redundent soon what can i do

gamston

hi
looks like i will be made redundent in around years time
what can i claim and is there anything i should think about doing

i'll be 55 yrs old, been working since i was 16 yrs, been with this company for 33 yrs
i'm going to take biggest pension i can (£30K) with very small lump sum
got £100k in savings, NO mortagage, 2 children at uni, 1 child at senior school
can i claim dole money, do i need to move/"spend" my savings.
don't want to find that i've saved to make old age nice, only to find out i'm going to lose out

getmore4less

If taking the pension then there will be no means tested benifits.

COntributions based Job seekers for 6months will be about it(but you need to be looking for work).

Might be some tax/pension credits.


Best thing you can do is start living on your estiimated pension income level now and cut your cloth to your future means before it becomes a reality.

You have a year to practice and not use up your savings.

gamston

thanks for that bad news
looks like i need to get a p/t job to help cover the costs
just does not seem fair, because i have looked after my money, i can't get any help
makes u wonder if i should have spent everything i earned, and ended up with a small pension and gone to state for hand out

yorkiebar

gamston wrote: »

just does not seem fair, because i have looked after my money, i can't get any help
makes u wonder if i should have spent everything i earned, and ended up with a small pension and gone to state for hand out

I understand your frustration! As the previous poster mentioned you will qualify for the contribution based job seekers allowance for six months though. Get down to the job centre and see what's what.

Good luck.

getmore4less

gamston wrote: »

thanks for that bad news
looks like i need to get a p/t job to help cover the costs
just does not seem fair, because i have looked after my money, i can't get any help
makes u wonder if i should have spent everything i earned, and ended up with a small pension and gone to state for hand out

£30k is more than enough to live on, what more do you think you need(not want).

Adjust your spending down.

The spend it all approach would have had you on a lot lower income.

gamston

£30k would be ok for me & Mrs, but with 2 at uni and 1 in senior school
with all the new uni costs, i'll need that and more.

getmore4less

gamston wrote: »

£30k would be ok for me & Mrs, but with 2 at uni and 1 in senior school
with all the new uni costs, i'll need that and more.

Tell the kids at uni they have to work your not paying it all anymore

£100k in savings use some of that

With 33 years service there will be the redundancy payment as well.

arsenalboy

when you get pension there will be no deduction for NI contributions or pension contributions, therefore, you will see a lot more from a 30k pension compared with a 30k salary.
As regards Uni, if you already have 2 kids there they will not be charged the proposed increased fees as that is for 2012 intake. In fact with your income presumably going down your situation will give more maintenance grant which is not repayable.
As regards the 3rd one yet to go to uni, none of the tuition fees are payable up front and are only repayable when the child is earning a decent income.
If you get behind the headlines of your situation, work out a spreadsheet, it is probably not as bad as you think. If your wife has no income, put the 100k in the building society(s) in her name and save on the tax there.

veloo

when i got redundant, i found that i could get anything apart from contributions based JSA, which was about £65/wk. i was paying more in tax per month, than any benefits i could get for those 6mths. i had to pay full council tax, as i had savings. so, i got a taste of being retired very early on. on the other hand, if i had nothing, i would have been entitled to a lot more.

"savers and those who behaved prudently now find themselves among the biggest losers from this crisis"
-Mervyn King, BoE

getmore4less wrote: »

Tell the kids at uni they have to work your not paying it all anymore

yes, i agree children should look after themselves and not be a burden on parents. they should be able to work and pay their way through university. most of them do. and there are student loans on very good terms. if they are irresponsible, then you shouldn't be giving them any of your money anyway!

gamston

don't you think i've worked for what i've got,
had nothing given to me,
i had to work and study hard to get where i am.
i've saved to support my kids the best i can, that's why i try to support them though uni, its just the way i've lived this life

Aegis

gamston wrote: »

don't you think i've worked for what i've got,
had nothing given to me,
i had to work and study hard to get where i am.
i've saved to support my kids the best i can, that's why i try to support them though uni, its just the way i've lived this life

That's all well and good, but the comment was that people who are still working a full week have, in the majority of cases, got far less income and savings than you'll have when you're not working. That's why people are saying that it's absolutely right that you shouldn't have access to means-tested benefits: they are designed to help the people with considerably less than you have.

I'm not sure it's been asked yet, but if you're 55 and can't afford to retire yet, why aren't you just taking the redundancy money and finding a new full-time job at another company?