What Would You Do?

When my husband died i just needed advice on doing the probate. I joined the Motley Fool forums which is now the Lemon Fool. There are financial boards there snd I think there is one or two that would help. Many of the people there are very knowledgesble and I found them very helpful. If you consult a financial advisor it will cost and they give you advice that makes them money. It is good advice to pay as much as you can in contributions to your state pension. Look at The Lemon Fool. You join free and you will find the boards useful.

I don`t think a financial adviser would be a good idea, they deal with the best ways to deal with the money you have by investing rather than how to make extra money other than by investing. That being the case you would be paying an independent adviser to work wonders with a limited sum whilst not taking risks with it.
A "free" adviser would be tied to a product or series of products and the options would be limited to these.
As others have said here, the sort of information you need is available on lots of online sites, "Moneysaving Expert"
"This is money" are two that I use.
Whatever amount of capital you have the trick is to make it work, not just sit in an account.

Neither do I think Equity release is a good idea, probably because i am predisposed not to trust anyone preying on others financial vulnerabilites, no matter how altruistically they may portray their services, they are in it to make money.
Downsizing or selling up and renting should be considered first.

But of course, the first thing to do is consider what benefits you may be entitled to, now and in the future, although things may/will change with time.

We never had much so we learned do do the best we could with what we had, it is if anything, a state of mind, rather than an exercise undertaken when things look a bit grim.
I think maybe consider what I said earlier about getting bank accounts to work for you a bit more than just Santander at 1.5%

I think that if people post on here for advice, and others share their experiences, then we need to be polite. Mercedes posted her experience of living on the State Pension, that may be helpful for OP. None of us knows what circumstances and choices led to Mercedes' situation, or that of other posters.

GabriellaG I agree.

Sometimes I wonder if we are the daft ones for having thought about, and planned for retirement decades ago, so that we wouldn't need to sponge off the state.

AllTheLs You have at least ten years left before retirement, which is good as it gives you a chance to improve your financial situation.

In your position, I would definitely get a better paid job, which, if you were careful, would enable you to build up a reasonably good savings pot.

At least you have thought about your financial situation in advance, while you have time to do something about it.

Lots of people seem to me to sleepwalk into retirement without having made any provision for it at all, then complain that they only have the state pension to live on!

I do think that a lot depends on your situation, especially your home. I wouldn't pay a Financial Advisor at this stage, I would do a lot of sums regarding different situations, you can get advice later.
For instance, would you be happy to sell your current home, and buy somewhere smaller, and easier to run? If so, would you need to consider service charges? Giving up a car is great in some areas, would be dreadful where I live.
There has been a recent thread on earning some money in retirement, loads of ideas, some of which may suit you, others not.
In most homes, most of us can live day to day on State Pension ( bit of a sweeping statement I know!). But a lot of people I know do just that, keeping their savings for holidays, big presents, and rainy days. That might be the best option, but may not suit you.
Savvy Woman and Money Saving Expert are useful sites to get you thinking.

Santander is fine, but in your position with 310,000.00 to "play" with I would bank differently.
I would open a TSB Classic Plus account with £2,000.00, min pay in £500.00 a month and 3% interest on up to £1,500.00.
and a Nationwide Flexdirect current account with £3,000.00, min pay in £1000 a mnth and 5% interest up to £2,500.00
Set up a £1000 DD for each, to send between the two, opt for online banking with each.
Not a huge payback but at least the money is working for you.
If you need to set up any Direct Debits to qualify you can either use one from Santander, or google for cheap magazine subscriptions (99p) and use those.

Of course there are variation on this theme, Tesco give 3% on up to £3.000.00 but that finishes in April 2019, some pay for switching, but I have just chosen 2 banks I use and know to keep it simple.
That still leaves £5,000.00 you could put into a 5 year cash ISA (Coventry 2.1%)

loopyloo Property values are considered as assets when someone goes into care. State pensions are paid for by contributions throughout life and I see no reason why the possession of a nice ( not a large) 4 bedroomed house should have any affect on income towards which the recipient has contributed by taxes as well as contributions.

You have, anyway no idea how much the house is worth, since you do not know where in Britain Mercedes lives.
nor do you know how the house is used. Anyway, a house owner can use the equity in the house to enable them to stay there, so have little capital in their house left but still be living in it.

If you think property size should be linked to household size what about all those younger households where a single person or couple are living in very large 5/6 bedroomed detached properties. There are lots of them around us. Should they move out too?

Personally, I don't see why people who live in detached large houses should get pension credit. Especially when so many young families are homeless. I think property values should be counted as assets.
But then we all use the system to our own benefit.

Yeah...why worry about how much your state pension will be as you can always apply for pension credit and get your council tax paid by the local authority.

We only have 1 state pension for 2 of us and honestly we manage remarkably well. We don't have a mortgage so we can enjoy living in our nice 4 bed detached house without worrying about paying out money for a roof over our head. We get Pension Credit and I think you can get that even if you have saving over £10,000, they just deduct some of it if your savings are more than that.
As we have the Pension Credit we don't have to pay Council Tax so that saves us about £2,500 a year.
We sold both our cars when OH took early retirement due to health problems and bought one nice car which is still only 2yrs old, so should last us quite a few years.
We have never been ones for holidays so we don't feel we are missing out on that score.
We don't smoke or drink, but we do have a dog and obviously there are costs involved there but we are happy with that.
We have never cut down on the food we buy and manage to live what we both consider to be a nice life.
I can still afford to get my hair cut regularly and go out clothes and make up shopping without having to worry unduly about how much I am spending.
We would never consider equity release as have heard too many horror stories about it. If we ever get hard up we will just downsize I think.

