POIs savings

jamels2

Hi there
My employer offers POIs savings which comes out of our wages tax free
https://www.pois.co.uk/
This is new to me, does anyone else use it or know how it works? Is it better than a cash ISA or fixed savings account?
Thanks

DrSyn

The Post Office Insurance Society(POI) is now a part of Foresters Friendly Society.

They are a relic of the past as far as I can see. When there where no ISA's, no internet and the common person knew nothing about shares and bonds. Let alone how to buy them. For the time when they first started they where probably a good idea.

The bottom line is they are a long term (10 years) investment in a multi asset fund, with built in life cover and some extra benefits.

What you find if you dig around in the documentation is that charges are high and taken out up front as far as I can see. Which is why if you try and cash in early, you get back less than you put in.


Here is some info on their Tax Exempt Savings Plan:-

https://www.pois.co.uk/site/assets/files/1028/tesp_brochure_pois.pdf

https://www.pois.co.uk/site/assets/files/1028/pois-kid-tesp-v6.pdf


The above is different from a cash ISA or a fixed savings account.

You could reproduce something similar for yourself by placing a global multi-asset fund within a Stocks & Shares ISA.

IanManc

I paid £25 a month into one of these things throughout my thirties, and at the end of 10 years I received £45 more than the total sum of my contributions.

I'd have got considerably more if I'd just put £25 a month into a savings account and paid tax on the income.

I promised myself to never fall for another one.

xylophone

If you want to save for your child, why not a JISA?

If you want to save for yourself, why not an ISA?

Flobberchops

Likewise. I once looked into a Friendly Society - may have been the one above or something else, I forget - received a glossy brochure in the post and read through it scratching my head wondering why anybody in their right mind would touch these things with a bargepole. Not that they're risky (they're dull as ditch water) but because you seem to be paying a big upfront fee for the privilege of saving in a low-yield account.

If you have access to the internet (and OP evidently does) then you have better options at your perusal. Look into what else your employer offers - put the money into a workplace pension or sharesave scheme instead if you can.

Reaper

I think you are all missing this bit:

jamels2 wrote: »

My employer offers POIs savings which comes out of our wages tax free

If this is a salary sacrifice arrangement by which money that you would otherwise pay in both income tax and national insurance goes into an investment then it makes it more appealing, particularly if you are a higher rate tax payer. And of course it grows tax free too.

However you need to check that really is the arrangement as it's more unusual for a cash scheme to be eligible (maybe because it has a life insurance component?)