how to get rid of your savings so you can get council tax benifits

sorcerer

What would happen if I put all of my savings into a pension, would you get it then?

jamesd

jocan wrote: »

my mother in law has sold her house because she could not afford the upkeep and maintanence of it .She now lives in a council flat and pays full rent because she has savings of over £16000

Can't legally just give it away but she can be sure that she has it invested efficiently so it can generate the maximum income.

For example, 7% interest is available tax free from the Invesco Perpetual Monthly Income Plus fund if it's held inside a stocks and shares ISA. The capital value will vary but should be reasonably stable over the long term. She shouldn't use just this, it's just an example of what's available.

margaretclare

jamesd wrote: »

Can't legally just give it away but she can be sure that she has it invested efficiently so it can generate the maximum income.

For example, 7% interest is available tax free from the Invesco Perpetual Monthly Income Plus fund if it's held inside a stocks and shares ISA. The capital value will vary but should be reasonably stable over the long term. She shouldn't use just this, it's just an example of what's available.

But the OP and MIL are not thinking that way, James! That's the way you'd think, I'd think, my OH would think, a lot of us would think that way. I know people around here who've sold their houses - became too big, too unmanageable, too costly - and have moved into various forms of sheltered/retirement properties run by a local housing association. They're all living comfortably on what they gained from sale of house property. I have not heard any one of them whingeing about not being able to claim means-tested benefits.

If I was to be widowed for the second time I would certainly be doing what you suggest. But that's not what's being asked, is it?

I think the straight answer to the original question has to be an unequivocal 'no'.

jamesd

Them not thinking that way is part of why I did. The question implies that savings are being spent, not just living off the income. So I started to address what can be done about that possible problem. If it is a problem.

teajug

jocan wrote: »

my mother in law has sold her house because she could not afford the upkeep and maintanence of it .She now lives in a council flat and pays full rent because she has savings of over £16000 the chap next door only pays£16.00 a week because he has savings less than £16000 is there any thing we can do to get her savings down to below £16000 such a give children and grandchildren gifts of money if so how much money can you give a year ? thankyou

Would you like your mother to give away all her savings becasue you would like your children to have a good time. Why is it always the in-laws :o

swift1_2

I did chuckle when I read the title!

When you say chap next door has less than 16k - do you know how much he has got? he might only have a few hundred pounds?
When you say your MIL has more than 16k - how much more than 16k has she got? are we talking 20k, 50k or 100k?
If the chap next door only has couple of hundred pounds, he's not going to be getting very much in interest/returns. Whereas your MIL, if she has properly invested her savings could get a decent return - I know interest rate savings are pretty crap, so you'd probably have to look at corporate bonds or decent pay dividend stocks. Which would then go some way in offsetting the rent.

The problem with the question your asking is, your asking people on here to give you "bent" advice - your probably best of asking someone down the pub.

brasso

There's a lot of moralising here.

I think the question the OP asked has been pretty comprehensively answered now, but people need to accept that one of the failures of a welfare state and a culture of dependence is that those who do 'the right thing' end up feeling aggrieved. When they look at others living on free money - often a result of knowing how to play the system - they understandably want to know if there is any way they can jump on the gravy train.

If all claimants were in desperate need due to circumstances beyond their control, and if all non-claimants were comfortably wealthy, then yes, the indignation at the OP would be merited.

But people who pay a large part of their salary in tax, and who see neighbours on benefits who seem barely less financially disadvantaged, get so hacked off that they start to ask questions like this.

le_loup

Don't be so effin' ridiculous.
You have no idea what the chap next door has had in his life. Why do you moralise yourself about poor people being !!!!less.
Stop reading the Daily Mail and get out more!

brasso

le_loup wrote: »

Don't be so effin' ridiculous.
You have no idea what the chap next door has had in his life. Why do you moralise yourself about poor people being !!!!less.
Stop reading the Daily Mail and get out more!

Daily Mail? Shudder.

The welfare state was a fantastic idea but a few generations down the line, it's now in total crisis. I am happy to pitch in with money to help the genuinely needy, but the system has become a behemoth that is sucking Britain dry -- and not just of money.

thelawnet

How much dosh does she have?

If it's £160k, there's not much you can sensibly do.

If it's only £20k, well spending the excess might well be prudent.