endowment bonuses very poor, need some guidance

happyhero

Hi sorry I this has been covered before in some variation but I cannot seem to find the answer for me.

I took out an endowment mortgage back in 1986 and the mortgage is long gone as I moved but kept the endowment going as an investment. I believe it is a with profits policy.

I have a new repayment mortgage for about £70000 outstanding at present and I am looking at cashing things in to pay off as much as possible of this. I have noticed as one would probably expect with the way things are that the moment
"New bonuses added"
are very small, ie they just added £19.55 after 1 year and a similar amount in previous years bringing my "Total of guaranteed amount plus all bonuses" to £18159.22. There is an astrix to this title explaining it below and it reads
"If your plan remains in force unaltered this amount will become due at the date your plan comes to an end. If this plan is cashed in early, the amount we pay out will be lower than this"

So now I have a few questions

Is this £18159.22 (it was supposed to cover a £30000 mortgage) all that I will receive plus a couple more £19 additions or will there be some nice big bonus added at the end if it goes full term? ie something to make me want to go full term and not cash in early?

If I do cash in early what could I expect to lose roughly speaking?

If my pot with them has built up over all these 23 years is this £19 being added each year not a bit of a joke even despite the current crisis? ie are they not taking the micky?

The plan is due to mature in August 2011 which I know is not that far away now but when I look at my mortgage with a few hundred interest added every month, which is just money down the drain, ie I will never see it again, I cannot help thinking that paying a big lump off the mortgage thus reducing a fair bit of interest would far outway any of these pathetic bonuses they add unless you tell me that there is a big one at the end, am I wrong or should I wait?

I have fancied cashing in for years but people kept advising me to go full term, but for years now they have added this pathetic £19 or so and it used to be a lot more in the earlier part of this endowment. So I have stayed with it never really understanding what the benefit is, hoping that doing this will give me a much better return than it would if I cashed in early, was this the right thing to do and can anybody explain why?

Any help appreciated.

EdInvestor

And the provider of this endowment is.....?

happyhero

EdInvestor wrote: »

And the provider of this endowment is.....?

Sorry Friends Provident

happyhero

Some advice pretty please?