Retiring June 2023.....I am clueless and worried

winniethewitch

In 2019 my hubby, 64,died (cancer). I got cancer at same time,which I'd ignored, so it spread. 3 yr old Grandson died day of my major surgery. (6 people died in 9 mths that yr). Last yr eldest Grandson19, died. I had a breakdown; it ended my 48yr working life. I officially left work either April 2020 or 21. I was rarely out of work, so clueless about benefits. Daughter sorted them for me, but age 40, she's had a stroke & too ill to worry.I'm 66 next June... I saw something on paying tax & pensions & now worried. I get Contribution ESA& PIP higher rate. I paid into a pension for 10 yrs & get £42.50 a week. It goes in Credit Union, so this & other savings = £14,000. I also get half hubbys pension which must be private as he died 15mth short of 66. That works out about £97.50 a week. Due to breakdown/depression etc I don't retain things well & processing stuff is hard. I don't know if I got p60s & won't have kept anway. I live in a sheltered housing, paying full rent, but daughter lives rent free in ex-family home. it wouldn't sell as on a bad main road/no upgrade for 30yr.She sacrificed a lot to nurse us both. I don't know if house counts as income but It earns me nothing...I' am alone & scared & terrible with numbers (dyscalculea) How do I need to prepare, should I already pay tax? All advice appreciated....

[Deleted User]

You have had a tough time of it and the last thing that you need is more stress. 

You would need to have taxable income of over £12570 to pay ANY tax. From what you have posted, the only taxable income is both your and your husband’s pensions and the contribution based ESA. The pensions add up to £140 per week and the ESA would have to be more than £101 per week for you to be liable to any tax. It is important to ensure that your personal allowance is allocated correctly to ensure that no tax is paid.

This will change when you receive your state pension - presumably in a year or so. Tax will be payable then. Until that time I would relax and deal with that when the time arises.

pearl123

Firstly, I'd have a honest chat with your doctor, so that you can highlight that emotionally/mentally times are tough. Sometimes, they will put you in contact with organisations ie. mental health or support groups etc.
CAB are brilliant for advice and if you are in a real muddle they can sometimes sort things out for you.

LHW99

It would be worth checking your state pension entitlement (https://www.gov.uk/check-state-pension).

It's likely you will be entitled to the full state pension, but worth checking. If you can print off the whole page, CAB or one of the other support groups would be able to explain it to you, and say how it will affect your situation once you reach that age.

I hope things will go better for you from now on.

Bea63

Just wanted to stop and say Winnie, please get some mental health support ..also single at 66 and just rec'd pension so understand the worries you have..Great advisors on here who explain in normal terms when you can't understand all the government jargon!

anniecave

HMRC have good systems for managing multiple sources of pension income.  They will usually look at your basic state pension income and also other sources of pension income and allocate tax codes if needed. Some benefits are taxable and some are not but that's not a a reason to worry. 

gwynlas

Really sorry to hear that you have had such a bad time in recent years but please do not worry regarding tax. One thing that HM gov are good at is sorting out taxes owed by the little people, you tell them what you have coming in and they tell you what you need to pay and they decide how it is to be paid. It is very unlikely that any of this would be directly from youself but by appling your tax code probably to one of your pensions.  Please keep on top of your appointments regarding your physical and mental health