Pension for my cleaner

[B0OB0O]

I've had the same cleaner since 1994. Mostly once a week for 5 hours. She's retiring and I want to give her some money in lieu of a pension, but have no idea what would be reasonable. She has had a very hard life and has been very loyal to me. Has anyone done something like this?

That's very nice of you but you know her pension isn't your responsibility, don't you?

How much can you afford to give her?

What level of investment are you prepared to make? What about investing in an annuity in the cleaner's name?

My parents had a cleaner for a similar length of time, and they gave her £1k as a lump sum gift when she got too old to work.

Obviously they had no legal responsibility for her pension, but they did feel like she was long term, had done a good job etc. My dad said he felt a moral responsibility to do something for her, as she was only going to have state pension.

Some of the other families she cleaned for also gave her gifts, but I don't know the amounts.

Ps that would have been about ten years ago. When we last heard from her she'd managed to use the various gifts to move overseas to live near her children and grandchildren, and said she'd never have been able to afford the relocation costs otherwise so was very thankful :)