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Carer, means testing and preparing for the future
alecpr
Posts: 109 Forumite
in Cutting tax
Hi,
Not sure if this is the right thread and not sure if people will disaprove of the question I'm going to ask, but here goes:
My Mum is caring for my Dad who is terminally ill. My Dad, as was traditional was the bread winner of the family, although both are now retired. My Dad had a final salary pension, whereas my Mum had a small pension (she has worked most of her life, but not been a high earner).
While my Dad is alive, they are reasonably well off as pensioners, but my Mum is concerned about the future. When my Dad dies, my Mum will be left with the majority of her pensionable years still in front of her, there are savings available, but because my Dad is going to need a carer for a while yet my Mum beleives those savings will be eaten away, leaving her with a small Widows pension and 21K (the means tested limit she will be left with before the government chips in more towards my Dads care).
So my question revolves around this scenario. my Mum obviously wants to be left with enough money to live on for the remainder of her life, between them they have about 60K in cash, the income from which my Mum always believed she could use as a substitute for my Dads pension should anything happen.
What should my Mum do to protect her standard of living?
The obvious answer is to exchange her cash assets for some other kind of asset which will not be part of the means testing. Passing on money to children is not important (she wouldn't agree), so an annuity would be an option, if that is allowed in these circumstances. Alternatively gifting some of the money to family as a thankyou for the help later in her life?
I really don't know, but I don't want my Mum to live in poverty when they have both done everything one could reasonbly expect to prepare for their retirement.
This would also be a serious concern for anyone funding their pension from an ISA, as an ISA would be a cash asset eaten in to by the government should they find themselves a carer of a loved one. It's an area I hadn't thought about until this happened to my family.
Not sure if this is the right thread and not sure if people will disaprove of the question I'm going to ask, but here goes:
My Mum is caring for my Dad who is terminally ill. My Dad, as was traditional was the bread winner of the family, although both are now retired. My Dad had a final salary pension, whereas my Mum had a small pension (she has worked most of her life, but not been a high earner).
While my Dad is alive, they are reasonably well off as pensioners, but my Mum is concerned about the future. When my Dad dies, my Mum will be left with the majority of her pensionable years still in front of her, there are savings available, but because my Dad is going to need a carer for a while yet my Mum beleives those savings will be eaten away, leaving her with a small Widows pension and 21K (the means tested limit she will be left with before the government chips in more towards my Dads care).
So my question revolves around this scenario. my Mum obviously wants to be left with enough money to live on for the remainder of her life, between them they have about 60K in cash, the income from which my Mum always believed she could use as a substitute for my Dads pension should anything happen.
What should my Mum do to protect her standard of living?
The obvious answer is to exchange her cash assets for some other kind of asset which will not be part of the means testing. Passing on money to children is not important (she wouldn't agree), so an annuity would be an option, if that is allowed in these circumstances. Alternatively gifting some of the money to family as a thankyou for the help later in her life?
I really don't know, but I don't want my Mum to live in poverty when they have both done everything one could reasonbly expect to prepare for their retirement.
This would also be a serious concern for anyone funding their pension from an ISA, as an ISA would be a cash asset eaten in to by the government should they find themselves a carer of a loved one. It's an area I hadn't thought about until this happened to my family.
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