legal and general portfolio bond

biblemad

CAN ANY ONE HELP ME? I HAVE A LEGAL AND GENERAL PORTFOLIO BOND THAT IS 2 YEARS OLD. QUESTION: IS MY MONEY SAFE THERE OR SHOULD I DRAW IT ALL OUT AND RISK THE 10% CHARGE I WOULD BE PENALISED FOR DOING SO. I WOULD BE VERY GREATFUL FOR ANY HELP ABOUT THIS.

Lokolo

Take it all out and put it all in premium bonds.

I am not an IFA. Anything I do say should not be considered advice, however, if you do take it as advice you do not deserve to have money like that.

turbobob

You know its an investment and that investments go up and down in value I assume? So in that respect its not safe. You might (and probably will, in current conditions) get back less than you put in - even before the charge for early surrender. But you can choose a range of funds to suit your risk profile (it uses the Cofunds platform to give access to a range of non L&G funds).

It will be covered by the FSCS in case of failure of anyone involved to 100% of the first £30,000 and 90% of the next £20,000.

pumpndump

Not much to go on here. How badly do you need the money? When does the thing mature? Did you know that you were investing in a bear market? Is it all the money you have in the world, or is it just a small part of your vast holdings? How long are you prepared to wait till the thing goes back up again?

dunstonh

It will be covered by the FSCS in case of failure of anyone involved to 100% of the first £30,000 and 90% of the next £20,000.

Not this product. Its a life assurance bond so comes under the insurance protection which is 100% of first £2000 and 90% of the rest with no upper limit.

The investment protection is for S&S ISAs, unit trusts, investment trusts etc. Investment bonds and pensions (excluding SIPPs) come under the insurance protection.

The product itself has a massive fund range ranging from cash funds through to specialist niche funds (and everything in between). There is absolutely no reason to encash the product on the grounds of financial security.

biblemad

Thanks for the advice. i am soooo greatfull for any help.

biblemad

thanks for replying.

biblemad

Thank you for your reply. Most helpfull.

biblemad

Thank You For Replying.
Its In For 10 Years That When I Will Be Retireing.its Most Of What I Have. I Do Have A Mortgage. Bear Market, Whats That? So I Guess The Ans Is No To That Question.

pumpndump

Hi Biblemad

A bare bones definition of a bear market is a period of sustained sinking of share prices. Note that the shares do not sink like a stone, but go up and down, although sinking in price is the overall trend. The opposite of a bear market is a bull market, where prices go up overall. According to many experts the bear market we are in at the moment started c. 1998, and may last till as late as 2016. If you want to sell and put the money into a bank or into government bonds, my advice to you would be to wait for a sudden rise and then offload as fast as you can.

The safe way to play the bear market is by paying a certain sum every month, (usually in the form of a life assurance policy, and you do not care how low the market goes, because the lower it goes, the more units you buy. Or you can stay out of the stock market entirely.

I am sorry that the person who sold you this bond did not tell you any of the above. This person is an absolute disgrace.

dunstonh

If you want to sell and put the money into a bank or into government bonds, my advice to you would be to wait for a sudden rise and then offload as fast as you can.

The OP hasnt told us anything about the investments. The L&G portfolio bond has a cash option, fixed interest funds, property and a large range of equity funds. There would be little point pulling out and suffering a penalty when there is low risk options available on the plan.

I am sorry that the person who sold you this bond did not tell you any of the above. This person is an absolute disgrace.

A bit like telling someone to exit a plan (which would incur charges) after the market goes up despite not knowing if they are invested in that market to begin with