Bridging Midlife Momentum & Financial Wellbeing for Older Adults

As the Centre for Social Justice’s Midlife Mission report (August 2025) starkly reminds us, the UK faces a pressing “midlife crisis”: over 1.99 million individuals aged 50–64 claim out‑of‑work benefits, a surge of 560,000 since February 2020  . To confront this challenge, the report advocates for sweeping reforms; introducing age‑specific employment targets, rolling out WorkWell as a National Work and Health Service, expediting Access to Work, reinforcing occupational health services, and embedding age‑specialist careers guidance within the new National Jobs and Careers Service  .

At its core, the report underscores a vital truth: skilled, experienced older workers remain an untapped asset. Yet, systemic barriers, like the over‑issuance of “not fit for work” fit‑notes and health‑related exit from employment, threaten to sideline these individuals unless support systems evolve.

While policy reforms are essential, access to personal financial advice offers a powerful lever for older adults, especially those aged 65 and over. As part of the work to connect people to life-changing advice, Angels Connect works in partnerships with St Andrew’s Community Network to connect those who are aged 65 and over to targeted money advice to transform financial resilience for older individuals. This service equips seniors with knowledge, confidence, and pathways to claim entitlements, ease cost-of-living pressures, and manage long-term financial planning.

This initiative, designed to improve access to  money‑advice aligns seamlessly with the CSJ report’s objectives: as older adults re-enter or remain connected to the workforce, ensuring their financial stability becomes crucial for sustained economic well‑being and personal dignity.

This mission has recently received a further boost through our  partnership with Independent Age.  Last year, Independent Age commissioned a number of advice organisations and community bodies to extend services for older people facing financial hardship. Through that commissioning, they strengthened grassroots advice delivery, ensuring vulnerable older adults across the UK received free, impartial money guidance, support with benefits (such as Pension Credit and Attendance Allowance), and access to grants and local services  .

By supporting this commissioning effort, the Angels Connect initiative is able to ensure that tailored financial guidance reaches those most in need.

The Bigger Picture: Why this all matters

Issue

Insight

Contribution

Economic Inactivity at Midlife

Ages 50–64 face barriers to productive engagement, with rising inactivity undermining growth.

CSJ’s reform agenda offers a path to reintegration into work.

Financial Vulnerability Post-65

Fixing the midlife crisis alone isn’t enough, many older adults lack essential financial advice.

Improving access to advice via Angels Connectfills this gap, empowering individuals to manage money, claim benefits, and build security.

Local Advice Ecosystems

Without trusted, funded advice organisations, older adults may fall through the cracks.

Partnership with Independent Age supports the infrastructure that delivers real impact.

The Midlife Mission report is a crucial wake-up call: we cannot ignore the wealth of experience and potential lying within workers aged 50 and over. But economic policy alone won’t suffice. Complementary initiatives like Angels Connect, and those advice services receiving referrals from the initiative play an equally critical role in supporting older adults to thrive, preserving dignity, security, and autonomy.

As a result of partnerships like the one we hold with Independent Age, more older people have access to the guidance they need to navigate financial challenges and claim their entitlements. Working together through policy advocacy, advice infrastructure, and community-level support, we can ensure that ageing in the UK is not an economic burden, but an opportunity for societal strength and personal fulfilment.

Angels Connect

Our web-based training comprises of a 30-minute training video (broken down into bitesize chapters) and a short multiple choice quiz based on the video content. The training has been developed by qualified practitioners and is regularly reviewed. This resource has been designed to be user-friendly and accessible to anyone who wishes to increase their knowledge so that they can give specified guidance to those going through a tough time with their finances.

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