Oops! *criterion

Theoddbird
Correct me if I'm wrong, but don't you have to open a currrent account with Santander in order to be eligible for a savings account?
I thought most banks had that criterium. Open a bank account, depositing your salary of £X plus at least 2 DDs pm and that opens the gateway to a savings account. You can usually deposit a minimum of £20 and maximum of £250 pm which equals only £3k pa. At Santander's rate of interest, the cost of living would nullify any interest.

I would say the opposite to Violette - do not be tempted by equity release. The interest rates can be extortionate and you can end up owning a lot less of your home than you thought. You may need the value of the house for care home fees in the future.
Check it out if you are tempted but You and Yours have broadcast some absolute horror stories.

Just wondering if you could gain some extra income by offering B&B to college/uni students or student nurses.
Just one person’s rent coming in per week could make a difference and I think you might only need to offer stuff for breakfast and an evening meal.

If you own your accommodation (house, flat, whatever) you could look into equity release and see how much you could get and then invest it into a tax free ISA or two ..if you have no children, or others you want to inherit then there is only yourself to consider. Save enough to pay for a funeral (not a funeral plan !! ...unless it is with a reliable funeral director where you know the funeral will be paid for with no outstanding or unexpected amounts to be taken from your estate afterwards !) make an up to date Will (whatever you wish, cats home, charities, etc etc) so that if, when you die, there is sufficient left in the estate, those organisations can benefit ! Any surplus, take a cruise, have a lovely holiday, pay up (if you wish to) DWP pension (I did this when I retired early to get a full state pension) then you can sit back and relax and maybe do a little work here and there, or voluntary...as you wish ! but, of course, do take financial advice (don't know how old you are, you may not yet be old enough for equity release 1) If you live near a large hospital you could approach their HR dept and offer a room in your house for rent (I worked in a large hospital and most doctors, nurses, physios, occupational therapists, on placement were looking for accommodation on a short term whilst training, basis (and in some cases the hospital took responsibility for the rent as part of the training course)......or a university ....police academy any large reliable source of tenants, with good references ......lots to think about ! good luck !

Age UK can be very helpful as to what benefits you can get with what savings. And they’re easier to get an appointment with than CAB - at least around here.

AllTheLs, take a small risk,join ZOPA(peer to peer lending) I did about 10 years ago,no regrets.GoogleZOPA for the details and perhaps start with a smallish sum.

Financial advisor might be an idea

I was managing on the state pension by dipping into savings. When my savings got below £10,000 I applied for Pension credit and because I did still have savings got Pension Credit Garantee. Did not have to pay Council Tax. When my mobility got bad I applied for Attendant Allowance. Got Lower end. But my Pension was increased as well. I manage very well on £280 a week. Have always been thrifty.never been to hairdressers etc. Never have liked eating out. Have help with dentist, opticians etc. No longer able to go on holiday.

I was self employed and paid voluntary class 2 stamp at a cost of £11.00 per month. Paid by DD.
Pension begins March 2019 and forecast for full pension.

Also had small private pension pot, £20,000.00, I rang round annuitiy providers for quotes, took best quote and rang back others to ask if they could match or beat , this was for non index linked pension that continues with spouse after my death.
The annuity provider ring around went on for about a month and went up from an initial £750 a year to £1150.00 a year. About £22:00 a week.
I took small savings plans out in my 20s, £5 and £10 a month, these matured this year and paid out £30,000:00.
I put £20,000.00 into a fixed rate 5 yr bond @2.7% return and £10,000.00 into a five year fixed rate ISA @%2.3 return.
I also have PIP daily care and mobility which are contributions based and carry on after 65, so further £220:00 a month plus mobility car.
Also took out Life insurance with linked savings in my 20s, whole of life and took Waiver of Premium option, so ceased paying it in 2012 and it continues with £15,000.00 life cover and £3000.00 savings pot.
Never had overdraft, mortgage paid off, own house, no card debts or any debts.
Only way is to start young.........But then again, times are very different and it would not be the same starting again now.

You also near to consider market movements as the value of you initial investment plus any regular additional amounts you make would be affected not only by the investment fees but by stock market results, either up or down, unless of course you put it into a cash fund. Most pension contributions rely on long term returns hence the reason to encourage people to invest as young as possible. See an IFA before you decide what to do.

Santander give 1.5 % interest up to £20,000. Better than most. You can also put £200 a month into saving at 5%. This pays out after a year when whole amount is deposited into your ordinary account with the interest. You then start again. I found Santander very helpful.

Remember that NI was paid for you if you were collecting Child Benefit for an under-12year old.

I received the full State Pension back in 2014 and it was £129 Per week.

I now receive Pension Credit too but I don't know how people manage to live and save on that amount.

I too was self employed for many years - as a single parent it enabled me to look after 3 young children, to be there after school etc.

My advice is....and I wish I'd done it sooner.....get either another job or a second job so that you can save some money. Ten hours a week at £10 Per hour will bring in £100 Per week or £5200 Per year.

I did it within 2 years of retirement and earned an extra £800 Per month. I so wish I'd thought of it earlier. But even so it's made a difference.