Where to put sale of house money

[Dino]

Hello, the sale of mum's house is completed.

Please could anyone advise me as to where to put mum's money?

Will be returning to the US over the next few months so want to get everything squared away peoperly beforehand.

Not familiar with the UK anymore so don't know where to place the money. Sitting in bank account right now.

Been here visiting mum everyday since October, she is in late stages.

Thanks for your help.

 

[nellbelles]

I would think you need a financial advisor but I have no idead how you would go about finding a reputable one..
Hopefully someone will post with more information for you soon.

 

[love.dad.but..]

When I sold dad's house as a self funder in his NH I worked out roughly how much I needed to access fairly easily to top up his private and state pension for a year including any fee increase that would be applied and put that amount in a lower interest 60 day notice ac. As he was a tax payer I topped up his ISA to max which would also give me access for any extra funds I may have needed...topped up his premium bonds and then split the remainder between 1 and 2 year fixed savings bonds paying a slightly higher rate. I am risk averse and certainly as attorney and responsibility for my dad's money so did not want to consider investments and actually one building society excluded that possibility in any case on age. Keep in mind the protection limit of £85.000 per institution and that some banks and building societies are linked...therefore I had to use 5 different institutions to spread his funds. Also I found that most online building societies and banks would not deal with me as an attorney presumably because of documentation needing to be seen etc..this was 3 years ago so things may have changed...so limited to high street banks and building societies.

 

[marionq]

Take no risks with it. £50000 in premium bonds which are risk free and bring in an average return of just under 2% with the possibility of a bigger prize. Arrange for any wins to go straight into her bank account from the NS & I. High Street banks - choose a few and put the maximum into high interest accounts (interest is rubbish everywhere just now) remembering that you might need access to pay for care so don't lock it away for too long.

 

[Beate]

Just make sure the money stays in her name!

 

[concerned4]

Make sure you put the money in different banks so as to minimise risk, currently banks in the UK will only return £85000, if there is another financial crash this will only be the amount you will receive back, if you leave say £150000 in one account you will lose £65000 if they go bust.

 

[nitram]

I think you should seek professional advice, as a start you could contact
https://societyoflaterlifeadvisers.co.uk/

To give you an preliminary idea of what is available have a look at one of the many comparison sites
e.g. https://savingschampion.co.uk/best-buys/

My personal choice would be a mix of easy access, notice and fixed term accounts, I would steer clear of anything relating to the stock market..

The protected £85k is increased to £1000k for 6 months in your case
https://www.fscs.org.uk/news/2015/july/new-protection-from-today-for-temporary-high-balances/

I am assuming you have either lasting power of attorney or court deputyship, without one of these you will not be able to manage her accounts.
Check for any problems relating to online access from overseas.
Check maximum size of online/phone transfers

You will not be able to give anybody discretionary power over any investments without prior authority from the Court of Protection

 

[Georgina63]

Hi @Dino

Had to do similar......NS&I have some good options for accounts with instant access but that pay interest, or Fixed rate bonds (also available through other providers) if you can tie the money up for a number of years.

NS&I have the advantage of protection beyond the £85k as it's backed by HM Treasury. Premium bonds are an option too if you are happy to accept an unknown return. It's all very easy to manage online as well.