What should I do with £41,000

Susan1942

Not be happy watching or taking note of everything I spend.  It may make sense for a lot of people but I will be 84 in February. When things come up especially my grandchildren I will just pay for it. .  Currently I have 2 granddaughters at University and I give them money monthly.. I will pay rents and other expenses come up I will pay for it. 
I would not want to put money in Premium  Bonds.  A flexible Isa would not be possible as I understand you can only put £20,000 in any one year. 
The one concern is that I might end up in a care home and that everything I have including the property I live in being eaten up with the costs.  I am well for now but who knows what the future holds. 

eskbanker

Susan1942 said:

Not be happy watching or taking note of everything I spend.  It may make sense for a lot of people but I will be 84 in February. When things come up especially my grandchildren I will just pay for it. .  Currently I have 2 granddaughters at University and I give them money monthly.. I will pay rents and other expenses come up I will pay for it.

But are you happy to continue doing all of that without touching this £41K?

Susan1942 said:

I would not want to put money in Premium  Bonds.

Out of curiosity, what makes you rule them out?

Susan1942 said:

A flexible Isa would not be possible as I understand you can only put £20,000 in any one year.

So you could pay £20K in before April 2026 and another £20K thereafter, or even just stick with any subset of that, or do you feel compelled to put all of the £41K in the same place, immediately?

Susan1942 said:

The one concern is that I might end up in a care home and that everything I have including the property I live in being eaten up with the costs.  I am well for now but who knows what the future holds. 

It's obviously prudent to consider what you might need to spend money on in the future, rather than just the present - how many years of care would your current savings and investments afford without needing to sell your home, for example?

Eco_Miser

Susan1942 said:

Not be happy watching or taking note of everything I spend.  It may make sense for a lot of people but I will be 84 in February. When things come up especially my grandchildren I will just pay for it. .  Currently I have 2 granddaughters at University and I give them money monthly.. I will pay rents and other expenses come up I will pay for it. 
I would not want to put money in Premium  Bonds.  A flexible Isa would not be possible as I understand you can only put £20,000 in any one year. 
The one concern is that I might end up in a care home and that everything I have including the property I live in being eaten up with the costs.  I am well for now but who knows what the future holds. 

Being limited to only £20k a year when you have £41k available does not mean an ISA is not possible, merely that you can only use half the money that way now, and a further £20k from 6 April next year.

Kim_13

Surely, if you want to give some of the money away then being limited to putting £20,000 into a Cash ISA now isn't a problem. Make sure it is the money that remains outside of the ISA that you are gifting.

The Cash ISA limit may be cut in half next year and I can totally understand why you wouldn't want to invest in Stocks and Shares in your 80s, but it makes the current generous cash limit very much a use it or lose it. £10,000 cash is mooted as the limit for the next tax year, meaning you can get £30,000 of that £41,000 into Cash ISAs within 5 months.

Susan1942

Susan1942 said:

Not be happy watching or taking note of everything I spend.  It may make sense for a lot of people but I will be 84 in February. When things come up especially my grandchildren I will just pay for it. .  Currently I have 2 granddaughters at University and I give them money monthly.. I will pay rents and other expenses come up I will pay for it.

But are you happy to continue doing all of that without touching this £41K?

Susan1942 said:

I would not want to put money in Premium  Bonds.

Out of curiosity, what makes you rule them out?

Susan1942 said:

A flexible Isa would not be possible as I understand you can only put £20,000 in any one year.

So you could pay £20K in before April 2026 and another £20K thereafter, or even just stick with any subset of that, or do you feel compelled to put all of the £41K in the same place, immediately?

Susan1942 said:

The one concern is that I might end up in a care home and that everything I have including the property I live in being eaten up with the costs.  I am well for now but who knows what the future holds. 

It's obviously prudent to consider what you might need to spend money on in the future, rather than just the present - how many years of care would your current savings and investments afford without needing to sell your home, for example?

Should I be in care home it might not be too many years to meet the costs.  My concern is that all of that would eat up everything and my family would not gain from the sales of my home etc.  I don't have a reason why I am not interested in Premium Bonds.  Just never been interested possibly  because it is a type of gambling. I live in an over 55 development and I have lived here for 27 years.  The costs are high which is the downside but I would not want to move.  My monthly income is enough to cover all my outgoings and a bit left over. 

eskbanker

Susan1942 said:

It's obviously prudent to consider what you might need to spend money on in the future, rather than just the present - how many years of care would your current savings and investments afford without needing to sell your home, for example?

Should I be in care home it might not be too many years to meet the costs.  My concern is that all of that would eat up everything and my family would not gain from the sales of my home etc.

The point of the question (and the rest of that post, and others) was really to try to ascertain where this £41K fits within your financial plans for the future - if I'm interpreting your answer correctly you're saying that you might need it if needing care later, so simply gifting it to family at this stage isn't on your agenda (although deprivation of assets might rule that out anyway)?  If care funding was to be needed then you'd presumably start with savings and then investments before looking to sell your home, but your assets are there for your benefit rather than your family's, which is the way any local authority would see it too.

Susan1942

This £41,000 has been in this bond since 2003 and I really have no plans for it.  It is simply that I got the annual statement and its poor performance which has prompted to look at other options.
It is not my intentions to gift this money to my family.  Obviously if I need care that will need to be paid for but for now that is not a reality.  

Murielson

Personally I would go for best available cash iSA with £20k and £21k Premium bonds with the other

You obviously seem sorted for the most part and can use interest from the ISA to treat yurself and grandkids and hopefully get some wins with the PB which you can also treat as just interest, but maybe more if you strike a big win and treat family to even better!!

I am also looking to find somewhere for circa £30k but cash iSA already done, already have PB and will therefore be looking at a few fixed rate bonds which will pay out over different terms (1, 2 years) to take into account annual limits on savings before having to pay tax

Susan1942

I would like to thank everyone who has offered me advice.  I am going to put £20,000 in a cash ISA as a lot of people have recommended. The remainder of the money I will find a fixed rate bond.  I would however be not be  happy to put that in a bank I am not familiar with.  I called Phoenix Life yesterday and they are going to send me other bonds that might have a better return.  I doubt that I will invest with them. Again many thanks Sue 

badger09

@Susan1942

This new issue from NS&I might be just what you’re looking for:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6638731/ns-i-boosts-savings-bond-rates-heres-how-they-stack-up#latest