Our homes?

MY adult son has always lived at home. Sadly, my husband now has dementia and if he goes into a care home I intend to sell our present dwelling and buy two smaller places with the proceeds – one for myself and one for my son. We hope to initially self-fund any care fees, but where will we stand with regards to the two homes should our savings run dry? I BELIEVE the family home will not be taken into account if you live in the property, and will continue to live there after your husband has moved into a care home. Therefore you may not need to sell up or your son move out. You can find out about where you stand and what you may need to do on “paying for care” on the Alzheimer’s Society website (alzheimers. org.uk/) or contact the National Dementia helpline on 0300 222 1122. I WAS hoping to open a Lifetime ISA, but since I turned 40 last year I now find I can’t. Could you tell me the best way to start saving for retirement? I am a selfemployed sole trader. PROBABLY the best way is to pay into a pension. Any regular or lump sum contribution will receive 20% tax relief at source. If you are a higher-rate taxpayer you will be able to claim a further 20% via self-assessment. I DON’T have a good credit rating so can I get a pre-paid credit card? I’m thinking it could be a good thing for my spending money for my holiday, rather than carrying round a lot of cash. YES, if you can’t get a credit or debit card, pre-paid cards are a handy alternative. But not all pre-paid cards are the same when it comes to fees. These include overseas withdrawal fees, top-up fees, application and monthly fees etc. So do your research beforehand so you don’t end up wasting lots of cash on fees and charges.

Financial editor Tricia Phillips answers your questions each week.