diapason
Expert Member
SASSA kicks in at age 60, but only for those below a certain very low income. The Dad probably wouldn't qualify if he is earning a salary, but maybe Mom if she isn't working?
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Question of the Day: Main reasons you wouldn't get an EV?
Supporting my parents financially
- Thread starter wonduhboy
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SASSA kicks in at age 60, but only for those below a certain very low income. The Dad probably wouldn't qualify if he is earning a salary, but maybe Mom if she isn't working?
TofuMofu
Honorary Master
Yep also in the same boat. SA has become unforgiving.
mr_norris
Expert Member
I am in the same boat. Be strong, folks. If none of us can give advice, at least we have some sort of support group going in this thread!
I’ve been in a situation for a while, except also with in-laws, and some extended family on top of them. Fortunately, being outside SA and earning dollars makes the whole thing a lot more affordable. This was one of my bigger considerations when leaving SA.
Currently they live a much better life than when they were working, and for the older family members, I’ve made it clear that they never have to worry about finances again.
I’ve heard of a lot of people who retire and then live the whole remainder of their lives worrying they will live too long. Absolutely horrific. If you can look after your folks do it - if they “don’t want to be a burden”, f%kken do it anyway.
Currently they live a much better life than when they were working, and for the older family members, I’ve made it clear that they never have to worry about finances again.
I’ve heard of a lot of people who retire and then live the whole remainder of their lives worrying they will live too long. Absolutely horrific. If you can look after your folks do it - if they “don’t want to be a burden”, f%kken do it anyway.
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Thorium
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It is easier to run one household. If you have a small space somewhere, have you considered taking them in? I know that it's a big adjustment for all, but may be an easier option in the long term, especially the numbers. Personally, I know that I would do it for my folks at the drop of a hat.
Pineapple Smurf
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a guy i work with is in his early 60s and so is his wife.
He earns around R10k after taxes etc.
She isnt working anymore since about 2yrs ago, retrenched.
She applied for SASSA last year, they turned her down as the 'family' income is over a certain value (I dont know what it is)
The only way she can get a government grant each month is by getting divorced and having a different residential address i have been informed (not sure how this works but if so it is a very scary world we now live in
)
Jet-Fighter7700
Honorary Master
so thought to ask,
anybody here apply for a SASSA grant recently?
easy/hard to do?
do they go deep into your debts ect? or is it a case of your 60 here you go.
been looking at the website, and apparently JHB only has 1 office where one can go apply.
anybody here apply for a SASSA grant recently?
easy/hard to do?
do they go deep into your debts ect? or is it a case of your 60 here you go.
been looking at the website, and apparently JHB only has 1 office where one can go apply.
ToxicBunny
Oi! Leave me out of this...
Older Persons Grant
Neuk_
Honorary Master
Black Tax?
P.S. Jokes aside, it is one thing I am thankful for, that my parents are financially secure for a good few years. My father spent years supporting both my grandmothers and my uncle to some degree as well besides his three kids.
I helped my parents out with it last year, they do require quite a bunch of paperwork and must go stand in line. Print outs of bank statements, proof of employment, proof of assets / investment summary etc.
i give them money each month / had made payments for certain things, so I had to sign an affidavit saying that the monthly deposit was from me.
after that it was pretty easy and backdated to the date of application.
one pain seems to be that you can't check the balance on the sassa card without going into the post office.
Be grateful....Be happy...I wish my parents were around still.
Ye my parents went for the sassa card option rather than eft to their bank accounts
indeed.. the incompetence of our government services knows no bounds, my parents cards seem to be unaffected by this glitch from what i gather.
PS: https://www.gov.za/services/social-benefits-retirement-and-old-age/old-age-pension
the "You must" list is pretty much what you need to qualify. My parents have some assets and my father makes a small income so they did no get the full R1780 a month, they got around R1100.
Dad 65 and Mom 59
My dad has been getting SASSA for a while now. He got about 50% even when he was still working. Only turned 65 this year. Applied to get full amount but was denied but i paid money into my mom's account during December even though they can clearly see it was once off, nothing before that for 2019. Lockdown prevented him from going back to get the amount increased.
