-49 are the worst affected with 17% in this age group saying their credit limits have been reduced.

• Elsewhere, 14% of those in their early fifties have seen their spending limits cut.

The flipside is even more disturbing if you think that banks are behaving prudently (does such a thing even exist we ask?)

That's because if you are a young person aged 18-25, you are three times more likely to have your credit-card limit increased!

• Nearly 1 in 7 has been given additional facilities by their credit card providers in recent months.

• However 50% (or three times as many cardholders), who are between 18 and 25 years of age have seen their spending limits upped.

• In the main, 18 to 25 year-olds say their credit limits have been increased by 20%, while 41% of young Brits reckon their credit card providers have boosted their spending powers by up to 50%.

David Kuo, Head of Personal Finance at Fool.co.uk, said:

"It seems that banks are sending out confusing signals to consumers as the credit crunch unfolds.

"On the one hand, they are slashing credit limits to older consumers who have become accustomed to credit. But on the other hand, they are increasing credit limits for younger consumers at a time when we need to practice greater financial discipline.

"As part of Fool.co.uk's report into Your Finances in 2012, we predicted that secured lending will grow at the expense of unsecured borrowings. And it seems that by reducing available unsecured credit for older customers, banks are leading these customers towards secured loans.

"There are indications that lenders are pulling down the shutters for some customers, and holding the door open wide for others. But consumers must avoid getting their fingers trapped in the credit crunch because what banks give with one hand they can easily take away with the other."

Either way, it requires a lot of self discipline and prudent spending to make sure you are able to get the best out of your credit card.

And if you don't think you are getting the best out of your credit card, why don't you switch?

Alternatively, if you want a more effective credit card that is better for you, it's worth looking at these offers:

• Halifax One Card (0% for 12 months on purchases and 0% for 12 months on Balance Transfers made in the first 90 days)

• Barclaycard Platinum Long Term Balance Transfer Card (6.3% interest on balance transfers until paid in full and 14.9% APR Typical variable)

• Capital One Bank Platinum MasterCard (0% on balance transfers and 0% on purchases until 1st November 2008, Free Identity Theft Service, and a low 9.9% APR typical variable

7 reasons why you should use your credit card for everything

Source: © www.fool.co.uk

Mortgages are a hot topic right now, as we are sure many of you are aware.

All the economic uncertainty and the prospect of falling interest rates are pushing fixed-rate mortgage deals lower, while rates on tracker mortgages creep ever upwards.

The demand for tracker mortgages (which are linked to the Bank of England base rate) has soared, as many of you switch to them from your fixed rate mortgage in the expectation that the Bank of England will cut interest rates to 5% or lower by the summer.

Lenders, such as Nationwide, have been taking the opportunity to improve their profit margins. This week it followed the lead of Woolwich and Bristol & West in raising its tracker rates for new borrowers; by between 0.05% and 0.15%.

Nationwide's cheapest tracker mortgages are now priced at 5.53% for house purchases and 5.63% for remortgages (and both have a £1,499 pound fee).

Other deals, with lower or no fees, can charge you up to 6.18% interest.

Matthew Carter, divisional director for mortgages at Nationwide spoke about their recent rises:

"The costs of funding remain high and we have found it necessary to follow other lenders who have recently increased their rates".

That will come as very good news to the 1.5 million of you whose existing fixed rate mortgage will come to an end in the early part of 2008. You face a "rate shock" that will add an average £200 pounds to your monthly mortgage bills if you move onto your lenders' standard variable rate (SVR).

Deals on offer for fixed rate mortgages include:

• Leeds Building Society 3 and 5 year mortgages starting at 5.35%.

• Skipton 7 year fixed rate mortgage at 5.34%, a 2 year fixed rate at 5.39% and a 3 year fixed at 5.69%.

• First Direct has a 2 year fixed rate at 4.75% but it's worth noting that it has a fee of £1,498 for the full offset account version, although this has a maximum loan of only £300,000 pounds.

• Alliance & Leicester's 2 year fixed rate mortgage is available at 4.99%. However, as it has an arrangement fee of 2% of the loan amount, so this is only competitive for small mortgages. On a £200,000 mortgage, the £4,000 fee makes the true cost of the loan over 2 years to be 5.99%.

