In our How I Manage My Money series we aim to find out how people in the UK are spending, saving and investing money to meet their costs and achieve their goals.
This week we speak to Jules Ackerman, 74, who lives in Aberdeenshire. Jules, a mother-of-three and grandmother, works as a live-in carer and has a dog sitting side-hustle. She does not qualify for pension credit and believes the state pension should be increased to at least £20,000 per year.
Monthly budget
My monthly income: My state pension is £959.84 per month. I do ad hoc work as a live-in carer.
The sums I make from my work as a live-in carer vary a lot, but can be around £900 for a week before tax. My dog-sitting income is also very ad hoc, but can be approximately £75 for a week when the work does come in.
My monthly outgoings: I own my house in Scotland outright, so have no mortgage costs. Groceries, £160; council tax and water, £104; electric, £120; home insurance, £11.44; car recovery plan via bank, £18; car fuel, £160; TV licence, £15; window cleaning, £12; National Trust, £8.70; RNLI donation, £20; British Red Cross donation, £15; Guide Dogs donation, £10; mobile and dongle, £55.61. I add £250 a month to cash savings accounts if I work and am able to. If I need to buy clothes, I go to charity shops. I don’t spend money on eating out or takeaways.
I grew up in South West England as the eldest of five siblings. My parents had to get married, as being unmarried with children was not the done thing at the time. My mum made leather gloves at home, while my dad worked on farms. We lived in a council house and money was hard to come by. I couldn’t stay on at school as I had to go out and earn money.
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I spent a few years working in a hospital as a nurse, before focusing on one-on-one care in a variety of settings. Over the years, I’ve worked in nursing homes, been a carer for people with learning difficulties, worked for Marie Curie [charity] and set up my own care agency.
I wasn’t suited to working in hospitals and prefer helping people individually. Part of the reason I quit nursing was because I thought the amount of paperwork involved was becoming a bit silly. There was also a lot of focus on processes rather than really caring for people.
Since 2018, I have been working as a live-in carer for people who have dementia or are bedridden. When a job comes up, I can make around £900 a week before tax. The work is ad hoc though. I enjoy helping and being trusted by the people I am caring for, many of whom have wonderful stories to tell. I do believe carers should be paid and valued more.
I’d never do anything solely for financial reasons and that is very much the case when it comes to my work as a carer. I am not driven by money, but know I need it. I see lots of people who go into care yet are on their mobile phone all the time, which saddens me.
I became eligible for the state pension at the age of 65 in August 2016, meaning I qualified for the new state pension. I receive £239.96 per week from it. The state pension is not adequate to live on and I think it should be increased to at least £20,000 a year. I do not qualify for pension credit. People like me also don’t get help with things like the TV licence any more.
I think people who have worked for more than 30 years in the UK should also receive an additional state pension sum. This would encourage people to work for longer. At present, there is no incentive to do this. I’m taxed on my work earnings and my pension.
Saving money into pensions was never a priority for me throughout my career. I amassed a £20,000 NHS pension after working in hospitals for about five years. I’ve withdrawn all of it. I thought taking out my NHS pension would reduce my pension and make me eligible for pension credit, but that was not the case! I don’t think unused pensions should be falling into scope for inheritance tax purposes from April 2027.
I sold my property in South West England to buy a cheaper house in Scotland. I own a three-bedroom house in Aberdeenshire, which I purchased in 2020 for £55,000. It was built in 1923 and I don’t have a mortgage on it. I knew I was coming up to retirement and didn’t want the stress of a mortgage.
I think the Government treats pensioners unbelievably unfairly. Even the free bus pass is under threat, I understand. Energy costs are so high, yet many pensioners need their heating on all day.
If the state pension was a liveable wage, it would make a big difference in my life. It would also mean more pensioners would be able to live a better quality of life and not have to scrimp and save.
I may consider fully retiring next year, but it depends on my circumstances at the time. I need to pay for renovation work on my house, including insulation in the attic and leaks through the walls. I’m a happy and energetic person, so I will just have to see what happens next year!
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