Best Investment Deals for Elderly Mother

margaretclare

I may well be 'too easily offended' and that may well be because I'm in the age-group being discussed.

I would not advise the lady of 85+ to 'follow my example' and dip her toes into the waters of investment. I did so in my 70s and that was at the time when returns on savings, as opposed to investments, were pitifully low. Now, I wouldn't dream of starting all over again. If I were the lady being discussed I would do my best to find out just what I had and where best to put it. An independent financial advisor would be the place to go. There was also a mention of wanting 'income to live on'. She would be best advised to look at what she has got - hasn't she got a pension, is this bond all that she has?

Browntoa

Moved to savings and investments as you will get better advice

AnotherJoe

margaretclare wrote: »

I may well be 'too easily offended' and that may well be because I'm in the age-group being discussed.

I would not advise the lady of 85+ to 'follow my example' and dip her toes into the waters of investment. I did so in my 70s and that was at the time when returns on savings, as opposed to investments, were pitifully low. Now, I wouldn't dream of starting all over again. If I were the lady being discussed I would do my best to find out just what I had and where best to put it. An independent financial advisor would be the place to go. There was also a mention of wanting 'income to live on'. She would be best advised to look at what she has got - hasn't she got a pension, is this bond all that she has?

An IFA most likely wouldn’t be interested in £60k, especially for someone witha statistically short timescale to invest in. Even if they were it’s unlikely to be a good spend of money just to be told to either leave it where it is if nothing can be done with it, or put it in savings accounts

dunstonh

Investment bonds do not pay dividends. The withdrawals are either full surrenders of policy segments or partial surrenders.

In the event of my mother's death there would be no return of investment,

That is not how investment bonds work. There would be a return of the value plus an uplift (usually nominal amount. say 101% of value). If the bonds are in trust, then the proceeds would go to the beneficiary. If they are not in trust, they would become part of the estate.

she is now considering alternative (less risky) ways to invest the remaining money, to live on, and secure some inheritance for myself and my sister.

investment bonds are just a tax wrapper that contain investments. It is the investments that carry the different risk levels. If she wants to reduce the risk, she can do that within the investment bonds by selecting lower risk funds.

The age 85 thing is relevant but you have to be careful of generalisations. Someone who has never had investments is unlikely to be interested in starting at 85. The FOS would typically class most over 85 new investor sales as a missale. However, if the person already has a history of investing and is generally knowledgeable on those things and there is a clear beneficiary path (i.e. child who would continue the investment rather than cash it in or a trust arrangement that saves tax) then they are generally acceptable. It all comes down to justification and at 85 you would expect a few more boxes to be ticked compared to someone who was say 65.

The OP needs to be careful. Surrender of the bonds could create a tax liability. Also, the investment bond value is excluded in means-tested benefits. You could have £1million in an investment bond and still get benefits. At age 85, care and benefits could be an issue soon.