There are eligibility requirements for several benefits offered by the Department for Work and Pension, which can include having less than a certain amount saved.
Income-based Jobseeker's Allowance, income-related Employment and Support Allowance, Universal Credit, Tax Credits, Council Tax Support, and Income Support and Housing Benefit are all covered by this.
These are referred to as means-tested benefits, and the savings requirements for Council Tax Support, Housing Benefit, and Pension Credit go beyond the state pension age.
Every one of these advantages has a different savings cap. Age UK notes that there is no top limit for Pension Credit, so if you save a lot of money, your benefit won't be totally taken away.
However, if you have £10,000 or more in capital, the payments you receive will start to gradually reduce. For every £500 you have over £10,000, it will be calculated as an extra £1 of income each week.
In practice, this means having £12,000 in savings will see the DWP adding £4 to your income calculations, pushing you towards the weekly income limit to claim Pension Credit, which is £218.15 for singles and £332.95 for couples.
If you've saved between £10,000 and £16,000 in savings and investments, it could also trim down your Housing Benefit and Council Tax Support payments. Age UK flags that for those under the state pension age there is a lower savings cap at £6,000.
Should your savings going over £16,000 and, no matter your age, your Housing Benefit or Council Tax Support could be scrapped. But there's an 'if' - as Age UK points out: "This rule doesn't apply if you receive the Guarantee Credit part of Pension Credit."
It's not just savings accounts that the DWP factors into these limits as Age UK shared:
National Savings have their own valuation playbook and if you delayed your state pension these lump sums are also not included in the calculation.
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