Investing Grandmothers Money From Sale of House

[Sheppy]

My wifes grandmother has just gone into a nursing home, and had to sell her house to fund it (house was never signed over to the children - dont ask). There is a substantial amount of money just sat in a standard building society at the moment. Anybody know what we can do with the money, any high interest accounts for OAPs etc. She is 94 and it is her money. For some reason the inlaws dont want to go to a financial advisor? Any points would help, including websites etc.

[vicars]

I'm a financial adviser and I wouldn't trust one either. You need to look at all the tax free options first such as Cash ISA's (�3k p.a. only), premium bonds, National Savings etc. After that you are looking at having the money taxed depending on her income. If her income is very low you can get away with a proportion of the income still getting tax free interest. At her age I would not automatically recommend anything stock market related as she could lose a lot of money quickly (but will that matter? - probably only to the beneficiaries). There are lots of income related funds that invest in investments such as guilts which can also fluctuate in value but not as much as stocks, and give a regular income. It really depends on whether the money is being invested for a chance to grow or simply to get out penalty free after she departs this life. It would be an idea to scan a bookshop for books on investing - these will give you all the advice an adviser can give for a tenner and will go into a lot more detail than an adviser will about non stocks and shares investments.

[Sheppy]

Thanks very much vicar...