OAPs and savings

sparklysaver

Macro wrote: »

Makes me determined to ensure when I get old that my pension is spent [STRIKE]on gin and young men[/STRIKE] making life more comfortable.

:beer: I am in full agreement with you on this one! Honestly, unless they think they're going to have some sort of incredible funeral or something, I have no idea what they're stashing it away for!

evenasus

sparklysaver wrote: »

Honestly, unless they think they're going to have some sort of incredible funeral or something, I have no idea what they're stashing it away for!

I 'stash it away' as you call it, as I want my sons and their families to receive a nice inheritance.

Although I've already said that we don't go without anything. We enjoy a VERY comfortable lifestyle.

Then again, we've never had to claim any benefits. Oh - apart from the couple of pounds a week family allowance as it was called in the 60's.
I used to save that up and buy the children's clothes with it.

sparklysaver

And if you can afford to leave them a nice inheritance then I'm sure they'll appreciate it; I know I would, although I'd hope my mum wasn't going without anything on my behalf.

But, in this case, I hope to god that's not what they're thinking, because a/ the thought of my 90something year old grandpa leaving the heating off so he can leave me a few extra quid makes me feel ill, frankly and b/ we've all been helping them out for years thinking they were struggling!! :rotfl:

paddedjohn

OP, regarding the carpet situation in their home, since they have been paying rent to a housing association for sheltered housing for 14 yrs, have the housing association any responsibility to replace the carpets? 14yrs is only general wear and tear after all.

sparklysaver

Nope, the flats were fully unfurnished; they had to supply their own carpets, white goods, etc when they moved in. They bought dirt cheap thin carpets which was all they could afford at the time, so they've all stretched and worn through now. I'm sure the floor is more mat than carpet; it's a complete health hazard even if you're sure on your feet! Thanks for the idea though.

Pollycat

paddedjohn wrote: »

Op, your grandparents are not going to suffer financially with the withdrawal of housing benefits, they have £16k in the bank to help them pay their way (saved from other benefits they were entitled to but obviously didnt need) and will be entitled to reclaim once their savings are reduced a little.

Just like to add that if this couple were in their 40's/50's then people would be chastising them on this thread for having so much cash and wanting more.

Paddedjohn
I don't agree with the bit in your post that I've highlighted.
From the bits in sparklysaver's first post that I've highlighted it sounds to me that they probably did need the money, they've just got that (possibly nowadays) old-fashioned idea about saving, instead of spending, money.

And yes, probably if sparklysaver's grandparents were in their 40s or 50s they probably would be chastised.
But that's irrelevant here as they're in/close to their 90s.

sparklysaver wrote: »

The whole family still chips in to help them out when we can, for example my brother bought them a digibox because they were stressed about digital switchover and said they couldn't afford a new TV. We had all been discussing whether or not we could afford to get them new carpets for christmas, because the ones they have down are threadbare and they keep putting trip-hazard mats down to cover the holes.

We're not trying to get them to fiddle the system, we're just annoyed that they've still been using buses, eating cold food and not switching the heating on when they had the money to do it and should have been spending it all along. :mad::mad: At the end of the day it's their money and if they want to save it we can't stop them, but if I was clearer on the details I would feel happier advising them.

clemmatis

paddedjohn wrote: »

Op, your grandparents are not going to suffer financially with the withdrawal of housing benefits, they have £16k in the bank to help them pay their way (saved from other benefits they were entitled to but obviously didnt need) and will be entitled to reclaim once their savings are reduced a little.

Just like to add that if this couple were in their 40's/50's then people would be chastising them on this thread for having so much cash and wanting more.

Yes indeed.

I'm sorry the grandparents have -- apparently -- been depriving themselves of hot food etc.. But scrimping and saving is not stupid. My father couldn't have foreseen he'd die unexpectedly young, and twenty years before my mother; but when he did, what he'd saved for her -- his will left her everything -- certainly gave her security. And her saving meant that when she had a bad fall and did not recover, the fees for a good nursing home could easily be paid and, in the end, her house, now mine, wasn't touched at all.

I now deeply regret not saving more myself, over the years. (Unexpected house problems have eaten massively into their. now my, capital.) But still, their saving has given me security, too.

But they claimed no means tested benefits, and nor do I.

edit and though my parents lived very frugally indeed -- and almost always took buses, or walked, till, in my mother's case, her very late eighties -- they'd never have said they could not afford a TV, and asked us to buy one.

As for spending the savings, OP: I looked into this when I held POA for my mother, thinking I might have to use some to pay for essential house maintenance. Social Services told me that would be fine.

Benefits regulations aren't the problem here.

iris

Lady_gaga wrote: »

because if you have over 6k in savings it effects your benefit entitlement, they have over 16k and didn't declare it.
they have to renew every year so have blatently been lying on the forms...

Not if you are over 65;)

It's £10,000.

Lady_gaga

iris wrote: »

Not if you are over 65;)

It's £10,000.

they still have more than that. and does that not only apply if your in a care home anyway.

margaretclare

Apparently my grandad thinks he'll feel like "a twister" whatever one of them is.

Translation: A devious, deceptive person, someone who doesn't tell the truth, who twists and turns to avoid detection.

Is that clear enough for you?

I am of that generation. I think that saving was hard-wired into us from a very young age. 'Waste not want not', a lot of sayings like that. I myself was taught to save by taking a few small coins to the school savings bank from my very first day of starting school. I still save. I've been asked 'what are you saving for at your age, why not spend it, go on a cruise or something'. Answer: cruises do not appeal, neither does going to bingo, smoking, drinking or any of the usual ways of spending money.

Having said that, we live simply but comfortably, and if I needed to replace carpets then I would do so. Having savings has been an absolute godsend when we needed e.g. the shower upgrading. I wouldn't say we 'scrimp and scrape', and our income is above the level for any form of means-tested benefits. I can't really empathise with the way your grandparents choose to live, taking food from family members - I'd be humiliated. But it's up to them, isn't it?