Dad sold his house?

[TheOpalFox]

He’s sold his house and moved in with me due to his care needs
I couldn’t move in with him, as it’s 50 miles away and I have a son
had so much Advise about bonds / buying gold/ so much advice and not sure what he wants to do! Any advice please thanks

See a qualified financial adviser. They're the only people who can help, not us randoms.

Even they have confused me lol with all the options

Go back to the financial advisor if you don’t understand before you end up in trouble after listening to keyboard experts on mumsnet. It’s a complex area of law/tax and if the council/government think you have tried to fiddle they will come after you after your dad dies which is the last thing you need or want. I hope you and your dad have a happy time living together 🙂

I would at the very least earmark around 20/_40%(dependant on figure) to put into pension etc. Ie not to touch for another 20 years etc so you or he has something to fall back on later on in life .

Take advice from an expert not someone you don’t know on the internet.

You really need a financial advisor you trust. One thing you don't want to do is to leave it in the bank doing nothing.

fundamentally your Dad needs to decide what sort of risk he wants on the investment - safe and just regular income from interest or potential wins e.g. premium bonds or more risky. Easy access or tied up and then what is he using the money for - just living, reinvesting etc. Decide some of these basics and go to the FA with those and ask for a programme that suits what you have set out. THe other thing you could do is find a trusted friend who is savvy and have him or her accompany your Dad. I would also think about putting an LPA in place both for health and finances so if Dad becomes too poorly then someone can sort things out. Just remember to keep records of what you do and why so that if anyone (another sibling or relative) challenges you later on

If he’s not very knowledgeable he should go to an independent financial advisor and say that he has a low risk tolerance.

What kind of pension does he have? - private, public sector, state only?

There is absolutely nothing wrong with your dad selling up and moving in, but he needs to be careful that if he needs professional paid home or residential care that he doesn't fall foul of a rule called Deprivation of Assets, anything he spends needs to be reasonable, that doesn't mean he can't make a gift or go on holiday, but it has to be within sensible limits.

To be honest his decision is not the best, if you own your own home, the value of that home is not taken into consideration for visiting carers up to 4 times a day. Only savings and investments are counted for that aspect.

So he would have been better off to keep the house and rent it out for the time being and it would have given a decent income.

Really worth talking to an IFA who understands later life finance to get guidance going forward.

As a financial advisor, I’d urge you to go back to your IFA and seek further help as you really must understand what is recommended to your Father. There will be lots of things to consider.

Primarily you need to ensure that you’re not at risk of ‘deprivation of assets’ pertaining care costs etc down the line.

Good luck

is he likely to need the capital to live on or for future care needs?

You need a financial advisor you feel comfortable with, can anyone you know recommend somebody?
Our FA explains everything very carefully, happy to do it twice if we ask!
The idea of buying gold sounds IMO a bit potty, a good FA will find out what you need from the capital in terms of your current and future needs (ie income, growth etc), where you stand on tax, and how much risk you're prepared to accept. In theory the older you are the less risk you should be taking.

@TheOpalFox as a quick fix put it in an NS&I account. Is not the top interest but it’s a fair rate plus the maximum £85k in one financial institution doesn’t apply, so it’s safe.

This buys you time to get proper financial advice.

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Don't forget to get him to pay you rent, board, care, etc as they are legitimate costs for you and should be documented somewhere. It also removes those sums from the remit of DWP if they assess him for care contributions and from the taxman (or at least his taxes, not yours).

No-one can advise without information about his assets, income and life expectancy.

He needs some money instant access accounts that can be used for his immediate needs over the next couple of years and the rest needs to go in products with risk profiles suitable for the expected timescales for needing to use the money.

He should definitely be paying you as a lodger and covering a share of bills, food etc. It's probably simplest for him to pay you whatever the tax free rent a room amount works out at.

Unless he has more than about £100k he can just put it in the best available savings accounts and ISAs. Above that it's probably worth paying for advice.

You should also make sure that lasting power of attorney for health/welfare and finances has been set up, his will is up to date and he's thought about IHT if relevant.

Moneysavingexpert.com and Meaningful Money are good resources. The presenter of the latter, who is an IFA who spends a lot of time telling people most don't need an IFA, has written a book about finances in retirement that is probably useful.