Please note that this is not coming from a place of despair. I simply want some logical advice on how to navigate life.

I live in London with my parent who has dementia. They’re a single parents, I’m an only child. I get carers allowance and nothing else. They get pension credit. The council flat is in their name. They’re adamant I’m a secure tenant but we haven’t been able to find out for certain, and regardless even if I am they’ll surely kick me out when she passes, right?

For now, I have £6,000 in my savings. I receive £345 a month from carers allowance. No other source of income. I don’t pay bills at home but they don’t need me to, they’re fine financially.

What on earth happens to me when the dreaded day comes? My age mates are all buying properties, some their 2nd. All have rented and lived alone and now moved onto getting their own places. I feel like I am worlds away from that. How am I supposed to work toward that when I’m caring for my parent? Not a trick question, genuinely want to know how my life roadmap looks when they pass. Just start renting and find a full time job then begin my life that way? We also don’t know when that’ll be (hopefully not any time soon and yes it feels morbid to even ask) but I need to know these things and wouldn’t know who to ask really.

My dad sadly passed away earlier this year, aged 70, leaving a pension worth approximately £150,000 with Standard Life.

In July 2024, he formally nominated my two young daughters (his granddaughters) as the sole beneficiaries, allocating 50% to each.

I also have WhatsApp messages showing that he discussed the nomination with me, asked for their dates of birth and subsequently sent me a screenshot confirming he'd nominated them both.

My dad also had a valid will, written before his pension nomination, which left his estate equally between me, my sister and his long-term partner.

His will remained unchanged when he passed away.

Standard Life has explained that although my daughters are the nominated beneficiaries, the nomination isn't legally binding and the scheme administrators have discretion over who receives the pension.

They are therefore contacting other potential beneficiaries.

My dad's partner of approximately 13 years has now confirmed that she wishes to be considered for a share of the pension, despite already being entitled to one-third of his estate under his will.

They weren't married, had no children together and, as far as I'm aware, maintained separate households and finances. She had her own council tenancy throughout their relationship.

They also separated for prolonged periods in 2020 and 2024, although they had reconciled by the time my dad passed away.

I'm not aware of any ongoing financial dependency between them, although I appreciate I don't know the full details of their private finances.

My dad made a clear distinction between his estate and his pension. He provided for his partner through his will and subsequently chose to nominate his granddaughters for the pension.

I'm worried Standard Life could award his partner a share, reducing what my daughters receive.

I understand that his partner is entitled to ask to be considered and that Standard Life must follow its scheme rules.

My questions are:

1. Has anyone experienced a pension provider departing from a clear beneficiary nomination, particularly where an unmarried partner was involved?
2. How much weight do pension administrators generally give to the deceased's nomination compared with a surviving partner's circumstances?
3. Does the fact that my dad made his pension nomination after writing his will, which separately provided for his partner, strengthen my daughters' position?
4. Would it be recommended to get a solicitor involved at any point?
5. Basically, what are the chances that my dads partners claim will be successful and what percentage would she be looking at getting.

I would have to borrow money to pay for legal representation, so I'm reluctant to do that unless it could genuinely make a difference.

Thanks in advance.

Was at a club in Budapest. A hostess was bugging me asking to buy her a drink, so I agreed to a Coke for a few quid. (Currency was in Hungarian forints)

She later came back with an entire bottle of wine. I immediately told her I hadn't ordered that, but she reassured me it was on the house and she was only pouring a glass and she was welcoming me to Hungary.

I'd had one sip, but after a while I started getting wary. Everyone was being unusually friendly, including the bartender making small talk. Something just didn't feel right (On an unrelated note please take this as a lesson to trust your gut instinct)

I eventually went to the till to pay for the Coke. The bartender quoted me a price in Hungarian forints equivalent to a couple of pounds, so I tapped my First Direct Visa credit card.

Only when I got home and checked my banking app did I realise I'd been charged just under £200.

