Help needed ref cashing in of endowment

GreenNinja

Hi everybody,

Really need some advice ref my endowment Policy. Started it with Winterthur in March 94 so 15 years including next months payment. Have been paying in 49.66 a month. Have been toying with the idea of cashing it in to pay a chunk off the mortgage. Not had this years statment yet but last year was just over 10 grand. Have just called them for a redemption figure and they have given me a figure of 8,501.47. This is LESS than I paid in! I have paid in 8,938.80. The woman on the phone told me that if the market picked up that my policy would then be worth more. I asked what would happen if their company went bust and was told I would have to seek compensation through a claim. She had no other info and just said well we are with AXA now and they are a really good company....

What do I do? get my money out now while I still have some or leave it there??

Robert_Sterling_3

The stock market can go up and can go down.
The past perforance is not a guide to future performance.
When you take out an endowment you may get an "example" of what would happen "if" it went up every year.
A good time to sell would be when it is high.
At present it is low.
It could get higher.
It could get lower.
What should you do now?
Your call.

GreenNinja

Hi, thanks for your comment. I was persuaded to take this endowment out at the young and naive age of 28 and was assured it was the right way to go. 15 years seems a long time to gain nothing, even in a current bank account my money would have done better.
My idea is that if I cash this in now, I can put the money I was putting into the endowment into an ISA instead, with a better return hopefully in the next ten years than if I left it in the endowment.
Obviously my monthly mortgage rate will reduce so can save the difference into the ISA as well.
Not being expert in any way at all financially am not sure if this is a good move or a bad one!

My main worry is that the company were so vague about what would happen if they went bust! also the fact that I could pay £50 a month for the next ten years until the policy finishes and end up with less even than I have now.

paulfaz

Have you no sum assured figure in your policy details - i.e the minimum guaranteed return if you carried on paying until the end?

GreenNinja

Not sure, will have a look. Any idea where it would be on the paperwork?

GreenNinja

Hi, there is no sum assured, only if I die!

Kind of thought there would be advice on my question, bit disappointed really.

Money_maker

Robert_Sterling wrote: »

The stock market can go up and can go down.
The past perforance is not a guide to future performance.
When you take out an endowment you may get an "example" of what would happen "if" it went up every year.
A good time to sell would be when it is high.
At present it is low.
It could get higher.
It could get lower.
What should you do now?
Your call.

This IS the advice. No one can advise you what to do. You have to look at the whole picture.

I have similar scenario - we keep it going for the life insurance it carries and to use as a bit extra when it finishes. Currently looking at half the original amount it was intended to cover.