Instead of me helping them out monthly, I bought a bakkie cash and now my dad sells wood & charcoal. They make enough to survive at this stage. Luckily they are healthy.
My dad has been getting SASSA for a while now. He got about 50% even when he was still working. Only turned 65 this year. Applied to get full amount but was denied but i paid money into my mom's account during December even though they can clearly see it was once off, nothing before that for 2019. Lockdown prevented him from going back to get the amount increased.
Instead of me helping them out monthly, I bought a bakkie cash and now my dad sells wood & charcoal. They make enough to survive at this stage. Luckily they are healthy.
^^vampire^^
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I had a similar situation with my GFs mom. She had about 3 credit cards and a personal loan to about the value of R150k. I had some savings and so I would the money into the card/loan to clear the debt and then she would slowly pay me back the same amount she was paying to the card/loan holders which means she didn't have to pay the interest part which is the killer. We would do one card at a time, whichever account had the highest intersted rate. The interest is the major issue and looking at repayments, 30% or more is just interest and not clearing the principal. It makes a huge difference. At the beginning she couldn't really even meet the repayments and then with me paying it off and not adding interest she cleared all the debt in just over a year. Just shows you how dangerous the debt cycle is and how interest repayments keep you trapped in debt. I can now gladly say that she went from not being able to make ends meet to being able to have thousands of rands saved in SA and thousands of dollars saved in Aus.
Like Snyper564 said, you do need to keep a handle on all their accounts. We made my GFs mom give us all her credit cards etc and made sure all account statements were passed on to us. Once one account had been paid we cut up the card and cancelled the account. You need to have an open and honest conversation and hit home the idea that if there are any money concerns or unexpected bills that come up they need to be brought to you immediately and you can tackle them on a case by case basis. If you can get access to their email then that is good too as many statements etc are sent there and if they do try to sign up to new accounts you will see it. In some cases, people in debt cannot see a way out or maybe can't help themselves and so it helps to have a second eye to keep them on track. Debt, in some cases, can become an addiction or a way of life.
As an example, I have a friend since early high school who has always had to fend for himself and part of that has always been living on debt. It has become such a way of life that he took out a R100k loan for his wedding. In my eyes if I can't afford to pay for my wedding I don't have one where he thought he would take a loan and then pay it back over 5-10 years. It seems like a small difference in the way of thinking but one leads to potentially millions in lost money down the line over your lifetime and can very easily determine whether your kids wind up needing to support you. Even more dangerous is teaching your kids that debt is ok and maintaining the status quo.
Either way I hope you manage to help them clear up the debts and everything goes well.
BackStabbath
Senior Member
Dad is over 60 ? you dont pay these it’s not like one can pay these exorbitant amounts at his age. Look into Prescription: Prescription in South Africa refers to old debt, which occurs when it is no longer obligatory for a debtor to pay off their debt. Unfortunately, many South African's are not aware that debt can prescribe. If the debt has prescribed – You are not legally obligated to pay for it.
When the debt collectors come calling what ever you do. DO not agree to payments telephonically or SIGN any documents. The debt will fall away after a couple years.
Here's an explanation of prescription of debt, and the durations, for various kinds of debts.
Extract:
The running of prescription is interrupted by:
Extract:
The running of prescription is interrupted by:
- an acknowledgment of debt by a debtor, for example, if a debtor pays part of his/her debt to the creditor before prescription; or
- a summons served by the creditor on the debtor in order to claim payment of the debt due.
BackStabbath
Senior Member
Many old people don’t know about this it can be devastating at that age to have to pay a loan that was taken over 10yrs. These financial institutions are ruthless to loan people who are clearly approaching retirement these large loans. The kids should not have to pay for their parents sins/mistakes. I am Pro for looking after your parents.
... especially in cases where the debt has expired such that the creditor has no power to claim it back, but a debt collection vulture has re-awoken it fictiously, and tried to put pressure on the former debtor. There are also scammers.
Therefore, whenever anyone even considers repaying someone else's debt, they should first closely scrutinise the claims to make sure they really do [still] exist.