to think many benefits punish the prudent people that do the right thing

[ladygingina]

Aibu to think that many benefits are counter productive and reward people that don't do the right thing?

I mean why bother saving any money because I'd you have a five figure amount in the bank you won't get many benefits. But if you just waste all your money and have zero in the bank the government will give you money.

Also it seems better to rent rather than buy so the government will pay all of your housing costs if you loose your job.

I just think many of these reward people that we silly with money and it doesn't encourage people to behave responsibly.

There's no logic in what you're saying OP.

''If i'd spent all my money i'd be being given money''.

If you had no money you'd be getting more in benefits than you are now, maybe, but - not to the tune of over 6 grand in any short space of time!

Spend your savings now then, consider this your 'rainy day' (isn't that what saving are for?) and when the money runs out before you're back on your feet your benefits might go up a bit.

There's no other way.
If you've money in the bank you don't need benefits. It's an unescapable logic.

If you had no money you'd be getting more in benefits than you are now, maybe, but - not to the tune of over 6 grand in any short space of time!

A few weeks ago I worked out that if we had no assets and claimed, we be able to claim 25K a year.

24 years ago was the only time I did claim, for seven months, in annualised terms I was getting 20K a year as a single person. (I was lucky in several different ways to be able to claim, in the same situation now a person wouldn't get as much.)

If you live in London and get support for housing costs it's quite possible to rack up 6K of benefits in a few months.

(One of the pieces of sheer luck in my experience was that the only savings I had were in illiquid companies, investments I'd bought because of tax incentives that made them attractive to higher-rate taxpayers, which I was when I was working. Under the rules they weren't counted as assets because there was no easy way to sell the shares.)

She probably ought not do that, fluffy. It's called deprivation of capital and your benefits will still be reduced based on your notional income (£1 per £250 per week) from your notional capital (the money you would have had you not deliberately deprived yourself of it).

The rules for what is deprivation and what is normal expenditure are not published or available to claimants, and there is no appeal.

Yes I would have been better off as I could of hidden my money in assets they don't count and could of easily racked up 6k in a couple of months. Now I've declared my savings no way will I get any help till I've used them at a normal rate.