confused.help re cash in or keep endowments

gehee2004

can any help me decide what to do, was all set to cash 2 endowments in but am having second thoughts after trying very hard to understand the threads I've been reading.
Were originally for the mortgages but not necessary any more so really are only for saving for the future.

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Standard Life- feb 1999 to Feb 2011--- 50.99 pm (4 years left)
value feb 06 10414.40
march 07 12382.60

SL say they cant tell me what the life !!! part of the premium is

showed predicted shortfall of 7250 at 5.5% in feb 06

supposed to pay out 23250 originally

was all set to cash this in until got new figure yesterday

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Countrywide Assured -july 1999 to July 2014---162.72pm (only approx half way thru)
value jan 06 10267.68
march 07 13281.28

apparently 29.00pm is the life !!! bit.

showed predicted 3600 shortfall at 6% over 2005 & 2006- not got 2007 yet

Feel that 162.72 pm would be better off somewhere else over the next 7 years

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Can anyone who understands these things click a few calculator buttons and help me out

Thanx in advance for any comments

dunstonh

With the standard life, what is your mortgage promise value and what is the terminal bonus that is currently on the plan. They need to be added in as they are not included in projections.

WIth CA, is it unit linked or with profits?

gehee2004

thanx for coming in dustonh

SL mortgage promise says between 700 and 1050 in the feb 2006 statement
(email from them said delays in this years statements and could be May 2007before issued)
terminal bonus feb 2006 ;
2006 47.45 previous years 4629.42

giving minimum at maturity 14395.87

2005 to 2006 increase in surrender figure was 134.47 (after minusing the 611.88 paid in over that year)

but looking at it same way 2006 to 2007 increase in surrender is 1356.32

so approx 1220 more- has the demutualisation caused this??

Am I being a little naive the way I'm reading into this ???!!!

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The CW policy is unit linked - the original document says 'Home Purchase Plan'
& that the fund is managed by:-
Investec Guinness Flight Investment Management &
Schroder Investment Management

if that helps any but could this have changed over the period of time?

I had thought about talking to mums IFA who has served her well over the last few difficult years but this seemed like 'small fry' in comparison.

1000's of others have had the same concerns.
I will also say that morally I could not take up a mis selling case as I was totally aware of the risk - just didn't expect it to be quite so drastic.

Still- on the bright side- at least I'm not relying on it to pay the mortgage off now- thank goodness.

Any comments gratefully received.

welnik

I took out a low cost endowment in 1990 which was supposed to cover my mortgage of £37,500. I currently give Clerical Medical £600 per annum and they add £123 or less to my policy. I have established that the life cover element of what I am paying is about £1.50 a month.

Now Im not some expert fund manager or a financial wizz of any sort, but if I was to invest that £600 per annum in a building society standard account, I would have £600 plus the daily accruing interest which should be in excess of £30.00 per annum.

So, what on earth is Clerical Medical investing in? Makes my blood boil!

Ive worked out that the best option for me is to make the policy "paid up". This basically means that I will get a reduced sum assured (17/25ths) plus reversionary bonuses already added, plus growth in 2015. The life cover would also be reduced to the reduced sum assured plus the bonuses which is over a third of the original sum assured.

If I then save £600 a year for the next 9 years in an ISA I will end up with a lot more than I would have done if I continue to give them my monthly premium.

It may be worth looking at your policy that way. You wont be able to access the money though until the maturity date.

regards
Wel

gehee2004

Had actually considered this for the countrywide one and spoken to them about it.
But said they could not offer any advice- would just to what I requested.

As you say 160plus pm could do a lot better somewhere else.
However as the life side would cost approx 2400 out of the paid up investment- if it doesnt improve a lot, I feel i'm better of getting the cash out.

My main concern really is the Standard Life which is only 50.99 pm with 4 years left. If it starts to make up what it looks to have done over this last year I should probably keep paying.

I thought I was quite good with money but these things are bothering me-
especially the unit linked/stocks & shares bit- how to choose funds etc which I have tried to get my head around.

The c/w policy says I can change the investment from managed fund . Have even bought a few of the mags but even getting started is hurting my brain.

For same reason the cash ISA's for us both are maxed but I have not considered stocks & shares ISA's

Like everyone I would like to see the ££££'s rolling in.

Maybe someone could suggest some simple reading to get people like me started on the right track.