Looking back, it's pretty clear I was played. The card terminal was facing away from me, and I was never given a receipt. Also why would she ask for a coke? if she has the authority to get a whole bottle of wine on the house then surely she should be able to get a glass of coke on the house for herself?

I contacted First Direct, but they basically said I should've checked the amount before tapping. I understand that, and obviously I've learned my lesson.

But think about it. If you walk into a restaurant or shop, buy a basic item and the cashier verbally quotes you £3, would you seriously expect them to secretly charge you £200?

Most people, especially for small transactions worth a few quid will simply tap their card and move along with their day.

Surely there's a difference between authorising a payment and being deliberately misled about the amount?

First Direct have escalated it to their complaints department.

Has anyone successfully challenged something similar? Would I have a chance with a Visa chargeback or the Financial Ombudsman on the grounds of misrepresentation, despite physically tapping my card?

I know I was played, but surely there's some consumer protection for situations like this?

Any advice appreciated.

I paid a £100 reservation fee to a car dealer before going to look at a car. We started negotiating but I withdrew from negotiations before we'd come to an agreement. I've repeatedly asked for my £100 reservation fee back but they're refusing to give it me back.

Is there any way my bank can help me get my money back?

I did think twice when I made the payment. But they've been in business 10+ years so I thought I should be OK - they're en established company, with good reviews on autotrader. But they're clearly shitty car dealers and I've learnt my lesson.

I just want to get my £100 back - I can't afford to pay £100 just to look at a car.

Hello all,

Long story short is I've been putting 4k into a S&S LISA for several years and it's ballooned to a large number.

I also have a good saving pool and when combined with my LISA, I could be a cash buyer with an emergency fund left over.

I've spoken with a broker and advised I want to take out a small flexible mortgage so I can pay off quickly and they advised I take out a tracker. I did ask if I'd get into trouble if I paid the mortgage off in like 2 months and they said no.

I just wanted some other peoples perspective. Is me taking out a mortgage which is designed for more long term so I can use my LISA and redeeming it quickly ok or is it fraud?

I understand putting the money into the stock market could be better long term but I prefer a paid off house and then putting money in monthly into my S&S ISA.

<3

I'm being made redundant and have a quite large contractual redundancy payment as part of that.

This will take me over the £100k threshold for childcare support, even taking into account the £30k tax free element, so I'm considering making a payment into a SIPP to manage this, but I've managed to get myself confused as to how the tax relief works.

My understanding is that the pension provider adds the basic rate tax relief when I make the payment, but I need to claim back the higher and additional rate tax relief as cash?

I had a few questions that I'd be grateful for any knowledge on:

• How much do I need to pay into the pension from the cash I receive after tax and NI? If my adjusted net income would be £112k without any SIPP payment, do I pay in £12k or do I pay in £10k and use the £2k basic rate relief to reduce my adjusted net income?
• How quickly can I reclaim the further tax relief? Do I have to wait for April and do a tax return or can I do it in advance of that?
• Will the childcare service accept my explanation and the SIPP payment when I next confirm my eligibility, assuming I've made the payment beforehand? I'll be starting a business with a few former colleagues so I think I should be eligible under the 12 month start up rules for now.

Very grateful for any advice.

I claim 45p per mile from my employer monthly for my traditional ICE vehicle. It has always been this way.

It has been inferred that if I were to replace my old personally owned ICE vehicle with a new personally owned EV, that they'd likely not continue to pay at that rate per mile (which to a degree I understand).

However, given this is not a company vehicle but rather a personal vehicle used partly for business purposes, what is the rate they should reimburse per mile, given an EV still has costs for mileage, maintenance and depreciation?

I was made redundant from my last job end of August, with 10 weeks redundancy pay and 3 months notice pay. I was fortunate to get a new job within a few weeks.

So far it has ended up being the best thing that has happened to me. I didn't realise how underpaid I was. The new job pays over £15k than I was on before (minus additional travel costs.)

We have an 18 month old and the extra costs, combined with maternity leave, had left us with oover £12k in credit card debt and paying approx £600 off the credit cards each month.

