Paul Lewis: March money news
Money news for March, including how to make a will for free and ways to claim your pension rise sooner.
Image credit: GettyImages/Zhanna Danilova
Money news for March, including how to make a will for free and ways to claim your pension rise sooner.
If you do not have an up-to-date will – and nearly one in three of those aged 55-plus don’t – then sign up for Free Wills Month.
The solicitors taking part in 40 towns and cities across England and Scotland will make a simple will, or pair of wills for a couple, free of charge as part of the scheme, which runs this month.
The 23 organising charities hope you’ll include a legacy to one of them, but it is not compulsory.
The Free Wills Month website has more informatiohn and can direct you to a local solicitor.
Spring is the season of growth – in prices. Train firms started it off with rises on 2 March, with many fares up by 4.6% (double the rate of inflation and more than your pension rise).
If you are 60 or over, you can get a third off fares with a Senior Railcard. It costs £70 for three years or £30 for one year, though that is expected to rise soon by £5.
Even after the price rise, a railcard can pay for itself in just one journey. Buy online or at any main station ticket office.
The Department for Work and Pensions has confirmed some pensioners will not feel the full effect of the April rise in state pensions until 30 May.
Most people are paid their state pension four-weekly in arrears so it can be some time before they get their full four-week payment at the new rate. You can speed up the process by telling the DWP you want your pension paid weekly instead.
Call 0800 731 0469 and have your pension details or NI number ready. It takes a few minutes to get past messages urging you to go online or hang up, but a helpful human will eventually answer.
Alternatively, you can write to The Pension Service, Post Handling Site A, Wolverhampton WV98 1AF, but that may take longer.
Know someone aged 18 to 22? Check they’ve claimed their state-backed Child Trust Fund, which is theirs from age 18.
More than three million of these have now matured but around 750,000 have not been claimed. On average, they are worth £2,000.
Everyone born in the UK from 1 September 2002 to 2 January 2011 has one, even if their parents don’t know about it. Find it for free from age 16 at Sharefound.
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