Is 'housekeeping' classed as income?

Franbern I think it was made clear taat the OP has a terminal illness, so her children will only have a year or two at best to look after her.

Do wonder what makes you say you have just 'two years left'. My ex-husband kept repeating that he would die early due to side effects of MS. On his 65th birthday, I did point out that even if he died that day, whereas sad, it could hardly really be listed as an very early death. That was 14 years ago, and he is still going strong!!!

If there is only a small state pension due to the 16 years this person was in employment, then they can claim Pension Credit to bring the amount up to the standard State Pension amount.

I am one of those horrified that she states that her adult children will 'look after' her. Surely, she does not want nor expect this. As they were obviously only born in the 90's they are quite young, and are likely to have, or will shortly have, their own young families to care for.

All she has to tell HMRC is that she was a full-time Homemaker in the years they are asking about,.

Good grief, they have gone up, I thought they might now be £6-8, but at over £15!

Mind you I did consider them to be ludicrously low when I was paying them.

M0nica

I would like to highlight Lillyflower's on boosting your state pension by paying NI class 3 voluntary contributions .

I was made redundant into early retirement in my mid-50s and I paid these stamps for 6 years. Doing so made a significant difference to the size of my state pension. I did it in the late 90s/early 00s and the £2.00 a week I paid was a small sum, even then. I do not know what the current rate is.

They’re £15.30, so not affordable for many.

I’d urge anyone under state pension age and caring for grandchildren to look into Specified Adult Childcare Credits. If you’re eligible, Class 3 credits are awarded for every week you care for grandchildren, even if only for one day. These can be backdated for several years, so it’s definitely worth applying.

www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-insurance-credits-for-adults-who-care-for-a-child-under-12-fact-sheet/specified-adult-childcare-credits-fact-sheet

Katie59

Is housekeeping income ?.

If you are not married and you are being given more than your personal allowance (£10K or so) in theory it would be taxable, because your partner might be seen as paying for a service.

This is the situation I am in I get a monthly allowance part goes on housekeeping rest remains in my account.

If your allowance is paid out of taxed income it is not taxable.

I would like to highlight Lillyflower's on boosting your state pension by paying NI class 3 voluntary contributions .

I was made redundant into early retirement in my mid-50s and I paid these stamps for 6 years. Doing so made a significant difference to the size of my state pension. I did it in the late 90s/early 00s and the £2.00 a week I paid was a small sum, even then. I do not know what the current rate is.

Maggiemaybe

All best wishes to you, OP, and I sincerely hope that you have more happy years ahead of you than have been forecast.

What a lovely post, Maggiemaybe

I echo those thoughts and I can relate to them too.

When I suggested asking for a pension forecast, which I know you said you were not going to claim, hope2021, it was with those thoughts in mind.

hope2021 I thought Gagajo's comment was out of order! I too was mostly a 'stay at home' mum and was fortunate that I didn't have to work. What many people forget is that rearing a family is an important task, as how you do it shapes the people your children will become! We are a much undervalued and looked down on resource!

All best wishes to you, OP, and I sincerely hope that you have more happy years ahead of you than have been forecast.

There is a big range of lifestyles and a significant number of us don’t have a long career, a stay at home to look after the house and family. If there is enough money they are happy to do that and it is not for us or anyone else to comment wether that is good or bad. If you have a career, most of your cash goes on the house and family anyway so it is important that you do have some independant savings, other than a workplace pension .

Family caring for their own old folks is not unusual, particularly where family businesses or a lot of property are involved, the family provide a “granny flat” and pay private carers and social services helping where needed, it doesn’t work in all cases but it costs a fraction of care home fees.

My own choice is that my children are not going to be involved in my care, I hope I fall off my perch quickly and they get whatever I have left, my mum did just that. If I do need full time care the value of a typical house doesn’t last long, so SS are going to be paying mostly.

maybe people's reading and comprehension skills are getting a bit rusty. we were always doing comprehension at school.
OP asked a simple limited question. and it has been answered.
she specifically said she is not intending to claim a state pension.
yet numerous posters have come on to tell her what she should/not have done in her personal life 30 years ago, and why she ought not to expect a pension, or how she might try to claim one.
such a lot of assumptions. mostly erroneous i guess.
all the best OP.

Not a lovely post at all. The OP said she is ill, the last thing she needs is judgemental comments about her lifestyle. ?

Firstly in case anyone is still unaware of policy here on the validity of threads, the ask you to report them, rather than openly say on the forum.

Secondly, why on earth do some people find it so mind blowing that different people live different lifestyles?

Wow! Another judgemental comment!

