Liverpool Victoria Tax Free Savings Plan

Sa3r

Hi,
This is my first post, so forgive me if it breaks any rules, or is in the wrong place.
7 years ago we took out one of these '10 year x 25 pounds per month tax free savings plans' for every member of my family. When we took them out they seemed like a good idea as the figures showed, if you put in £3000 (£25pm x 12mths x 10 yrs) they charge you a small fee, and given the pervious 10 years, you could earn up to £10,000. I believe the URL is http://www.lv.com/savingsandinvestments/With_Profits/tax-free-savings-plan
My concern is that because it is stock market linked I will have little/nothing at the end of the 10 years.At the moment, I think that there is no point putting in another £900 per account for the remaining 3 years as it is likely to be wasted.
Does anyone know if I can cash this in now, and how much it might be worth, or if it is better to keep paying into it, and cross my fingers? :doh:
Thanks in advance

apt

You really need informed advice on a specific product so an internet forum probably isn't the best place for your question. But in general if you are 7 years into a 10 year plan it's usually best to stick it out to the end as there's generally either a terminal bonus to be gained or a stiff exit penalty. Presumbly you can ask LV for a surrender value. Any damage re poor stock market performance over the seven year period will already have been done, and equities do tend to recover earlier than the real economy in a recession.

Reaper

Without knowing the figures I agree. My personal view is that the stock markets have had the worst of the falls and selling when the market is low is not a smart thing to do.

Having got so far through the plans I'd see it through to the end - I would hope that the markets will start to recover at some point in the next 3 years.

Sa3r

Thanks for the replies, they are very helpful. I will keep them in mind when I plan and find out what the best option is. Thanks for your help!

ad44downey

Sa\/3r wrote: »

Hi,
. When we took them out they seemed like a good idea as the figures showed, if you put in £3000 (£25pm x 12mths x 10 yrs) they charge you a small fee,

They definitely misled you there. There's 4 different sets of charges with these rip-off plans, they're absolute rubbish

dunstonh

My guess is that the op is mixing up the cost of advice disclosure with product charges. A very common error.

HowieTheRookie

I also have one of these accounts, we were advised by the company running our pension scheme to take at least one out, they expected LV to be bought by a bank and therefore pay a windfall (seems crazy now). I quickly learned that LV paid quite a hefty commision to our financial advisors and no way would this kind of scheme pay 7/8 or 9 grand. However my scheme only has 2 years left and it was up to £2,000 so I do expect it to be worth £3,500 - £4,500 when it matures in 2011