How much money do you consider 'sufficient' in Savings.

I know it is another question but is it fair to give your money away so the state has to pay for your nursing home? I'm not sure it is.
mumofmadboys I think that if you put your house in your children's name(s) then apply for free nursing care they investigate quite thoroughly.
Presumably it could be the same if you have given away all your money to your children.

So, if giving it away is unfair, is spending it on yourself also unfair. holidays, cars etc. (playing devils advocate)

There are rules about giving capital away, there is a limit to how much you can give tax free in a year, so it us a good idea to check before making gifts.

Local Authorities can persue relatives for nursing home fees if they think money has been given away to avoid paying for costs. Some of us may need extra help and care as we get older and it is very expensive, in the case of residential or nursing care even if you qualify for free care you can be asked for a top up.

I agree Wobbly that is someone has frittered their money away it is also unfair for the state to pick up the care bill.

It is a difficult judgement. Do we see our C struggle and go without holidays etc ourselves in case we are accused of spending our own money? And if we never need care we can be assured the next generation will spend it. It is a balance we hope we will get right.

You cannot be made to pay a top up. Only if you want specific extras and your relatives are not responsible for paying top ups.
I'm not sure of the time limit but if you sign your house over to your children X amount of years before you show any symptoms that would suggest you may need future care. Then the house may be disregarded

It used to be 7 years, but I'm not sure whether it still is.

Flossieturner
I personally think that savings of twice your yearly outgoings should be enough, as long as there are no outstanding debts, mortgage, credit cards etc.
Obviously, having more is nice, let's be honest, we all like to have money in the bank, but around £20,000 is plenty.

Re: Care home fees.....
My dad died at the age of 61 having worked full time from the age of fourteen. As he had not drawn any of his occupational pension, it passed to mum at a rate of 50%.
Mum had also worked full time since she was fifteen, so from when she turned 60 she was comfortably off, receiving her state pension, her own occupational pension and 50% of dad's.
At one point, due to ill health, it was suggested that she entered a care home, which would have cost an absolute fortune!
I temporarily gave up half my working hours to care for her, and she moved in with us for a while. It wasn't easy as it was while DS was studying for, and sitting his A levels, DH was working constant night shifts, and mum was very demanding.
I couldn't get carer's allowance as my part time salary was above the limit at which I could have claimed.
What I really don't understand is why people who have worked all their lives, paid taxes etc and gone without life's luxuries to save for older age, are then expected to pay for their care home fees when those who chose not to work or have frittered their money away get everything provided for them!
Right, I have my tin hat on, and am behind the parapet, so I really don't care how many stones come my way!

Further to my previous post, I have just googled and signing over your property to your children is riddled with problems - simpler to sell it and give them the money but the 7 year rule still applies for Inheritance Tax and for care home fees.

Mumofmadboys, but what would you call frittering it away?

If a couple have paid into a pension scheme in order that they can have an enjoyable retirement, should they not be able to have meals out, nice holidays or a new car etc.

I would love a new kitchen but it would decimate my savings.

Anyway, does it matter as long as it's clean and the meals we cook in there are good?

but what would you call frittering it away?
tattoes?
piercings?
gambling?

even tattoos
(more painful than tattoes which are nice mashed with sausages)

When I inherited my mums and dad house I shared it with my three kids and a £1000 for each of my 7 grandchildren ( it was under the amount for inheritance tax ) mum and dad would have wanted that I don't have a great deal but I have a house ( needs a lot doing to it ) and enough for my fairly modest needs so I got my pleasure out of sharing it out. The grandkids thought they d won the lottery their faces were a picture as each opened their envelope from great Nan and grandad )

Jalima I'm having them mashed with sausages for supper tonight .

Flossie How much savings you need depends on your own individual circumstances.
We try to estimate what we will need in the next 4-5 years, additional to our normal expenditure - things like house maintenance, a new car, whatever it is, and make sure we have enough money readily available, ie in an interest-earning account but one which has no penalties for withdrawal. You also need to allow for unforeseen emergencies - the problem is, they are unforeseen. Our DS and his family live in the US and I like to be able to think that if an emergency arose and they really needed us, we could just fly out for them. I do appreciate that I'm fortunate to be able to do this.
Mumofmadboys I don't think you should assume that everyone who gives money to their DC is doing so to avoid care home fees. Most do it to help the DCs, aware that things are often much more difficult for them than they were for our generation.

FlossieTurner,Whatever you feel comfortable with,As long as you are confident your children would be able to help you if needed.I would take £100 of the inheritance and by myself something really indulgent first as i rarely buy anything.

Is it £23,000 in savings or £23,000 money including the value of any property you own? I think I have read that they can take the value of your house into it i.e, if you own your own home you have to pay the fees. In the papers today I read that care homes are restricted in what they can charge the council for looking after people so those who are deemed able to pay are charged more than they should be to cover the amount that the council don't pay. The papers said the council can pay £200 pounds a week less than we would have to pay. That doesn't seem fair either (sorry, not quite what the OP asked)

£23,000 in assets

Jane A. I certainly don't think people are generous to their kids just to avoid paying care home fees!! There needs to be a balance.

Like others, I don't think it's fair to pass all your worldly goods on to your children to ensure that they are okay, leaving other people's children to pay through their taxes for your care fees. In my experience it tends to be the better off that do that anyway. Helping your children out if they need it, or gifting smaller amounts to them or to your grandchildren is another matter. Fortunately ours seem to be doing okay for themselves at the moment touch wood - if that changes, I hope we'll be able to help out.

But seeing as a gypsy once told me I'd be very, very rich very, very late in my life, I foresee that I'll win the lottery, pop my clogs on the spot with the excitement, and leave my kids very well off, all in one fell swoop. With any luck, it'll be before I settle into the home.

This thread is turning into one of "those" threads . The haves and the have nots. None of us care any more or less for our children, or grandchildren . Sorry but it's becoming boring . I stick by my need for a million in a bank book under my pillow.

This was reported in the International Business Times in 2013:

"Millions of UK households have only £250 or less set aside to fall back on if they hit a financial emergency.

....."HSBC said the number of households in this situation had risen by almost 800,000 since October, 2012.

"The findings indicate that the proportion of Brits who are financially unprepared .... has risen steadily over the past year, with an extra 800,000 households admitting to savings of £250 or less," said Oliver Cook, head of savings at HSBC."

mumofmadboys I don't think it's fair to give away or in some other way protect your money to avoid paying care home fees. I also don't think it's fair that the small number of elderly people who are unfortunate enough to need to go to a care home have virtually all their assets taken from them to fund their care. I think possibly some sort of ring-fenced compulsory insurance should be introduced so that everybody contributes to - and can benefit from - the cost of elder care, whether they eventually need to go into a home or not.

Sorry, you are using a foreign language here, we/I have no savings, sadly. Various life events have meant that just wasn't possible.

(Paupers grave for me, when the time comes! )

More or less with you, with that one, phoenix! Life has happened, as it does, and we've never inherited anything apart from a little bit when my dad died twenty-odd years ago.
DH was a manual worker/lorry driver, and I worked in the care 'industry', so no big pensions for us! However, we muck along, and hopefully at the end of our lives, we'll be accepted for medical research at St Andrews Uni. Not worrying about it!