Ditch your endowment policy - is this the general opinion?

dunstonh

unitised with profits very much build up terminal bonuses on the go. Conventional with profit plans still alter the bonus on maturity to suit. However, as is well commented on this forum, the reason they mostly jump up on maturity is not because they have suddenly added a bonus but becaues the projections have never included the terminal bonus accrued to date.

EdInvestor

However, as is well commented on this forum, the reason they mostly jump up on maturity is not because they have suddenly added a bonus but becaues the projections have never included the terminal bonus accrued to date.

Do they suddenly jump up on maturity? Surrender values can be higher the year before maturity these days than when the policy actually comes to an end. payouts have been falling year on year at most companies for some time.

If there is a jump, it is more likely to be because exit penalties sometimes levied on early surrender don't apply at maturity.

dunstonh

Do they suddenly jump up on maturity?

They can give that perception. Especially when you get pre-maturity notifications (about 3 months before) giving your a projection which then jumps up £5k-£10k in that 3 months.

As I said though, its usually because of the terminal bonus not appearing in the projections. That TB is usually there throughout at varying amounts and the info is available upon request for those that dont automatically give it.

Crazy_Saver

Hi Guys.

Been trying to ascertain from Zurich what level of TB we could expect on maturity in 2016.

Very nice lady informed me that the TB is not guaranteed and could be completely withdrawn at any time, but at the moment it is being paid as a % of all bonuses paid. She couldn't tell me what the percentage is.

I informed her that our bonuses to date total £5,200 so there doesn't really seem to be much chance of a very high bonus to me. (If any!)

To make matters worse, we received our annual bonus statement today.
£53 this year. WOW :rolleyes:

Not much chance of the TB going up too much I think;)

I really do think it's time to surrender. Hopefully my IFA will get back to me soon with some ideas.

Regards

Crazy Saver