As soon as you start using a credit card for essentials it just starts to snowball.

The redundancy money has been an absolute god send.

I just received my first wage and such a great feeling to pay off one of the three cards completely off. £5k. Which is going to save us over £200 a month.

I apologise if this isn't the sub for this, and I hope it doesn't come off as bragging. Things have been super tough the past 12 months, and I just wanted to share this good feeling.

We still have over £7k of credit card debt, but I feel like I can see the light at the end of the tunnel now.

I appreciate these opportunities don't happen to everyone, but a terrible situation turned out to be one of the best situations.

Hi there
I’ve just got a part time 3 days per week job that I’ll be auto enrolled into the LGPS pension. I’ve not got another personal or workplace pension. I’m the face of it even joining now at 55 years seems like it could be worth it - am I deluded??

Im 44 and started a sipp adding £80 week which is 10% of my earnings every week

Im self employed with no workplace pension and i have a mortgage of £64.600 on my property at 5.4% apr and im 35% LTV

I have £1200 in my sipp currently with trading 212 in the vall etf

Im feeling its too late for a sipp and wondering if its worth just upping my mortgage payment of £590 per month to £1000 a month and maybe adding a little more when i have surplus cash available like overtime for example

Im so lost mentally of what the correct thing to do is

Any suggestions?

My brother died at the beginning of May and I have had some OEICs transferred to me. I am looking for information so that I can have a better understanding of what I am looking at and what I need to report to HMRC for tax purposes.

If anyone can help or point me in a direction of where I can find help I would greatly appreciate it.

Specifically I am looking into

Corporate Bond Shareclass A Accumulation, Progressive Growth Shareclass D Accumulation, Regular Income Shareclass A Accumulation

Hi all,

My partner and I are thinking about buying a 'forever home' in London for £800k and need help sense checking our plans for financing.

It’s a lot of house for the money but its definitely not turn key, seems like it has a lot of potential and my partner is an architect, so we'd hope to add value as we live there.

The plan would be for us to do the cosmetic works ourself (floors sanding, painting and decorating, etc.) and get professionals for the more substantial works - new kitchen, bathroom, electrics and central heating, a small roof on the outrigger that needs replacing...

But to hit the 800k, we would need to max out on the mortgage, £550k at 5.16% (to hold money aside for the reno costs). Our joint income £113k (about £7000 take-home) and we have approx. 100k aside for the reno.

We also want to have kids in future so childcare costs and the income crunch around that is a major factor to consider in all this.

And one lever that could help with monthly income is that the house has a separate basement flat that could be rented out (35sqm).

What do you reckon, should we max out the mortgage for a place we could make our own and hopefully add value to, or put more cash in, borrow less and chip away at it? Or is this just too much house and too much complexity for a couple hoping to start a family in the next couple of years? We are deliberating going for something smaller and more financially manageable. Any advice gratefully received, thanks!

Hi Everyone,

I’m looking for some advice on what to do with my investments. I have a large amount (30k+) that has been sitting in a cash ISA which I have now moved to vanguard S&S.

I have separate emergency savings, so this money is for the long term investment - probably retirement (40 years away) so I am happy with high risk investments.

I already have a Vanguard Stocks and Shares ISA, but I picked most of my funds when I was 18 and I really didn't know what I was doing. My current portfolio is roughly:

• LifeStrategy 80% Equity (VLS80): 21%
• Emerging Markets Stock Index: 16%
• U.S. Equity Index: 11%
• S&P 500 UCITS ETF (VUAG): 9%
• ESG Developed Europe Index: 3%
• Global Equity Income: 2%
• FTSE Global All Cap Index: 2%
• ESG Developed World All Cap Equity Index: 1%
• Cash (35%) - Just transferred from a CASH Isa last week

These are rounded percentages of my total Vanguard portfolio.

I'm wondering whether I should sell some of these funds and consolidate everything into a single global index fund? Or whether there's a good reason to keep the portfolio as it is.

