Advice needed? Dad selling house? Moved in with me

[TheOpalFox]

My dad has nearly sold his house and he’s moved into mine . A council house
he needs care and looking after so I’m looking after him
he’s still alive and the money from his house sale will go into his bank. What shall he do with it? He wants to go in a cruise and holidays but can 159 grand just sit in his bank? Or not? This is new to me and I want my dad to have an amazing life with his money while he still here? Thank you

How old is he? Does he have a pension? What’s his monthly income? What will his expenses be while living with you - will he be contributing to bills, food, rent etc.? Does he have any health conditions?

It would be wise to split the money between at least two banks - you ideally don’t want to have more than £85k in one bank as that is the maximum amount you will be refunded by the UK’s Financial Services Compensation Scheme if the bank fails and is unable to repay customer’s deposits.

I would put the maximum (£20,000) into a cash ISA for this year, and again next year - look for one with an interest rate of at least 3%.

Quick thought- money is only protected up to £80k under the Banking protection rules. Therefore I would open up some savings accounts with different companies. Be careful about linked companies. Have a look at something like Which or MSE for good rates. He could have some on a 1 or 2 year bond for example.
Cruise might be a good idea, but if he needs care, insurance can be high.

Ok first things first you shouldn't have all that in one place - it is not covered if anything happens to the bank - I think most cover to 85k so it needs to be separated out for those reasons if nothing else

He is not going to need it all at once so I think you should consider a range of places to keep it - look for a good high interest rate account - I would think about a larger amount in a restricted access account that returns a better rate, then a small immediate access account with a reasonable rate for more immediate needs. I would also think about separating out fun money and money for care later on down the line - or at least things that make life easier.
He will need to be careful that they don't consider alot of holidays/cruises etc as deprivation of assets ie spending it all so he qualifies for council help with care etc.

Money saving expert website is a good place to start reading up how to handle it all. You might want to consider LPAs being put in place and making sure that if you have any access to it that you keep a record of what happens to it so that if you are ever challenged re elder financial abuse that you can show you have acted in his best interests

He needs care, and you are happy to provide it, but what are his needs realistically. Is he going to end up living with you for a year? Ten years?

Premium bonds. Because it's fun checking each month!

Like others have said I wouldn’t go above 80k per account (limit is 85k but not sure if that includes interest earned)
Be careful some banks are linked ie Lloyds, Halifax and Bank of Scotland are under one umbrella so it’s 85k combined across all 3 ( I could be wrong with names but principal is the same)

If he needs care is he well enough to go on cruises and holidays alone?

I’m pay for my share of the holidays and cruises and go with him

This is very good advice.

Do you work? If not, is he compensating you? Paying into a pension for you?

I work part time but work around.my dad.
can he pay into pensions for me. ‘How please?

I'm not sure going on a cruise when you're 81 with dementia, incontinent and just been diagnosed with cancer is a great idea really