Diary of a Confused MFW

Dithering_Dad

Here's a really simple calculator: http://www.moneymatterstome.co.uk/Interactive-Tools/GeneralInterestCalculator.htm

Set your 'Lump Sum' to zero.
Set the 'Savings Period' to the number of months you've been paying into the endowment
Set the 'Monthly Payments' to whatever your endowment monthly payments are.

Then adjust the interest rate value until the 'Value of Investments' reaches the valuation provided by the endowment company.

keld

Just a bit of an update and a request for more advice:o .

It doesn't seem to make any difference to my mortgage, where the overpayments come off as both my repayment and interest only part are on the same interest rate. So thanks for the help. :T

However you've set a rabbit away with my endowment. I rang up for a cash in valuation and I nearly fell off my chair,:eek: so what do you think.

Some facts and figures.

Endowment start date Aug 1995.
Matures Aug 2020.
Monthly payment £55.65
Target value £40,000.
Revised projections £23,600 @ 4%; £27,800 @ 5.75%; £32,900 @ 7.5%.
Cash in valuation £9,329.00.:eek:

I think the cash in value is about a 1% return,:mad: which is dreadful, but this could be misleading because of penalties.

On the face of it I think I should call it a day and pay the £9k off my mortgage, this would knock another either 21 months or 28 months (if I also OP the payments I would have been putting into the endowment) off my MFD, bringing it in the best case to 31/12/2014, which sounds good to me.:j However I would value anyones opinion/advice/experience.

tootallulah

Hi

I was in a similar position to you and decided to cash in my endowment, paid the money off my mortgage and upped the mortgage payment to take into account NOT paying into the endowment (I hope this makes sense). I knocked twenty eight months off my mortgage end date. Good luck/

StuartGMC

keld wrote: »

Well I'm off to investigate switching our contents insurance and see if I can save a few more pennies.

Do consider contents and buildings together to see if it reduces costs.

Also, please get the PDF policies of the possible ones you want so you can review in detail before committing. In my case I was shocked by some clauses in "reputable" policies (see http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.html?p=14267991&postcount=156 )

george_jetson

If I were you I'd take the nine grand and run and chalk it up to experience. Throw the money at the mortgage. That's what I did!

You'd have to have a lot of confidence in your endowment provider to trust them with another eight grand of your money over the next 12 years…

Dithering_Dad

I cashed mine in when I realised I was getting a similar return from my current account. Have a look at some of the companies who buy endowments to see if you can get a beter price (ask on the endowments board for the list of companies).

You also need to replace the Life Assurance provided by the endowment and might take this opportunity to look at the whole of your life assurance provision. This is what I did and I ended up with much more comprehensive insurance and quite a bit cheaper.

keld

StuartGMC - I saw on another thread that you have a budgeting spreadsheet, could I be cheeky and ask for a copy please?

It's just that this month my childminder fees were less, but the money has 'vanished' out of my account anyway and I could have paid it off the mortgage, but I must have spent it, probably on food (or wine!).:o

Still trying to make head or tail of the home insurance policies. What is a sensible contents limit, 'cos I've no idea how much the stuff in our house would be worth? Is it best to have both contents and buildings together?

Dithering Dad - You also need to replace the Life Assurance provided by the endowment and might take this opportunity to look at the whole of your life assurance provision. This is what I did and I ended up with much more comprehensive insurance and quite a bit cheaper.

- What is this? - sorry to be dim.

Tonight I'm going to try to persuade my DH that we need to put some of our savings towards OP, but he likes to have some money in case of emergencies, but how much is enough.

I've been reading the MFW diary's on why you/we are doing this, which I find really encouraging/inspiring. I think that our aim is to have enough money for tuition for our son (who's dyslexic) and to send all three of our children to uni. I dream of a little holiday cottage in Scotland too, that maybe we could retire too, but I'm probably getting a little pie in the sky, as at the minute every penny we earn is spent on one thing or another. The 'benefit' of living in an old house.

May be I should keep a diary thread to keep me motivated or maybe this is it!

Welshlassie

keld wrote: »

StuartGMC - I saw on another thread that you have a budgeting spreadsheet, could I be cheeky and ask for a copy please?

It's just that this month my childminder fees were less, but the money has 'vanished' out of my account anyway and I could have paid it off the mortgage, but I must have spent it, probably on food (or wine!).:o

Try keeping a spending diary as you will find yourself thinking about what you spend on before you spend on it.

Still trying to make head or tail of the home insurance policies. What is a sensible contents limit, 'cos I've no idea how much the stuff in our house would be worth? Is it best to have both contents and buildings together?

there are calculators out there to help with the house insurance. Try having contents together and seperate, Stuart went through this process on his thread a month or so ago.

- What is this? - sorry to be dim. a policy that pays out if you die (therefore giving a lump sum to pay off the mortgage with for whoever is left.

Tonight I'm going to try to persuade my DH that we need to put some of our savings towards OP, but he likes to have some money in case of emergencies, but how much is enough.

depending on the line of work you aare in (how secure) 3/6/9 months worth of income is best.

I've been reading the MFW diary's on why you/we are doing this, which I find really encouraging/inspiring. I think that our aim is to have enough money for tuition for our son (who's dyslexic) and to send all three of our children to uni. I dream of a little holiday cottage in Scotland too, that maybe we could retire too, but I'm probably getting a little pie in the sky, as at the minute every penny we earn is spent on one thing or another. The 'benefit' of living in an old house.

May be I should keep a diary thread to keep me motivated or maybe this is it! - Welcome to your diary :rotfl: [/quote]

keld

I've been offline for a few days, due to computer crash,:mad: you forget how much you depend on them, both at work and at home, but all seems well now.

I am still waiting for Scottish Provident to provide me with the information requested, but we are definately going to either cash it in or sell it on, all the money plus the monthly payments are going to go as OP (although DH did try to put his dibs on for a 'new' motor bike - we've compromised, if he sells the old car he can have those funds).

When I put the new figures into the spreadsheet, we could be mortgage free by 31/12/2014, an improvement of nearly 3 years on our current target and 7 years on the original date. I can't wait,:j just think of all the interest saved! In fact I think I'm going to chase SP again. I'm not going to change my signiture just yet in case it all goes horribly wrong.

Welshlassie - Try keeping a spending diary as you will find yourself thinking about what you spend on before you spend on it.

1st entry 55p for book to keep a track in!:o

keld

Well I eventually got all the information I needed from Scottish Provident, including a surrender quote. I have filled in a form for a sales quote from apmm.org (courtesy of EdInvestor). I am just waiting for the best offer:rolleyes: and will then pay the money straight off the mortgage. I'm quite excited:j, sad aren't I? Then I'll change my MFD and signiture.

I'm currently filling in my spending diary, no NSD for me so far this week, and a few nasty shocks (school panto trip for 3 children £45:eek: , being one). Once I've got a week or two of information, I'll try to do a spreadsheet showing where it's gone, although obviously the build up to Christmas is a great time to start keeping a check on our spending - or maybe it is.:o