What To Do.

[WILLWONKER]

This is a genuine question. Joke answers will be entertaining but not helpful
I am 64 this year, in 6/12 months time I will be homeless, have no job or income apart from £80.00 per month from a private pension. On the upside late next year I will be able to claim my state pension, plus as of now I have £60.000. buying a house is out of the question, the upside again, I'm fit and healthy. What would you do in my position?

[EDDIE51]

We have no idea where the questioner lives but there are very few areas of the country where you can buy a house for under £60,000 and all of them in areas where work is hard to get or virtually non-existent (which is why the prices are so low in the first place)
If the questioner does buy a house and in a few years needs to go into a care home , remember he is nearly 65, the home will be used to fund his care. Also a house in that price range will within a few years need a lot of money spending on it to keep it habitable. Social housing which he is entitled to as a 'vulnerable person' has none of those problems.

[black_cat51]

how is he a vulnerable person? he may well be but i can't see where he says that

[kvalidir]

Plenty of areas where you can buy properties in good order for under 60k Eddie, not all of them by any means very depressed and in no worse condition than the average house- we buy a lot of houses to let and most but not all of those fall into this catagory. Anyway willwonker is approaching retirement so I wasn't gambling on plentiful work being his #1 priority, more security for his old age and maximising his cash.
If he has 60k worth of saving he is not entitled to anything from Pension Credit I'm afraid.

[tamborine]

Nowt like property for investment! Put £50k towards mortgage for 2bed flat. Rent out flat so tenants pay upkeep etc. You live off rent while travelling the globe.

[Barquentine]

Buenchico has given some really helpful answers here. I have a friend who could be in a similar position in under ten years.
If you get a 2 bed house for around £40k you could let out the spare bedroom for a bit of extra income plus get a part-time (or full-time) job. I want to keep working after I'm 65 cos it makes you live longer. I think there's lots of advice available these days to help all ages of people.

[EDDIE51]

Kvalidir I have filled in the pension credit estimate using the information Willwonker gave us and as I said in the 'Best answer' he is entitled to £28.25 week pension credit and that IS including his £60,000!
That means he would also get maximum housing benefit and full council tax benefit as these are automatic if you qualify for Pension Credit ( even if the pension credit is just £1 a week.)
Maximum Pension credit for a single person is £142 a week so the £60,000 he has reduces that to £28.25 , but he will still get maximum housing benefit and council tax benefit. In other words if he gets social housing which he is also entitled to as a 'vulnerable person' he can live for free the rest of his life and no worries about care home fees if it should come to it (as long as he has spent the £60,000 before it comes to that!)
That to me is far better than buying a house with the upkeep to pay for and no money left.

[black_cat51]

once more, where does vulnerable person come into it?

[pixie373]

Being homeless, blackcat

[black_cat51]

well, i don't want to be mean (and it's making an assumption) but when have working age single men with a lot of savings been vulnerable?

[boxtops]

Nobody's mentioned the obvious to me - look for work to supplement the pension. There is work for the older person now (if you have the right experience) - part-time is available if you look. I'd rent, and look for work, and in the meantime live fairly frugally off the £60K.

[sherrardk]

With black cat here, 60k in the bank would seem to override being 'vulnerable'.

[pixie373]

Is he working age in 6/12 months? You do have a good point though-especially with the shortage of social housing. I'm not sure of their criteria.

[black_cat51]

if as his question suggests he is currently 63, then yes, he will still be working age in 12 months time

[pixie373]

Yes. I do see your point. Realistically, if i had £60k and was made homeless, i could sort out something myself.

[black_cat51]

sorry to talk about you as if you are not here wilwonker!
have you considered claiming JSA?

[pixie373]

What work do you do now, ww? Is there any reason you can't continue to work?

[ladybirder]

Am I the only one to be absolutely amazed that you can get money from the State when you have £60,000 in the bank? No wonder we're in trouble.

[WILLWONKER]

I would just like to thank all of you that have taken the time to reply to my question, and I shall continue to log in over the next week or so for any more answers, this is just to let you know that I am reading all your reply's even if I am not responding at the moment in full, or to each post, but I do intend to at a later date. Thank you!!

[EDDIE51]

Ladybirder Pension Credit is the most under claimed of all benefits , 1 in 3 people who are eligible fail to claim it!
It is based on income , the first £10,000 of savings are disregarded, the rest is assumed to give an income of 5% a year , so WILLWONKER has an income for pension credit calculation of his £80 a month company pension plus an assumed income of £5,000 a year from his savings making a total of £5,960 a year . This entitles him to £28.25 a week Pension credit, ALL people who qualify for even £1 a week pension credit automatically get full housing & council tax benefit in addition.
You need to have a full life time NI contributions history to get pension credit so it is hardly 'money for nothing'. You can claim it when you reach the state pension age for a female or for a male the date that a female born on the same day would qualify for state pension.
I qualified for mine when I was 61 years and 8 months old.

[EDDIE51]

Black-cat ^^ he will become a 'vulnerable person' when he reaches state pension age ( or is accepted for Pension Credit) and is under threat of being made homeless. So he qualifies for priority social housing from his local council or housing association.
A 'vulnerable person ' in this case is a legal term it does not refer to the persons actual state of health. You can be as 'fit as a fiddle' but if you are a pensioner and under threat of homelessness you are defined as a 'vulnerable person' and qualify for social housing as a priority case.