Surely this must be a made-up posting.
In the 1990’s , where we lived, only the ill, unemployable or those with huge families, or expectant mothers stayed at home.
Granny’s are grown ups and as such take responsibility for ourselves by not rely on others, particularly our cherished children.
‘Stay at home Mum’ was a huge luxury. Your chickens have come home to roost, meaning it’s now time to pay for that luxury.
I can’t believe you’d want your children to keep you. This is the time to be the grown up. You will be eligible for some benefit and a small pension. It’s time to cut back and regain some dignity. Please don't be a lifelong drain on your cherished children.
Consider getting a pt job.
This may not be what you want to hear - it’s what I think.
Also it was unusual people of our age not to be married if we had children Now not so uncommon.
I’m still thinking this is a made up posting.
Seek help through the CAB if this is a real posting.

My last child was born in 1985 and I cohabited with their father, although we later married. I stayed home for almost 20 years as my earning potential was less than childcare costs and DH wanted me to be a SAHM. He earned enough for all five of us and put the children through private schools. Our money and our choice. We had a busy life and my staying at home was the right decision for us. So Hope2021, I don't believe housekeeping is counted as earnings. It wasn't in my case and I have claimed my pension - heaven knows DH paid enough tax!

I still think you could investigate your pension rights, hope2021.

IMO HMRC often go after those they think are easy targets and I cannot see how money paid to you for housekeeping can be taxable if tax has already been paid on it.

Best wishes

I see you now you have done charity work and are unwell and I'm sorry you are but the wording of the post is not right about it being normal to stay at home.
I wonder if this is real?

I too am a bit confused. My 1st child was born in 1985 and it was the norm for mothers to go back to work. All my friends did - part time or whatever. I am 64 and 2 years till my state pension but worked till I was 61 and since then have had childcare for my grandchildren. I have a pension from my work at the moment.
What on earth did you do when your DC grew up?

hope2021

Gosh, so many replies!

MOnica and others, thank for simply replying to my question, as you pointed out the rest of the conversation was pointless.

I don't mind being criticised for my life choices, it was right for me at the time, and I am no where near facing destitution.

I'd just like to say, I didn't sit at home all these years doing nothing, I was heavily involved with charity work, of which I don't need to broadcast. I held many a hand to people who had been cast aside by their families in all sorts of circumstances. Guess I've been lucky with mine.

Yes I am ill, last year I spent most of it clearing out my house so the boys don't have to rootle through my stuff when the time comes, I wanted to contact HMRC due to some old paperwork I found, that is all.

Once again, I have no intention of robbing the state for a pension.

So I'll leave the thread now, but please try and remember that there are a lot of women out there, lots younger than me facing future financial difficulty.

I never had that difficulty - I had a ball!!!

You will not be robbing the state. You're entitled to a pension. Claim it.

I retired early (55) from teaching as I was very stressed and ill at the time. I discovered that I could boost my state pension by paying NI class 3 voluntary contributions and, while I pay monthly, I think you can invest a lump sum instead. I should definitely check this out. The people at NI were really friendly and helpful.

I worked out that if I lived past 72 I'd be making a profit on my contributions. If I don't get that far no one is bothered. The other half certainly isn't.

As far as all the judgements on this thread go, take plenty of no notice. I am sure your children benefited from having you around and society will benefit from having your children contributing to the commonweal.

My friend only paid the 'small stamp' and expected to get a full pension based on her now divorced husbands contributions.
Sadly, she discovered too late that her pension was to be 34p a week. Yes 34p!

Are you able to get married now? I think you would then be entitled to claim on your husband’s contributions. You’d need to check though as this may have changed.

With no further information, paddyann, I assume she means she has a claim on a pension through a partner, deceased or living, but that will only bring in £80 a week, alhough she would then, presumably be able to claim Guarantee Credit, if she is living alone or widowed.

If she is single or cannot rely on a pension through a partner, then she has no entitlement that I can see, except possibly, UB.

However when she reaches 80 she will be able entitled to a pension of around £80 a week, whether she has made NI contributions or not. However, whatever she gets it will be a very small amount, and will get reduced if she receives money from any other source or has savings.

Personally, I would rather make payments and have a secure pension income in retirement, however small, which can be topped up with pension credit, than hope for the best and have to spend my retirement years below the poverty line and constantly having to be chasing every penny I get or justifying it to benefits officers.

Anyway, like many of these clever clever schemes that people think up to avoid paying tax, or paying for residential care, they tend to blow up in their faces because they were either urban myths or there is some small print they hadn't read that invalidates what they did/are doing.

A basic pension only though, not a full pension, and not enough to live on.