Andrew Hagger, of Moneyfacts.co.uk says:

"Although tracker rates are creeping as lenders look for an increased margin, with the high level of uncertainty in the market at present and with the potential of further rate cuts to come this year, these types of mortgages are still worth considering".

"Bank rate is widely expected to fall, so trackers or discounts make sense for most borrowers, and one with no tie-in at all means you can remortgage away when you like: borrowers seem to be awaiting a new wave of sub-5% fixed rates."

(All rates quoted are correct at time of publication)

Should you buy a house now or buy one later?

Avoid mortgage misery in 2008

Did you know that you could save money by switching from your loan provider mid-term?

No?

Well you won't be alone, as many of you clearly think that such a move is impossible or comes with stiff penalties.

30% of you with unsecured loans said you would not switch loans because the savings are too small, 20% of you think its way to much trouble and 6% of you think it's just not possible.

However, according to price comparison site uSwitch.com, 25% of loan providers allow you to switch your loan any without penalty.

And over two-thirds charge just one month's interest (about £39 on an £8,000 pound loan taken over 5 years at a rate of 10.9%).

Look at it this way, if you borrowed that sum, you would save yourself £140 in interest if you switched half way through the term to a best-buy rate of 6.8% (after taking account of the penalty fee).

Even better news, is that opting for the most competitive deal from the start would cut the cost of your borrowing by a whopping £830 over the term!

Since the Bank of England reduced the base rate by 0.25% to 5.5% in December, 8 personal loans lenders have cut their rates. These include:

• Alliance & Leicester
• Moneyback Bank
• Lloyds TSB
• Barclays
• Sainsbury's Bank

If you are looking for the best personal loan deals on the market, (based on a £10,000 loan over 5 years without insurance) you should take a look at the following loans:

• Sainsbury's Bank 6.5%
• Moneyback Bank 6.7%
• Tesco Personal Finance 6.8%
• Barclaycard 6.8%

(data from price comparison site Moneyfacts.co.uk)

Mike Naylor, personal finance analyst at uSwitch.com says:

"With more base rate decreases predicted over the next 12 months, it's possible that we may see other providers following this example and offer more competitive deals than those available last year,"

"In such a volatile unsecured personal loan market, five years is a long time to stick with the same provider, as rates fluctuate constantly."

So, if you think you have been paying over the odds for your loan, why not get some impartial advice on how to switch?

Lenders stinging you with higher rates

Do you stop to pick up a penny or do you only stoop down for a £1?

On average we pocket £4 a year from picking up pennies from the street according to research by leading independent personal finance website Fool.co.uk.

Now, that may not sound like much, but across Britain, this equates to a potential £186 million a year!

That is a lot of loose cash and we respond to it in different ways:

- The average person picks up £3.80 of lost loose change in a year

- 7 out of 10 of us will keep paper money if we find it in the street

- 1 in 5 of us will hand it in

- 1 in 50 of us each year find over £50

Nearly 60% of us will pick up a lonely penny lying on the street; but not all of us are that cheap! 9% of us feel our effort has to be rewarded by at least 10p, and 7% of us simply won't go out of our way for anything less than £1.

• Men have (almost) all the luck

However, women are less likely to keep their haul; 35% will donate any notes they find to charity or hand them in to the police.

• The unscrupulous youth?

Contrast this with 55% of people aged over 58 years of age who will keep it. But the over fifties are more likely to pick up coppers; 4 out of 10 say they will do so.

• The focused Londoner

However, 70% of their contemporaries in Yorkshire and Humberside will embrace that extra little coin.

• The decent Irish

But 76% of Londoners and residents in the North East confess that they will keep what they find.

• Sofa so good!

1 in 10 of us always also check the change slot in vending machines and payphones (well, you never know what you might find) and 1% find that locations around parking meters are lucrative penny-picking areas.

David Kuo, Head of Personal Finance at Fool.co.uk, commented on their findings:

"It's quite extraordinary that people chuck away £186 million a year through carelessness. But it seems that one man's loss can be another man's gain.

"Now, no one can prove whether finding a penny and picking it up will bring you good luck. But there are better ways of making £3.80 than combing the streets for a year.

"By cutting out a store-bought sandwich at lunch and replacing it with a home-made one, you could easily pocket an extra £3.80 every day. And the money would grow to £1,429 in one year if deposited in a high-interest savings account paying 6%."

How much would make you happy?