Q Our weekly pension income is £161 plus a £1,500 annual works pension and savings of £10,000. Can we get help with council tax and glasses?

A £2.63 a week off the council tax but you will have to put the first £135 towards your specs.

Q I receive £152 a fortnight Incapacity Benefit. My wife is coming up to 60. Is it true I can get an increase for her then?

A Yes. An extra £42.45 on your Incapacity Benefit, provided she has no earnings or pension of more than £53.95 a week.

Q You recently said a woman gets her retirement pension at 60. I am 66 and still waiting. I only worked for four years and my husband will not be 65 until next year. Will I ever get anything?

A You must have paid about ten years of full National Insurance to be sure of a pension on your own contributions. Otherwise, a married woman has to rely upon her husband's contributions to give her a pension when he is 65.

Q Our weekly income is £152.28 and we each get £39.30 a week Disability Living Allowance. What rebate could we get off our council tax of £740.69 a year?

A It depends on your ages. If you are both under 60, about £7.26 a week. If at least one of you is 60 or over, about £13.75 a week.

Q I am self-employed, coming up to 65 with no personal pension or savings. My wife, aged 58, has no income. We own our home, but pay council tax. Must we manage just on my basic state pension?

A Firstly, claim a pension increase for your wife of £45.20 a week. Then claim Income Support that will bring your joint incomes up to £149.80 a week. You will get a full council tax rebate as well.

Q I am a woman of 54. At what age will I get my state pension?

A At 60, assuming you have enough National Insurance contributions. Only women born after April 6, 1950, are affected by the change that will gradually bring the woman's pension age to 65