Myth of pensioners who splash the cash

[Manoverboard]

A home for the bewildered in Paisley doesn't float my boat, Harrogate or Stratford-on-Avon would deffo be preferable .... regardless of who is going to be paying for it.

[Dark Knight]

watching people on here talking about how poor pensioners are
not sure if its irony or hypocrisy ?

[Quizzical Bob]

This can be a very emotive subject. Our generation, those of us close to or as in my case at 70, were in the main brought up with the firm belief that you only bought something after you had saved for it. You should only spend what you have. This also imparts that inbuilt mind-set of saving for a rainy day scenario.

Having been self-employed for much of my working life and having amassed, lost and amassed again money and property, I was fully aware of the multitude of tax pitfalls, personal social care cost liabilities, ongoing property costs and family responsibilities which wealth brings with it. Like Mervyn and Trish, Lady Macbeth and I have only one daughter. She is comfortably off and now that she is married, both she and her husband have decided on their long term financial strategy so there is no apparent need for us to save for her future.

Accept!!

The bl..dy tax man and the other government and social care robbers out there just waiting in the wings.
This we decided required forethought and action.

So what did we do?

Well we have disposed of all our assets. Yes we now own nothing!! The title deeds of our Moray Castle and its contents; even this computer I type on have been transferred to our daughter and we rent the castle for £1 a year as we do with the house in Malcesine. Our cars are leased, so they do not belong to us. All of our savings are in a joint account again with our daughter, last survivor being accountable and we now live on our collection of pensions, which HMG annually pilfer what they perceive to be their fair share which I have already paid tax on. Very bitter subject!!

So Jan and everyone. Yes, spend, spend, spend whilst you still can and when the time comes for Lady MacB and I to shuffle into a local nursing home, let the powers at be pay for it, because I have paid my own way throughout my life and I have no qualms about anyone else picking up my end of life costs, including a private jet to Zurich and car to Forch and Dignitas.

Er... Aren't you supposed to pay a commercial rent if you continue to live in the same house? Or are inheritance tax rules different up north?

[Mervyn and Trish]

Perhaps it's not a great house

The other issue in England at least is they'll go after you for deliberate impoverishment if they get a sniff of it.

[GillD46]

Perhaps it's not a great house

The other issue in England at least is they'll go after you for deliberate impoverishment if they get a sniff of it.

And quite right too!

[Not so ancient mariner]

Perhaps it's not a great house

The other issue in England at least is they'll go after you for deliberate impoverishment if they get a sniff of it.

Does that include spending your money on cruises....?

[anniec]

Perhaps it's not a great house

The other issue in England at least is they'll go after you for deliberate impoverishment if they get a sniff of it.

Yep, I was thinking deprivation of assets.

[ITWA Travel Writer]

In answer to the many points let me say:

Yes the rules are the same up here QB, but what is the commercial rent if the castle even though now owned by my daughter, but has been transferred to the National Trust who are now contracted to pick up all the tabs, leaving us with a wee apartment. The rent is for the use of the fixtures and fittings. However, for the Malcesine property Italian law is much more complex and involves something similar to “trusts” being set up which has ongoing taxation and which can quadruple if ever she lets the house out for profit. Which is why we do not. Only for family use.

MOB, Harrogate or Stratford-on-Avon like Paisley do not float my boat either. Too many Cameron and wallpaper supporters down there and I never liked Paisley Shawls either. We in Moray are 2 degrees in latitude and some 124 miles as the crow fly’s North of Paisley and 5 degrees, 382 miles North of Stratford-on Avon. In the land of milk and honey as Merv puts it. I’m beginning to like him more and more each day!!

There is also a time limit on being declared as “deliberate impoverishment” which we are now clear of.

The cost of social care is a problem, but as I designed two of the nursing homes in Moray, I think they might find us a wee corner.

I still think you all should, spend, spend, spend and to H..l with the authorities who have milked us dry over the years. I would book a seat now in any court to witness HMG trying to prove that spending your money on multiple cruises could be termed “deliberate impoverishment”. :crazy

[Quizzical Bob]

In answer to the many points let me say:

Yes the rules are the same up here QB, but what is the commercial rent if the castle even though now owned by my daughter, but has been transferred to the National Trust who are now contracted to pick up all the tabs, leaving us with a wee apartment. The rent is for the use of the fixtures and fittings. However, for the Malcesine property Italian law is much more complex and involves something similar to “trusts” being set up which has ongoing taxation and which can quadruple if ever she lets the house out for profit. Which is why we do not. Only for family use.

MOB, Harrogate or Stratford-on-Avon like Paisley do not float my boat either. Too many Cameron and wallpaper supporters down there and I never liked Paisley Shawls either. We in Moray are 2 degrees in latitude and some 124 miles as the crow fly’s North of Paisley and 5 degrees, 382 miles North of Stratford-on Avon. In the land of milk and honey as Merv puts it. I’m beginning to like him more and more each day!!

There is also a time limit on being declared as “deliberate impoverishment” which we are now clear of.

The cost of social care is a problem, but as I designed two of the nursing homes in Moray, I think they might find us a wee corner.

I still think you all should, spend, spend, spend and to H..l with the authorities who have milked us dry over the years. I would book a seat now in any court to witness HMG trying to prove that spending your money on multiple cruises could be termed “deliberate impoverishment”. :crazy

All very wise. My advice to anybody is to buy gold bars and sleep with them inder your pillow. If anybody comes to you and asks where the money went then tell them that you must have lost it on the gee gees.

(I hasten to add here that I do not under any circumstances have any gold bars under my pillow but you are welcome to come and have a fumble around for them.)