Best savings for elderly parents

The_Truncbull

Hi my elderly mother has 18k in her current account with Nat West and doesnt want to move to another bank. Any advice on how she could get some interest without any huge upheavals? She is completely housebound and not very trusting

bigadaj

All reasonable options are contained in the best savings list and or forum advice, and all will take some effort.

Looking on the bright side the dire state of savings rates currently means that she is missing out on less lost interest than would have been the case in normal times.

bugbyte_2

Does she actually want to do anything with it? My Mother in Law (pbuh) happily looses 2.5K in lost interest alone every year. About 2 hours into explaining the risk scale (Bank Account > Casino) it became very apparent she was just humoring me, knowing full well that by keeping it in her 0.0001% TSB account complete with Bank Book it would drive me crazy.

Newly_retired

As a side issue, have you talked about getting Power of Attorney so that you can act for her when she is no longer able to do so? Sounds like she would be reluctant to agree!

innovate

Natwest is generally a bad place for savings. As are most savings accounts these days. The only hope you have to protect your cash from inflation is some other current accounts (123, Vantage, Flexdirect) but these all need managing which she may not be able to do without your help. You would need a POA to be able to do it.

You could try illustrating to your mother how her £18K will become less than £16K in the space of 5 years, without her spending a penny of it?

http://www.iawiaa.com/clientpages/calculators/inflation.htm

If she doesn't care about that, just leave her to it.

bugbyte_2

innovate wrote: »

You could try illustrating to your mother how her £18K will become less than £16K in the space of 5 years, without her spending a penny of it?

http://www.iawiaa.com/clientpages/calculators/inflation.htm

If she doesn't care about that, just leave her to it.

My Mother in Law's position, but with much larger figures. She is more than happy with the situation. To really wind me up, her neighbour (bearing in mind she lives on a run down estate) is claiming to be a FIA and she is considering going to him. I can't exactly say 'LOOK AT WHERE HE LIVES! if he was that good, he wouldn't live next door to you!'.

Back to the original OP. You do have to respect her decision. If you invested and lost, it may affect your relationship, especially if she does not understand risk. Worst case, you may end up being accused of stealing.

EDIT - Just realised you were talking bank accounts not investments.

atush

I can't exactly say 'LOOK AT WHERE HE LIVES! if he was that good, he wouldn't live next door to you

Why can't you say it? It is true? you MIL either doesn't like you, or wants a bit of a game with you. So wind her up straight back?