Up to £5.4 billion worth of means-tested benefits went unclaimed last year - renewing calls for an overhaul of the system.

 If our deteriorating health and mobility mean that we are no longer able to live in our own home, and need to move into residential or nursing care, then the cost can be very significant indeed. So who will pay for that?

MT editor Tony Watts has just produced a short, simple-to-follow, free guide providing helpful advice on not only choosing a care home that will meet your needs, but getting the funding in place as well. 

A ‘perfect storm’ of demographic, individual and financial elements is poised to derail people’s retirement plans unless they prepare properly now, a global survey from HSBC Insurance has revealed.

The fifth annual Future of Retirement study, It’s Time to Prepare, shows that a combination of factors such as lack of pensions planning, poor levels of financial understanding, limited access to advice, and reduced funds due to economic downturn, mean that many people will struggle to make ends meet when they come to retire unless they urgently review their priorities and planning.

Turn2us is a new, independent charity that provides free, confidential information from trained professional advisers on welfare benefits entitlement and applying for grants. Developed in close partnership with the Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB), this service differs from the CAB in providing a single point of access to both welfare benefits AND charitable grants, as well as providing information on a range of topics.

Currently the service is only available online, although a telephone helpline service is being piloted and there are plans to rollout a national freephone telephone helpline later in 2009. However, those who are unable to use the internet can still benefit from the Turn2us service by visiting their local CAB, or other advice service, who will be able to generate grants and benefits searches and manage applications to relevant bodies on their behalf - via Turn2us.

The DWP is writing to 200,000 pensioners who get Pension Credit to encourage them to contact their local council to check if they are entitled to help with their Council Tax or housing costs.

As the latest figures on pensioner poverty reveal the true extent of financial deprivation among older people in the UK, pensioners are returning to the skills they learnt in the war and post war years to survive - making do and mending.

The BBC is looking for members of the public to take part in Economy Gastronomy, a new television series which reveals how to cut food bills without eating poor-quality meals and would especially like to hear from any retired households that are feeling the crunch and maybe looking for ways in which to slash their shopping costs.