Savings for Retirement

Hi Galen

My father's lady friend who wanted the house spent about half her life in West Bromwich.

Frank

and the pepper Galen

I'm not a Brummie but near enough at westbromwhich. We midlanders are the salt of the earth, well almost all midlanders.

Movedalot You don't need to leap to the defence of Brummies. I haven't criticised Brummies per se – just queried the fact the HUNTERF seems to know so many people who are envious and downright disapproving of his home, car and savings and so many people for whom inheriting property is the most important aspect of family life. I just wondered if there was an unusual concentration of such people near where he lives.

absent I have just caught up on this thread and can see that no one has stood up for Brummies so I will! I am not one but do know a lot and they are not at all complaining and whinging. They are lovely people. One of my German ex-colleagues had previously lived in Brum and said the people were lovely and she preferred living there to living in Surrey.

I believe that everyone will now be enrolled in their company pension scheme unless they elect not to but no one will be forced to do so.

Hi Bez

I could see some legal wrangles happen if say the step parent is in the house and the children's parent passes away first.
The step parent could get married again and bring that person in the house and the situation could go on an on to the point where the children may never be able to sell the house and inherit the money.

Frank

No Frank - I did mean either parent or step parent. Depends I would think on the legal situation of the house however when one parent dies as far as I can ascertain the children do inherit from that parent at the time.

Jane

Unfortunately I have not read much about benefits.

Frank

Hi Jane

I see what you are saying but I think a lot of the 70% who have less than £50,000 saved for retirement could have saved a lot more.
As I said a lot of people who I worked with thought I was an idiot paying in to the occupational pension scheme and I remember my manager saying I was the first one who approached him about joining the scheme on my first day.
He said the general policy of the bank was to approach new joiners about 6 weeks after they joined and they often joined a month or so later.
In my case as I joined late in the month they could not take the contribution out of my first salary payment but I asked it to be taken out of my second salary payment and I asked for it to be backdated to the day I joined.

Frank

I wasn't talking about you actually, Frank
I was talking about people who, for whatever reason, work in low-paid jobs but who nevertheless make a valuable contribution to society.

Hi Jane

It looks as if you are correct.
I have however had no dealings with pension benefits.
When I got made redundant from the council they quickly stated I would not be entitled to any.
My occupational pension is a lot more than what my state pension will be.

Frank

Hi Bez

I think you mean step parent in your last statement. Am I correct?.

Frank

Hi Bez

I have thought about what you are saying but my oldest grandchild is only 6 and at this stage I think my son's in law would need the money to look after the grandchildren.
I am going to review my will as my grandchildren get older.
Unfortunately you can not cover everything.
Last year we all went on an aeroplane to Jersey and one of my son's in law came on another aeroplane a day later as he could not get the day off work.
If the aeroplane went down with everybody on it except him he could have been the only one left alive.

Frank

Coming back to the OP, the problem if someone has a small pension pot of less than £50K, is that this will at current annuity rates give them only a pension of about £2500 per year + state pension. they may then fall into a benefit trap and lose entitlement to things like housing benefit and pension credit, which they would have been entitled to, if they had saved nothing.
This obviously acts as a disincentive to lower paid workers to save.
However, I think from April all workers have to be enrolled in a workplace pension.
Perhaps it's a cunning plan to reduce the eligibility of people for means-tested benefits.

There are often wrangles in France about the property as all sorts of relatives could stake a claim but as far as I know the children come first especially if their mother owned part of the house.
There are strict rules about who inherits what percentage of the house - so it is quite likely in the case you state that the children already 'owned' a percentage of the house. They are not allowed to put the remaining parent out on the street as far as I know.

If your DDs pre decease you - and I could think of nothing worse - then you would have time to make adjustments in your will. Have you thought of the scenario that if your money goes to SiLs they could remarry and then your grand daughters could end up with nought.

Hi absent

I had no problem with any relatives when I inherited my father's house. All the people who were complaining about me inheriting the house were non relatives.
We do have clauses in our wills.
At present my estate goes to my 2 daughters and if they are not alive at the time the estate goes to my 2 son's in law and if they are not alive it goes in to trust for my granddaughters.
I will have to alter my will later this month when my new grandchild arrives.
I also have a clause in the will if none of the above are alive the estate goes to other parts of the family and they have similar clauses in favour of us in their wills.
I think as the grandchildren get older I may be writing a new will so most of my estate will go to the grandchildren.

Frank

Frank you do seem to be obsessed with property and money - do you ever stop to appreciate all the lovely things around you?

Most people I know don't care that much - just as long as they have enough to get by. For about 10 years I drove an old claptrap of a car, it was rusty and definitely looked its age, but every time I turned the key it started so I kept it until it finally gave up the ghost. At that time we lived in what was described to me as the most expensive house in the village - to me it was just bricks and mortar and my home, its value was of no consequence until we wanted to sell. I now live in a much smaller house in the same village, my neighbours don't assume I have fallen on hard times because I no longer live in "the big house".

HUNTERF Do you know any families where the members don't hate each other and are not wrangling about inheriting property?

Hi again Bez

I did read of a case a little while ago where a French man owned a house in both France and England.
He was widowed and he got married to an English lady. Sadly he passed away and left the house in England to his new wife.
She wanted the house in France as well which would have left the children with nothing.
The last I read was the court in France concluded that the children would get the house in France but they could not order the house in England to be habded over to them so it appears the new wife got the house in England.

I could see some problems in France if say the mother passes away and the father gets married again.
If the father leaves the new wife on her own in the house can the children order her out on the day of his death possibly with no where to go.

Frank

Not sure but I gather that they are chased by the authorities. I have not looked into it at at all - the only people I know who had parents in a care home did make up the deficit themselves.

gilly I'm off to work now I've got a headache already !

Hi Bez

Could the children be legally obliged to sell their house to fund their parents care?.

Frank

gillybob

I was trading in an Escort as well but it was about 4 years old.

Frank

gilly.