Best savings for elderly lady

elljay

Please could you give me advice about how best to deal with my mother's money. She's in her 90s but fully fit though I have an old style POA which means we can both manage her money though she deals with day to day stuff and has left savings up to me. She has the following in her 'nursing home fund':

£5k in Lloyds current account (this is mad but she sees it as a safety net)

£5k in Lloyds easy saver (quick access in case the above isn't enough!!!)

£35.5k in Lloyds ISA (it says she can invest a further £20k)

£130k in NS&I direct saver.

I've just checked online for the latter and it gives £1273.01 Interest capitalisation. Despite googling I don't know what this means, is it the total interest over the period of the investment (18 months) or the total for this past year April-March If just for this year then she's over the £1k limit.

My questions are:

Should I open a new ISA for her and clear out some of the NS&I money?
How do they take the tax due? I can see she is paid a total of £1800 per month into her bank income from 2 pensions so presumably that's after tax though she hasn't had to complete a tax return for years. Will she now have to complete one?

Sorry if this is confusing but as I live 200 miles away I want to try to sort this remotely!!!

Thanks for any advice.

EJ

xylophone

£5k in Lloyds current account (this is mad but she sees it as a safety net)

Is she eligible for a Lloyds Club account? Does she have at least two DDs?

Is so, upgrade account.

Then open a TSB Classic Plus account, deposit £1510 and set to paperless.

Set a same day mid month SO for £1500 from TSB to Lloyds and from Lloyds Club to TSB.

Pick up the monthly interest from TSB and FP to Lloyds to help cover the DDS (adjust for these as necessary).

She can get better rates than those offered by Lloyds on her ISA.

A transfer could be arranged.

https://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/article-1583859/Best-savings-rates-General-savings-Internet-branch.html

Her money is safe in NS&I - she could get better rates (see link above) but be mindful of FSCS protection (not relevant to NS&I).



See https://www.litrg.org.uk/tax-guides/other-tax-issues/savings-and-tax
for more detail re tax on savings interest.

The statement of interest from NS&I should show interest paid in the tax year 18-19 - read it carefully.

Dazed_and_confused

How do they take the tax due? I can see she is paid a total of £1800 per month into her bank income from 2 pensions so presumably that's after tax though she hasn't had to complete a tax return for years. Will she now have to complete one?

Unlikely she will need to complete a tax return (unless she is already completing one for some reason).

Normally the tax code for her main pension will be adjusted to account for any tax that is owed.