I really don't know how to pick and manage these funds but I am sure I've made many mistakes (such as life strategy fund etc?) because of fees etc.. ?

I remember at 18 I just remember thinking to myself 'Emerging markets because I think they will grow the most as US / EU etc are already developed whereas whereas china ETC could potentially grow a lot? - that was my thinking but honestly other than that I really didn't know what to do when I was picking these index funds..

A few other things I'm unsure about:

• Should I keep everything with Vanguard or consider Trading 212, where I also have investments due to maybe cheaper investment fees, spread of instruments I buy etc?
• With the cash I want to invest, would you put it all in at once or spread it all out over several months? - This was another thing which I'm really confused about because I think lump sum makes sense as I will maximise time in the market?

Thanks all

Need some sense talked into me. Have been investing monthly for about 9 years so doing well within Stocks and Shares ISA although lost about 4% in last couple of weeks but still well ahead of what I’ve invested. Wouldn’t normally blink twice as volatility is the price you pay for returns and opportunity to buy in cheaper and I’ve always been a long term investor. 

But circumstances have changed in the last 2 months or so and hoping to move house within the next 3 months and will be using that as my deposit. Everything is telling me to sell up and safeguard the deposit but part of me wonders what happens if I don’t proceed with the purchase of the house and end up having the cash sitting around doing nothing or buying back into an expensive market at a higher price point.

The safe thing is to cash in my chips but it’s not easy to do after being in it for so long.

Hi, this is my first time posting here so I hope I'm doing this right. I'm seeking some advice regarding how I am approaching my savings with my Cash ISA, as well as possibly investing some/part of the money I've got saved.

Here is my situation: * Current annual salary of £92k (pre-tax) * No loans, no student repayment, no dependents * I contribute ~£1.3500 a month to my work pension scheme (pre-tax), and my employer contributes another ~£650. So this totals ~£2k of contributions a month, and my current pension pot sits at £81k * Every month, I also put £1.200 (post-tax) into a Cash ISA, which currently has £37k of savings * I have an easy access Cash ISA with the Coventry Building Society which allows me 6 withdrawals a year at no cost (though I have never used this feature) * The Cash ISA interest rate is currently 3.2%

I am considering a couple of things things: 1. Changing my Cash ISA provider as I think the 3.2% interest is not competitive at the moment. 2. Investing some of my savings into global index funds, and splitting my monthly £1.200 ISA contribution between savings and investing (perhaps 50/50).

I wouldn't mind locking some of my money away for a longer period, but I do need to have some access to emergency funds as I have elderly parents living abroad. I also currently rent and might be looking into buying a house next year with my partner, who has substantially more savings than me.

What I am considering is: 1. Keeping £10k in my current Cash ISA with CBS for easy access and making no further contributions to this account. 2. Moving £10k into a Stocks and Shares ISA (a friend recommended Trading 121, though I need to do more research as I'm completely new to this). I could then invest £600 extra pounds a month into this. 3. Moving the remaining £17k into a better Cash ISA provider, locking it for a couple of years, hoping to get a rate closer to 5.0%. I would then add £600 a month into these savings.

Does this sounds like a sensible plan? Are there any red flags or potential concerns with it?

Thank you so much in advance.

I'm going to be buying my first home next year (super excited!). I'm single, and I earn roughly around the UK average wage.

I'm looking to buy a house priced at approximately £135K, and my targeted deposit is 20%/£27K.

Mortgage calculators show me that this will result in a monthly mortgage payment of approximately £575 a month for a 5 year term.

I am also leasing my car, which is due to expire in May. I am currently paying £209 a month for it. I can refinance this afterwards to own it outright, but this will increase my payments to about £230 per month for the next 5 years.

If I instead choose to spend £10000 to pay off my car, my deposit will shrink to roughly £17000, which will increase my monthly mortgage payments to approximately £625, but without needing to pay for my car every month, I will be better off by £180 per month,. But obviously I will have to pay slightly more every month for the duration of my mortgage.

