Standard Life Endowment. Help Please!!

dunstonh

Most endowments now will not even perform the basic task of paying off the loan, much less provide any extra lump sum.It is best to face facts and consign them to the dustbin of history.

That is contrary to other sources that have suggested that most 20+ plus year endowments will return to a surplus position and pay out a surplus on maturity.

The issue is identifying the good and the bad and knowing where yours is using the full data that is available and not guessing based on limited info.

catsneel

Hi everyone,
remember me? catsneel? the originator of this thread?
I seem to have got lost in this fog of advice.!!!
Can anyone further enlighten us as to the way forward with our SL policy?
Please refer to the very start of this thread .
Thanks!

EdInvestor

EdInvestor wrote: »

So let's say you surrender the policy and use the lump sum to reduce your mortgage at an interest rate of 6%, also increasing the monthly mortgage payment by the amount of the endowment premium to maturity.At that point you would have a return of 37,016, which is quite a lot more than SL's estimated high rate (unguaranteed) return - which they are unlikely to achieve.

You may also need to make an allowance for replacement of life cover, if you need it, but basically there's little point in hanging onto this policy IMHO.There is no point in taking a risk when the guaranteed no-risk return is likely to be higher.

Nothing has changed.

catsneel

Thanks 'Edinvestor.
I think i've got the message now!
Goodnight.

vivatifosi

Sorry to jump in on this thread, but it seems the best place to post my question. I too have a Standard Life endowment policy which I took out in the 1980s.

A couple of years ago I left the safety of full time employment with all the benefits that entailed and set up my own small business. I didn't know this at the time, but a few months later I was being treated for cancer. Although my SL policy is no longer linked to my mortgage, it is a very useful vehicle in case anything happens to me over the remaining seven years as I can't get life cover.

However, I am curious to know what sort of sums in percentage terms SL is currently paying out. I know that this isn't an indicator of future values, but it is a useful starting point.

I've tried reading back through this thread and I'm still not clear, though I appreciate I may have missed something. I have a with profits endowment, and at the same time am going through the FSA safetynet scheme for miss-selling as my IFA went bankrupt.

Thanks everyone

JoeK_3

EdInvestor wrote: »

Nothing has changed.

" I'm still telling everyone to cash in." by Edinvestor

Where is your recommendation for the OP to take out life insurance before she does cash in????

She has already admitted that she would have a shortfall if she did cash it in and her husband is the major wage earner.

OP, please see an Independent Financial Adviser.

Disappointed!!

JoeK

EdInvestor

JoeK

I do wish you would actually read the posts properly.

This is what I said (twice):

You may also need to make an allowance for replacement of life cover, if you need it...

EdInvestor

vivatifosi wrote: »

However, I am curious to know what sort of sums in percentage terms SL is currently paying out. I know that this isn't an indicator of future values, but it is a useful starting point.

Hi Viva

Sorry to hear about your health problem.

Unfortunately SL emdowments' terminal bonuses are now very meagre. If you look at the current issue of Money Management in your newsagent you will see their authoritative endowment survey, which tracks payouts for all the lifecos.In almost all cases the trend is still down, and certainly it is at Standard life.

Here's the current payout table:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/main.jhtml?xml=/money/2007/05/12/cmendow12.xml

dunstonh

Unfortunately SL emdowments' terminal bonuses are now very meagre.

Where is your evidence to back that up? Terminal bonuses have been on the rise again at Standard Life.

Also, you are completely misreading those money management tables and giving inaccurate information to people who seem quite willing to throw away money on your say so.

JoeK_3

catsneel wrote: »

Hi everyone,
remember me? catsneel? the originator of this thread?
I seem to have got lost in this fog of advice.!!!
Can anyone further enlighten us as to the way forward with our SL policy?
Please refer to the very start of this thread .
Thanks!

Speak to an Independent Financial Adviser (IFA) please.

JoeK