Scottish Widows -Money4Life value dropping

[pumi63]

Hello ,

I wondered if any finance savvy post people could give me some non-binding advice or information regarding the now redundant Money4Life scheme .
I am 61 and expect to retire at 67 , and paid into the Money4Life scheme for 14 years . Most of my investment is in the Growth Plan but in the absence of zero funds going in and given the volatile market , my fund value has dropped .

Would anyone be able to advise what funds are safer investments for me to move my cash into as in the space of 1 month the yearly expected pension as dropped by £100 and will probably continue to fall .

I expect that there are many others that find themselves in a similar position to me and wondering which of the 7 funds to invest in , and having some money left to retire ?

Thank you

[Jaggs]

If you still have 6 years to retirement you are probably still best in the growth fund. Short term volatility like you've experienced in the last month from what you've said is the price of long term better returns.

[RobertT]

Hello ,

I wondered if any finance savvy post people could give me some non-binding advice or information regarding the now redundant Money4Life scheme .
I am 61 and expect to retire at 67 , and paid into the Money4Life scheme for 14 years . Most of my investment is in the Growth Plan but in the absence of zero funds going in and given the volatile market , my fund value has dropped .

Would anyone be able to advise what funds are safer investments for me to move my cash into as in the space of 1 month the yearly expected pension as dropped by £100 and will probably continue to fall .

I expect that there are many others that find themselves in a similar position to me and wondering which of the 7 funds to invest in , and having some money left to retire ?

Thank you

Going by your previous posts, you were paying into AVC's but you didn't use the cash to fund your tax free lump sum when you took your Age60 benefits. Instead you want to use it to provide an annuity(income for life) from 67?

I don't think stock markets have been particularly more volatile than usual, so a bit of movement up and down is perfectly normal. Perhaps you're just more aware of it because there's no longer any contributions going in.

Just because the value has dropped a bit recently doesn't mean it 'will probably continue to fall'.

Had you chosen to 'lifestyle' your investments, they would already be slowly moving into safer funds and you can still do that if you want to.
Otherwise your choice of investments comes down to your own personal risk profile.

Some people will say stick, while others will say twist. Ultimately it's your choice!

Personally, I stopped paying into my Flexiplan a few years ago, as a result of already having enough to cover the 25% tax free lump sum when I take my Age60 benefits.
The aim was to hold onto my gains and at least keep up with inflation.
I've seen a 28% increase in the value in that time despite reducing the risk, and I'm happy enough with that!

For further reading:
The 'guide to AVC's' on the RMPP website goes into quite a lot of detail with regards risk profiles, etc.
And obviously consult the fund fact sheets for performance data, etc.

Both can be found here: https://www.royalmailpensionplan.co.uk/ ... _benefits/

[NWpostie]

I'm the same I set my Flexiplan for growth as that usually has the best return long term, it will dip up and down then up again, it's really case of money makes money, I'm doing the same for my CDC AVC plan too.

[mr hil.]

I am quite happy to go with the higher risks and have my investments in the Sharia fund, to date over the last 5 years (I was a late starter to this saving for retirement ) my total cash deposits have increased by just over 50% so I am happy to leave them there for now. I may get a little more conservative as I approach retirement

[pumi63]

Good afternoon all ,

Thank you for replying . The Sharia fund has performed really well historically and seemingly better than the Growth Fund .

It's a shame although understandable that RM don't provide non-binding advice regarding which funds to invest in and when to switch to safer options nearer retirement so you can hold on to what's been earned . I have no idea how many people were invested in the Money4Life scheme but some general advice with suggested weekly cash input into the scheme would have been beneficial from a collaboration with RM and The Widows , just musing .......

Have a nice evening all

[RobertT]

The Sharia fund has performed really well historically and seemingly better than the Growth Fund .

I've never been tempted by Sharia for my pension funds, but have recently dipped my toe in the water via my ISA.
It's at the risky end of the scale and the sort of investment that can provide high returns in the good times, but can also lose you a lot in the bad.

It's a shame although understandable that RM don't provide non-binding advice regarding which funds to invest in and when to switch to safer options nearer retirement so you can hold on to what's been earned .

Nobody knows how any fund is going to perform in advance.
You can chose the Lifestyle option which gradually and automatically switches your money from 100% Growth to Balanced, Cautious and Cash as you approach your chosen retirement age.
Or you can do your own version of lifestying and switch when you think is best.

[Hyrrokkin]

The Sharia fund has performed really well historically and seemingly better than the Growth Fund .

I've never been tempted by Sharia for my pension funds, but have recently dipped my toe in the water via my ISA.
It's at the risky end of the scale and the sort of investment that can provide high returns in the good times, but can also lose you a lot in the bad.