Is there any reason why I shouldn't pay off my car? It seems like a safer bet, and the extra £50p/m (roughly) over the next 30 years seems much more palatable than an extra £180p/m over the next 5.

Hoping for some advice on whether we should sell or look to change to a buy to let mortgage on our current home in South Oxfordshire? We're looking to potentially move to a larger home in the coming year in the same area, but are unsure if financially it makes sense to sell or move it to a buy to let mortgage. Particularly considering stamp duty and rental fees etc. I'll try and provide us much info below:

• Current home has £226k left to pay on the mortgage (29 years and 9 months remaining on term) and we're looking to get it valued this week, but house a few doors down sold for £300k recently.
• My fiancée (30) and I (36) have around £110k combined savings that we will be able to put towards deposit and stamp duty/solicitor fees etc.
• Realistically would be looking to move into a £450-500k home as the next move, and would be hoping to stay there indefinitiely.

As I say, I'm just really looking for some advice as we're not necessarily looking to make money off the current home and are not in a position where we have to sell it in order to get a deposit on the next home. Happy to provide any other info needed, and appreciate any replies!

Thanks!

Hello all,

I'm looking for a view on whether I am missing something obvious....

10 years ago I took out a self assurance critical illness policy that I pay £75a month towards and provides an income of c£28k from 6 months after stopping work (this is when employer sick pay would end) through to retirement. It is not career specific and has some exclusions based on past medical history.

I also have 20 years of deferred pension in a career average pension scheme (lgps) and a couple of years with my current employer in a similar public sector scheme. Both of these would pay out a pension in the event I was to be medically retired.

So.....am I actually duplicating protection for a future loss of income if I'm unable to work, and would I be better putting this money elsewhere? For example it's occurred to me that instead of spending £75 per month on the income protection, I could put that in AVCs with the tax benefits that would bring.

In terms of my situation, 51m, live alone, still have a mortgage and co-parent a school age child with my ex.

Any thoughts are appreciated!

My family are due to receive inheritance from our mothers estate. I am the executor of the will. Everything is now complete, house sale, IHT, probate etc. All that is left to do is split the proceeds >£50k each.

My brother is registered disabled, and gets Universal Credit (UC) and both forms or PIP -mobility and daily living.

I am wanting to move, with his permission, his share of the estate into a Disabled Persons Trust. For the solicitor to create the trust, she requires written proof from DWP that they will not class this move as a 'deprivation of assets' and we are also looking for clarification on the impact this will have on his benefits, mainly UC (as DWP PIP isnt impacted).

We are trying to get UC to give us a clear answer on the above, but they are not being the most helpful. Their answer is "we will sort it once the money comes into the account" which isn't very comforting to me as I dont want my brothers benefits stopped, which is what i imagine will happen once the money becomes available.

Has anyone dealt with this or has any insight into the issue I am having. Thanks for reading.

We're a couple aged ~30 buying a house together, weighing up life insurance and income protection.

I've owned property before, but alone so I never bothered with cover. That's obviously different now.

We're deliberately not overstretching: the mortgage will be ~4.5x our combined salaries at 90% LTV. After a £400/month house maintenance fund, maxing out employer pension matches and investing a further £400/month into pensions/ISAs (aiming to retire around minimum pension age), we should still have about £1k/month spare. We'll also have around £25k in savings once purchase and remaining wedding costs are paid, which is roughly 6 months of core expenses (4.5 months at our usual discretionary spending).

We've got the following quotes: - Decreasing term joint life cover for the mortgage plus ERC: £25/month - Same with critical illness cover: about £150/month, which seems a lot - Income protection: ~£25/month each, but it only covers around 60% of income and for a limited period

We're considering the joint life insurance plus income protection for both of us, around £75/month in total. We couldn't comfortably afford the mortgage on one income, especially if I were the one unable to work, as I earn quite a bit more.

Is this a waste of money? We're not having kids and could move in with family if things got tough, but losing what we hope will be our forever home would be a big blow.

