Parents with no pension, I’m a higher earner

Goodproblems

@xylophone thanks so much, I didn’t know about that. I assume that when we are able to access her state pension record, it will tell us if she’s already reached the full entitlement?

xylophone

 it will tell us if she’s already reached the full entitlement?

Yes -  see https://www.which.co.uk/money/pensions-and-retirement/state-pension/your-state-pension-forecast-explained-a24r12y9jt41

xylophone

Have you checked your own forecast?

marycanary

I would be extremely careful if I were you. I know a family with 2 sons and a daughter who are distant relatives of mine.  The mum was a widow who lived in a house which needed a lot of work and was too big for her, but she refused to move. The youngest son offered to pay for repairs and modernisation in return for a share of the house. Everyone agreed, the house was independently valued and a formal legal document drawn up. 

A few years later,  Mum died, and the house was sold. The youngest son's % was worth considerably more than the sum he provided (in part due to the repair and improvements it funded and partly due to house price inflation). His siblings wanted him to get back what he put in or perhaps a small increase, not the amount he was due. The daughter was particularly upset because she provided the most care for mum, visiting every day, not taking holiday and the like.  She felt this should be recognised and that she should receive some money in recompense.

They could probably have worked things out between them, but once both daughters in law and the son in law got involved, there was no chance of an amicable solution. The result is that a once very close family now don't speak. Their mother would be horrified. The whole thing is very sad and could have been avoided if the old lady had moved house.

Your parents are adults, they understand the situation.  I am sure they would rather sort out their finances including moving if they have to than risk their children falling out when they have gone.  
Mary

barnstar2077

If the mortgage is only £120k and assuming that both parents are entitled to a full state pension then do they actually need help?  I'm not sure if you have mentioned the term length or not, but I wouldn't think it would be very long considering their age.

Personally I would offer to help out in other ways.  Take them food shopping and pay, treat them by taking them on your family's holidays (creating memories for the grandkids), or pay for them to go somewhere nice for the weekend on their own etc.  Money that you can write off that won't affect anything down the line.

Money + friends and family is a recipe for disaster in my opinion!

Goodproblems

@xylophone I haven’t checked my own entitlement - I should do that but also I’m still around 30 years from retirement age and have no current plans to stop working (that could change, of course). I’ve survived the hard years with young babies/toddlers etc so I can’t see any reason why I would give up now! 

Also I have private pensions currently worth around 130k with around 20k being added each year, which sounds fine to me especially as we expect to pay off the house in a few years and have no need to upgrade the house. Rather than locking up large amounts of money in a pension resulting in more than I need at retirement age, I had planned on maintaining my current contributions (including matched employers contributions) and putting other savings in ISAs.

Cus

Fyi -Pension tapering changed last April. The threshold is now £240k rather than the previous £150k, and then it goes down to a minimum of £4k at £312k earnings, rather than the previous £10k at £210k. 
Thank the NHS GP's and doctors....

Goodproblems

@Cus thanks for flagging! That’s helpful, hopefully it applies to everyone and not just GPs (like the covid tax free childcare exception..)

Goodproblems

I know entering into financial transactions with family is fraught... Thanks for the advice, I will make sure everyone is signed up and in agreement before entering into any fixed arrangements. For my part I have no need of any inheritance and no interest in it either, I am securing my financial future now through my own earnings.

Goodproblems

@xylophone I’ve now checked my personal entitlement, it was surprisingly easy! I’d need an extra 20 years to get the full entitlement 😳 Feels a bit long from where I’m looking. I have a partial year which I can pay £290 to turn into a full year, I guess it makes sense to do that. By my calculations I’d recoup the cost within a year of being on state pension.