It's a shame although understandable that RM don't provide non-binding advice regarding which funds to invest in and when to switch to safer options nearer retirement so you can hold on to what's been earned .

Nobody knows how any fund is going to perform in advance.
You can chose the Lifestyle option which gradually and automatically switches your money from 100% Growth to Balanced, Cautious and Cash as you approach your chosen retirement age.
Or you can do your own version of lifestying and switch when you think is best.

I went from the growth fund to the Shariah fund a few years ago - been happy with that choice (to be fair funds have been on a general upward curve the last several years+ anyway).
However have made the choice to transfer my AVC's to my SIPP as i feel having all that in one fund (weighted heavily to the tech sector) is not for me any more (moving to global/all world trackers in my SIPP).
Currently going through that process so hopefully no screw ups or delays !

As always our own choice and you always spin the dice so to speak !

[RobertT]

I went from the growth fund to the Shariah fund a few years ago - been happy with that choice (to be fair funds have been on a general upward curve the last several years+ anyway).
However have made the choice to transfer my AVC's to my SIPP as i feel having all that in one fund (weighted heavily to the tech sector) is not for me any more (moving to global/all world trackers in my SIPP).
Currently going through that process so hopefully no screw ups or delays !

As always our own choice and you always spin the dice so to speak !

I've moved quite a lot of my money about this year and have dealt with several different providers of pensions, ISA's and savings accounts. The only problems I encountered was when transferring my Bonusplan to my SIPP!

The PSC were absolutely shocking and the process took a lot longer than it should have done, which was 100% down to their incompetence.
They told me they'd learned from the mistakes they made with me and they won't happen again. Hopefully that is the case.

[Hyrrokkin]

I went from the growth fund to the Shariah fund a few years ago - been happy with that choice (to be fair funds have been on a general upward curve the last several years+ anyway).
However have made the choice to transfer my AVC's to my SIPP as i feel having all that in one fund (weighted heavily to the tech sector) is not for me any more (moving to global/all world trackers in my SIPP).
Currently going through that process so hopefully no screw ups or delays !

As always our own choice and you always spin the dice so to speak !

I've moved quite a lot of my money about this year and have dealt with several different providers of pensions, ISA's and savings accounts. The only problems I encountered was when transferring my Bonusplan to my SIPP!

The PSC were absolutely shocking and the process took a lot longer than it should have done, which was 100% down to their incompetence.
They told me they'd learned from the mistakes they made with me and they won't happen again. Hopefully that is the case.

Fingers crossed they have or i am trouble !!
I am transferring both Flexiplan & Bonusplan to HL (more expensive in charges than others but will get cashback offer with a little profit on top)
Still in early stages so too early to say if there are issues (just had a request to fill in an extra form from HL).
Hopefully i and others in the same boat have better luck with PSC than you did.
We shall see !

[RobertT]

I went from the growth fund to the Shariah fund a few years ago - been happy with that choice (to be fair funds have been on a general upward curve the last several years+ anyway).
However have made the choice to transfer my AVC's to my SIPP as i feel having all that in one fund (weighted heavily to the tech sector) is not for me any more (moving to global/all world trackers in my SIPP).
Currently going through that process so hopefully no screw ups or delays !

As always our own choice and you always spin the dice so to speak !

I've moved quite a lot of my money about this year and have dealt with several different providers of pensions, ISA's and savings accounts. The only problems I encountered was when transferring my Bonusplan to my SIPP!

The PSC were absolutely shocking and the process took a lot longer than it should have done, which was 100% down to their incompetence.
They told me they'd learned from the mistakes they made with me and they won't happen again. Hopefully that is the case.

Fingers crossed they have or i am trouble !!
I am transferring both Flexiplan & Bonusplan to HL (more expensive in charges than others but will get cashback offer with a little profit on top)
Still in early stages so to early to say if there are issue (just had a request to fill in an extra form from HL).
Hopefully i and others in the same boat have better luck with PSC than you did.
We shall see !

I've had my equity ISA with HL for 15-20 years now and have always found them to be good.

They have a big investment choice, a website that's easy to navigate and it's easy enough to swap funds, etc when you want to.

[posted]

ditto, my ISA and my kids' Childrens ISA are with HL.

But with a large pension pot, fees are a significant factor. HL are great to deal with as they answer the phone quick and their website is good but there are alternatives out there that I'm considering and also have cashback offers on Transferring-IN. Just waiting for my RMDCP pension pot value to tip over into the higher cashback tier and I'll transfer to somewhere like Fidelity

[mrcurve]

I have not paid into the avc for over a year, when I look at the value of the growth and shariah without any payments, they have both grown during this time, making a small profit and covering the fees, they lost several hundered some weeks, and several thousand some years, its very unknown.

Its quite easy to move your avcs from one investment to the other including into cash which I might well do when its closer to being paid.