AXA Sunlife Bonus Cashbuilder Plan

nikkinoodles_3

Hi I wonder if anyone out there can help me.

I signed up for a 15 year bonus cashbuilder plan ith AXA Sun Life, which is due to mature in 2017.

After looking into it on more depth recently (reading the small print) it states that my guaranteed lump sum at the end of the plan will be less than I have paid in - I need to rely on bonus payments which I may get if they play the stock market correctly!

Bearing in mind the current climate and the fact that I pay £60 per month and have had one bonus of £103 in 6 years, should I leave my money in until the policy matures or cut my losses and surrender (I will lose approx £800 if I do this now). Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Nikki

dunstonh

Any advice would be greatly appreciated

Its a regulated financial services product so we cannot give advice. Just comment and discussion. You get no FOS protection for acting on comments made on this board.

The plan was rubbish when you took it out and it remains rubbish. However, you chose a 15 year term and in that period you would expect at least 3 stockmarket crashes. You had just come off the back of one when you started. So, the fact that stockmarket has dropped should not be a surprise to you as it was always going to happen at some point.

I wouldnt give a single concern about current stockmarket performance for a long term regular contract (actually it can be a good thing). I would be more concerned with the quality of the product and if you can get better on modern alternatives (the AXA plan would have been obsolete in 1998, let alone 2002 and now in 2008).

aHullKingstonRover

Hi Nikki,

Is there a vast difference between the guaranteed lump sum and the amount you will have paid in on maturity?

Also, does the surrender value reduce over time - for example you've made 6 years worth of contributions so far but say after the plan's 10th annivesary, could you review things then and decide what to do with less penalty costs incurred?

And if you cashed the plan in now, would you also lose the £103 bonus too?

As well as savings, the AXA cashbuilder also covers you for Life Assurance - so please consider that aspect too if you don't have other forms of personal insurance.

My thought would be to sit tight at the moment, especially if the plan is stock market-linked - do AXA give you a breakdown of the companies shares they invest in?

Things can bounce back quickly even in these turbulent times!