Do you have savings?

I believe that, if they suspect deprivation of assets, they can go back further.

We have tried to save a little each month. This usually goes out again on car, holidays, presents, but there is a cushion. Thankfully DH's pension will come with a nice lump sum which will be buffer money for later in life. Life circumstances mean we will probably always have to rent our home, but we are both people who feel happy with 'enough' and don't want for more so hopefully all will be well.

We've got a ISA with the burning money in and the children have access to that, theirs also the house which is paid for, but we don't save on a regular basis, if we want it we get it.

Burning money?

Funeral expenses perhaps?

20k would be a life changing amount to me mcem ( probably not much to many other people I know though) and I would use it to pay some debts off . I have never been in the position to be able to save as I have never had any spare money left over after essentials. DH and I haven't even had a steady income in over 20 years . Likewise I have never received any money from anyone in a will/windfall/inheritance. It must be amazing to get a "leg up" once in a while .

I think I just question the attitude that it's there to spend and the idea of a rainy day fund doesn't seem to exist.
If that rainy day doesn't happen then some cash is there for the family - though in my case I 'm not talking about house deposits.
I did save while working and was lucky enough to have a bit of a leg-up with a modest inheritance but my pension goes from maximum to minimum every month so no chance of adding to savings.

We spend a bit and save a bit and thankfully don't have to worry about the bills especially lovely that I can have all the heating on I want during the winter and can afford to shop in Waitrose and M & S for food supplies. We both paid into pension schemes all our working lives but no inheritances.

MOnica - good point in your post at 16.32 yesterday.
With interest rates as low as they are at the moment it's hardly worth saving.
We've saved small amounts for specific things in the past, and encouraged our children to do the same. They've got a variety of attitudes to money-
Eldest is 'tight' - but always has a bob or 2 to lend.
Next has hardly 2 pennies but doesn't care.
Next (girl) is a spendthrift, but getting better.
Youngest (a girl) was also a spendthrift but now works hard and they spend any extra on their home.
So you can never tell who will follow their parents example.

I think it is probably sensible to have money put by for if the roof blows off or some such disaster, but money simply sat in the bank at our age is a pretty sterile thing and could be used for so much enjoyment and fun.

Remember going to a pre-retirement seminar where saving in retirement was discussed and whether it was considered desirable.
The answer was only for enjoyment like world cruises etc, but no point otherwise.

That's my philosophy

How I wish I could change my attitude to spending but I think it is ingrained and too late to change. Also at 80 I can't be bothered. I do spend on C and GC though to their delight.

It's pointless. You live a spared life to save your pennies for a "rainy day"... and when you get on in your years, you use that money to pay the shortfalls of what medical aid doesn't cover. Some nevery make it to their older years. Live for the now. Don't over do it but live. Enjoy what you're working for.

Also with the way the economy is and how it will just worsen drastically in the next 50 yrs. Money will eventually be worth zilch. It's already nearly there.

I did get £10k from my mum's estate, but DWP took most of it against benefits. I've always been a hoarder, saving for the proverbial rainy day and have a few stocks and shares, a bit in a P2P lending scheme and a little in a bricks & mortar investment. When MIL goes we will get her house and about £20K which will pay towards repairs and renewals - DH wants to sell the house, I want to get a rental income. I can't see any point in banks/building societies etc at present with the ridiculous interest rates, but if I can find a decent return, happy to take a slightly risky investment.

We decided early in our marriage that the best way for us to save was to put as much as we could into mortgages, and buy the best house we could. This paid off for us.
We now have inherited some money, but aren't able to go on holidays or outings...still, nice to be able to buy extras without worrying.

I used to love seeing my savings pot build up and see how much interest I accrued. Since the rates went down to a pitiful amount I no longer save but spend it on holidays. improving my home and enjoying myself and helping my adult children and their families who are struggling with today's prices.

I have never been in debt; the mortgage (which has been paid off now over 20 years ago) is the only time money was borrowed. You can't take it with you and I intend the taxman to take as little as possible.

When the OH and I were first together we were told by the most pennypinching, childless couple we knew that it had taken them eleven years to become solvent (not in the red by payday). It was a salutary lesson and the same thing happened to us, it was almost eleven years to the day until we moved from red to black.

The minute we could save we did. We started some Co-Op ten year savings' bonds and a long term (35 year) bond, put money away from our salaries each month, saved every payrise we had, banked redundancy payments and the DH's inheritance and set about paying down our mortgage with a chequebook mortgage account that calculated interest daily. Neither of us has touched our retirement lump sums. At the same time we eschewed the luxuries others couldn't seem to live without and lived frugally.

We haven't amassed the sum one might have expected from all this prudence and we are actually losing money as interest rates are negligible and inflation is running ahead of the official figures.

Nevertheless, we feel safer for having some cash in the bank and know that if the car breaks down or the boiler explodes we can put it right. Logic tells us that we have saved fruitlessly and this will certainly be true if care home fees eat our 'pot'. However, I think whether ones saves or spends is very dependent on what sort of person one is.

The OH and I are risk averse. We have seen others crash and, while one cannot see the future, we feel more confident with a reserve behind us. This sounds like a smugathon but I think it is borne out of fear.

The OH's mother was obsessively frugal and prudent and I was extremely poor at times during my childhood and these circumstances have rubbed off on both of us.

I have a sibling who reacted in completely the opposite way and is a bit of a spendaholic. If she were given £10,000 she'd have it spent by the end of the month.

Gosh.....on reading these posts I feel positively antediluvian. I keep a daily/monthly/annual spreadsheet of my finances. I watch the bank rates and put my meagre savings (for the proverbial roof collapse) into whoever will pay me the most. In my present case, why accept an interest rate of .02 pc when 1.9 is available? Changeover took me five minutes online. I think I have a full fun life. I socialise regularly. I get out and about and I travel regularly. I cannot understand the 'spend it' philosophy in that we cannot spend for spending's sake. I certainly do not deprive myself of anything I want but neither do I have Rolls Royce tastes.
My great joy is that I have no debt and on my meagre income I am one pretty happy bunny and I confess that my savings are a comfort cushion against unforeseen house repairs, nothing else.

I put some of my lump sum into premium bonds and have had better returns on those than I would have had in a savings account. Still hoping for the top prize though!

I used to try to save when my DS was young but after divorce found this was impossible while trying to pay a mortgage. So sold my house, wish I had not & kept on struggling. Managed some savings then my brother hit rock bottom & I 'lent' him my savings to help! This was several years ago & still no attempt to repay. Learnt a lesson there but in 70's now see no way of building savings again so any spare cash goes on my lovely GC. Love seeing their happy faces then so well worth it!

Both my husband and I have always been savers, and although interest rates are currently dire, we still save money.

Glad we have savings behind us as we have seen a bungalow that we like, and if we decide to buy the property our savings will help.

Whoever said "money can't buy happiness" was a liar .

Have to gently but firmly disagree with that gillybob

I don't think money can buy happiness but the constant lack of having enough of it and the worry of always having to watch every penny can make a person feel unhappy

Going back to care fees and savings, the article I read differentiated between MHRC who can only go back up to 7 years, and councils who can go back as far as they want.

I presume they're not relying on your information, but info from bank accounts - lets face it, the state seems to know everything abpout our finances from day 1 (even though they make us fill in forms for e.g. child tax credit and penalise us if we make a mistake).