Inheritance

Wolfie45

By the end of the year, my husband should be inheriting the whole of his Mother's estate (she lived in the UK), which is a sizeable amount for us as we just survive on our pensions. We have lived in Spain for a few years and do not have any property of our own remaining in the UK, apart from her house that will become my husband's in a few months and which we intend selling. The only tie with the UK is that we have a current bank account with HSBC and my private pension is put in there each month and then transferred to Spain via Moneycorp, keeping just a small amount to pay a monthly Barclaycard account.

I wondered if anybody could advise us of the best way of dealing with this money so that we can secure our future (we're nearly 65 and 68). We intend to remain living in Spain so need reasonable access to the money without having to pay an arm and a leg each time due to the awful pound to euro rate.

We would be very grateful for any help.

RayWolfe

If you consider yourself to be Spanish to all intents and purposes, invest the money in Spain. No conversion problems, no further UK ties. Sorted!
Or keep it all over here, untouched, to pay for your medical care when you are old enough to need it ... after all, you wouldn't want UK tax payers to pay for your care, would you?

Wolfie45

What a shame that my first post here was blighted by sarcastic remarks. You obviously have some kind of problem but it would have been kinder not to have said anything rather than make yourself look so pathetic.

1) I do not consider myself Spanish - I just live here.
2) You have obviously not read my post properly otherwise you would have seen that we're both over the age of retirement.
3) I have paid into the UK system for 45 years (and my husband for 48 years) so therefore have paid more than enough for my 'aftercare'.

Perhaps when you realise how caustic you have been you will have the decency to apologise.

cos69

If you don't need the money now, have you considered keeping the property and renting it out. That should give you an income which hopefully will increase once the election is out of the way and the £ gets back to a reasonable exchange rate on the back of increasing interest rates.

Wolfie45

Thank you cos69 for your response. Yes, we did think about it for a few brief minutes but, like a lot of pensioners at the moment, the money will be a life-saver to us. We also want to help family who are in similar circumstances so that we can all sleep in our beds a little better each night.

McKneff

I think you were a lot more caustic than Raywolfe, he spoke a lot of sense,
it matters not a jot how long you have paid into the system, when or if you need to go into a nursing home in the UK you will have to pay for your care.
Same as the rest of us in the UK


after all, you wouldn't want UK tax payers to pay for your care, would you?

If this is the bit you took exception too then i cant see whats wrong with it.
Maye a bit sarky, but thats life.

If you do end up having to take up a place in a nursing home, all your finances will be counted, possibly including money you give away and if you give too much money away you will be found to be guilty of deprivation of capital when claiming means tested benefits (Ie care home fees) Its a very complex situation. We in the UK have to pay for our care in old age and so will you.

cloud_dog

As your pension is paid in to a UK bank and transferred to you in Spain (spanish bank I assume) you appear to have a significant exposure to ongoing exchange rate EUR/GBP fluctuations; it may make more sense to try to protect yourself from that, or at least have an know quantity buy transferring the remainder of the inheritance in to your spanish accounts.

You can then consider what financial tools (investments/savings) are avaialble in Spain.

RayWolfe

Wolfie45 wrote: »

I do not consider myself Spanish - I just live here.

How could I have got it so wrong?

Wolfie45 wrote: »

.. The only tie with the UK is that we have a current bank account with HSBC and my private pension is put in there ...
We intend to remain living in Spain ...

Oh yes, I see.

Exocet

Would it be easy to bank with Santander which has branches in UK and Spain, and switch savings between countries as required?

Wolfie45

Exocet - Would we be allowed to open an account in the UK if we're not resident?

RayWolfe - Please don't bother responding any further please, I don't enjoy your 'sense of humour'.

Cloud_dog - With the exchange rate at the moment we would lose a considerable amount by transferring the money over here.

McKneff - Obviously you have not read my posting correctly. I did state that "we intend living in Spain". We have no intention of returning to the UK - ever - so your sarcasm regarding the UK paying for our future care is totally irrelevant.

cheerfulcat

Hello, Wolfie,

I'm inclined to agree with cloud_dog ( and indeed RayWolfe - despite the snarky tone, his advice was sound ); if you intend to remain where you are, it would be best to minimise your foreign exchange risk by transferring your assets into Euros.

Best perhaps to get advice from a local IFA?

ETA - there is an expat investors board on TMF which may be of interest.