Money, tax and your rights in retirement, in plain English.

I'm Sue. I'm not a financial adviser. What I do is collar the information that's scattered across a dozen letters and websites and put it in one place.

Every week I take one thing that affects your pension, your tax or your bills, and I tell you what it is, who gets it, and what you need to do about it. Everything comes from gov.uk, and I link to it so you can check me.

Five payments before Christmas

Five payments are heading to UK pensioners between now and Christmas. Four of them arrive on their own if you're on the right list, and one you have to claim. This page puts all five side by side, so you can see what each one is worth and what to do about it.

• How much each payment is, and when it lands
• Who gets it, including the rules for Scotland and Northern Ireland
• The phone numbers to ring if yours doesn't turn up
• The one date to put on the calendar

Download the checklist (PDF)

There's no catch and no sign-up. Print it and stick it on the fridge. The figures were checked against gov.uk on 9 November 2026.

5 payments landing before Christmas, and the one you have to claim

I go through the Winter Fuel Payment, Cold Weather Payments, the Christmas Bonus, the Warm Home Discount and Pension Credit, with the amounts, the dates and the catches. It takes about sixteen minutes, and you can come back to any one of the five later.