Standard Life Endowment. Help Please!!

JoeK_3

EdInvestor wrote: »

There is no point in taking a risk when the guaranteed no-risk return is likely to be higher.

Prove it please.

JoeK

Sarahsaver

I contacted my endowment provider who didnt know what 'paid up' meant. I am taking a 'payment holiday' and also the policy has finally been transferred into my sole name but the ex is still insured by it LOL;)

catsneel

Please all rest assurred we are in touch with our IFA at this moment in time.
Many thanks for the concern.

catsneel

Hi
Been in touch with our IFA and the same 'advice' is given, that he cannot 'tell us what's the best thing for us to do , he can only advise.
So, we are now looking at other Life Insurance should we surrender our endowment. and it is another 'problem' in that what's the best type of for us.
Do we go for 'decreasing life insurance? life Assurance and the rest!!

Can anyone out there advise us??
Many thanks

catsneel

oh a little harsh there!! Joek.
I wanted to get more than one opinion and advice, that's why i started this thread. It's always good to get more than one i think, and there is such a lot of good advice here, that i thought i would tap into it.
We value our IFA as he is a friend too.
Hope that clears things up a little

JoeK_3

Sorry but that does not clear it up at all.

You went for advice and got what? he can only advise???

The problem with getting to many opinions, is just that.

You have asked for a professional 'tell us what's the best thing for us to do' and he can only advise?

Sorry if that's a bit harsh as you say but we all have different standards.

Unfortunately, you will only get people's opinions on here and most of those will be to trash the endowment, as they are not qualified to say anything else.

A good IFA would have 2 projections side by side, comparing the benefits of both retaining the endowment and selling the endowment on and using the sale value to reduce the mortgage.

We have already identified that you would be short of life cover if you sold the policy on and the cost of this would also go into the equation.

Further than that, I am extremely concerned that whilst your husband is the major wage earner, you do not have any life insurance on his life to replace his income in the event of his premature death.

Sorry if I am a bit harsh but I'm only doing this from a distance and am not a friend.

Yours

JoeK

dunstonh

I have to agree with a Joe here.

whats the point of an adviser if they dont give you advice or you dont ask them for advice?

If the adviser says he cannot give advice on a product then they are not much of an adviser. They can let you know that they cannot predict the future and that on things like this there is an element of opinion as well as fact but they should still tell you.

The opinions on here about endowments are often flawed or based on incorrect data. The end result may be the same but unless all facts are known, then it is just guesswork.

catsneel

Think i'd better quit on this one, i think you're all a bit touchy, sqwabble between each other, trying to get even with each other,
Sorry i asked for advise in the first place.
BYEEE

EdInvestor

dunstonh wrote: »

whats the point of an adviser if they dont give you advice or you dont ask them for advice?If the adviser says he cannot give advice on a product then they are not much of an adviser. They can let you know that they cannot predict the future and that on things like this there is an element of opinion as well as fact but they should still tell you.

But surely you two are aware that this is par for the course in the adviser community on endowments? The FSA has complained about it several times, noting that people are just not getting proper advice on these policies because advisors can't be bothered/don't know what to say? This is mainly because they don't sell WP products any more and thus can't be bothered to inform themselves but there's also an element of back protection.

I can assure you that endowment policyholders know they won;t get anything useful out of an advisor.That's why they come here and to other websites.

A good IFA would have 2 projections side by side, comparing the benefits of both retaining the endowment and selling the endowment on and using the sale value to reduce the mortgage.

Effectively that's exactly what you get on MSE: an assessment from an IFA such as dunstonh and another one from me, which cover jointly exactly this waterfront.

Readers can then make up their own minds.

What's more, it's free.:)

catsneel

Thanks for that comment Edinvestor, you've restored my faith in human nature.
I felt i had got a right ticking off for asking for advice from various quarters, which i think is a very common sense thing to do.
One IFA's advice is not always the right advice, so it makes sense to 'shop' around for advice too, which is what i did.
Thanks for all your time and efforts.
I really do appreciate it.