DEAR TRICIA
Q
I receive benefits of attendance allowance as well as enhanced pension credit payments. I have been saving money from these payments to buy a hi-tech wheelchair. How much money can a pensioner put aside before these benefits would be affected?
A
For pension credit the limit is £10,000 in savings. However, attendance allowance is not means tested so it won’t be affected.
Q
I’m a pensioner with a modest private pension. I have about £25,000 that I want to invest to supplement my monthly income. I’m wondering if I should approach my private pension company or is there another way of using the cash for an investment?
A
There are various ways to generate income, including purchasing a life annuity, ISAs, unit trusts, investment bonds or possibly dividends from direct ownership of shares. Which option is most suitable depends on a number of factors. Therefore I suggest you speak with an independent financial adviser to help you decide which might be best for your circumstances and needs.
Q
We are thinking about buying our council house that we’ve lived in for 16 years. Can we use our discount as the deposit on a mortgage?
A
The majority of high street lenders do accept the Right to Buy discount on your council house as a deposit, but there are some that still do not.
Q
My company pension administrator has told me that because I joined the scheme after April 1997 I have no guaranteed minimum pension within the deferred pension. They also say
they have no liability to pay my contracted-out pension equivalent and it should not affect my state pension. But my state pension forecast suggests it is affected. Can you advise?
A
It may be possible that there is no guaranteed minimum pension written into your scheme as not all company pension schemes are the same. So, without looking at the scheme booklet I couldn’t say for sure. Also, any contracted out years are likely to affect any state pension you receive if you have not built up the full qualifying years.
Q
I’m going to be a grandad and would like to invest £2,000 for when my granddaughter is 18. I was thinking about buying gold in the form of sovereigns or ingots. I know very little about how you achieve this. Can you help?
A
There are many ways in which to buy gold and this includes bars, coins and jewellery. You can also get exposure to gold by buying various types of security or collective investment funds. There are several factors to consider when making this choice, including how accurately any investment reflects the price of physical gold, the associated risks of purchasing a single asset and costs involved, and the security implications.