Best savings/pension options for someone that doesn't work?

[rileyhaspiley]

DS is severely disabled.

My son has extremely complex needs and I will very likely be his carer for life.

I did work for the NHS but no longer have a pension with them.

I'm getting increasingly concerned about my job prospects, and think it may be unlikely I'll be able to return to work.

In light of this, what savings or pension options would I realistically have? Would a Lifetime ISA be my best bet?

Time is on my side (I'm 23), but DS won't wake up one day and not have a severe disability and even if by some miracle there were better respite options He does not really sleep so I'd find working life incredibly difficult now.

I thought I'd ask here as I'm a good researcher but I'm just too exhausted right now.

Thanks for any help

I'm a carer for a disabled adult DS, though I do work p/t.

One thing you have to be careful about with the lifetime ISA (and other ISAs) is that they are considered to be savings under universal credit. So if you are getting UC (or might have to claim in the future) then you'd be expected to spend it on living costs (if you have saved above the threshold), despite the penalty for withdrawals.

A pension however isn't considered as savings (if you're not old enough to access it) so for me it's a better choice. You can pay in £2880 per year if you have no earnings, and it gets topped up to £3600.

The other advantage of a pension is that if you claim Carers Allowance and you work, you can bring your earnings under the threshold for CA by making pension payments (they disregard 50%). So although I earn over the threshold for CA, I pay in over half my earnings straight into my work pension so I can still claim CA. It means the money isn't accessible to me until pension age, but we're lucky to manage mostly in DH's salary, and the money will be there for me in retirement.

@applecrush You have been an absolute God send explaining that to me.

I wasn't aware you could put a lot of salary into a pension, so you can still receive Carers Allowance too.

What type of pension or company would you recommend?

I think if DS is placed in a better suited special school soon, I would be able to access something part time. That could be very doable. It's very reassuring to learn I could still have CA and a pension too with my PT salary