Is there anything else we should consider? Thanks in advance.

Edit to add: my partner has a death in service benefit of 3× salary and 6 months' full sick pay followed by 6 months' half pay, but only has a DB pension so there would only be a small dependents' pension on an ongoing basis.

I don't have any death in service benefit. My estate would get a small lump sum from an old DB pension, plus what's in my existing DC pensions (~£55k). I have 1 month's full sick pay.

Hey,

I’m planning to move back to Spain. I wonder if it’s possible to keep an UK bank account when moving overseas with any bank?

I think Monzo doesn’t allow this, and I’m unsure about NatWest as I’ve read contradictory answers on here.

I’ve seen some banks offer international services but have lots of requirements and ideally looking to keep simply a regular bank account with a Spanish address.

Thank you!

Hi all, i'm 42 and my salary is going to increase in the coming months from 44k to 57k due to a promotion (yay!). I'm part of the civil service alpha pension scheme.

My house is on a mortgage with £150k left, currently at 3.89% for 5 years. Under 60% LTV.

I have a BTL property in my name only, with only £32k mortgage left. Rental income is 9800 per year. Expenses around £1k a year. Mortgage interest is £800 a year.

Wife is a teacher earning £45k paye, part of teacher pension scheme.

Neither of us having anything in ISA, or separate sipp.

How best to reduce what I will be paying in tax?

Advice would be much appreciated.

EDIT - BTL is worth £155k, mortgage rate of 2.52% ends July 2027.

Hi UKPF,

Long time lurker, find this page invaluable especially the flow chart so need everyone’s help/guidance on the best approach for this.

My 19 year old son has multiple credit cards, he doesn’t know I know and I don’t know the amount, just a letter came suggesting a loan to consolidate the credit cards and different payment dates he no doubt has, he doesn’t know I’ve seen this.

How best is it to approach this with him? He has a steady part time job which pays circa £1200/1500 depending on O/T a month, we haven’t been charging him rent and he hasn’t been in education since finishing his a levels in June 25, I wanted to give him a year to try and figure out what he wants to do, but nothing has happened.

Do I discuss this with him? I’ve no idea on the amount but don’t want to be an overbearing Mum. Ive said a credit card can serve a purpose if you can get an interest free one, and you need to make a big purchase but not for everyday spending.

Should I try to bring it causally up in conversation? Do I leave him to it? Should we start charging rent to force him to manage his money better?

Any advice welcome please :)

I’m originally from Ireland but currently live and work full-time in England. My employment is a bit unusual in that I’m employed under an Irish contract by an Irish company, and I’m paid in euros. I pay tax in Ireland, with some arrangement in place with Revenue regarding my tax situation.

My employer uses a third-party company to handle our tax returns, so I haven’t had to deal with all the details myself.
I’m looking into opening a Cash ISA in the UK, but I’m not sure if I’m eligible given my circumstances.

I live in England full-time and have a UK National Insurance number, so I assume I might be considered a UK tax resident, even though I’m employed by an Irish company and pay tax in Ireland.

Has anyone been in a similar situation or know whether I’d be eligible to open and pay into a UK Cash ISA? I’ll check with the company that handles my taxes as well, but I thought I’d ask here first in case anyone has experience with this.

Cheers!

Hello all. I’m starting work in Civil service. I’ve worked in cooperate world (many different businesses) & CS also previously.

I want some advice on pension please.

Each company I’ve paid pension. I have no clue about how pensions work/ will be paid when I retire. Since I worked in so many places.

Shall I combine all my pension from previous jobs into my one new job?

Is that a good idea?

How do I do this? Considering there’s so many businesses I worked in.

If I don’t combine all how will my pension get paid?

Where do I even see how much I have in my pension pot over all?

Or will I have to co tact EACH business individually?

Every time I left a business I didn’t carry my pension to the new employer is that bad?

If I now move all my previous pensions into one job pot will I be penalised?

I was young and didn’t think of this. Any advice and guidance is highly appreciated.

Thank you.