10 year tax free Friendly Building Society plans
Discussion
My 10 year £25 a month tax free friendly building society plan is due to mature next month. I've had the likely amount to be repaid as £3K (my contributions) with £254.88 as the interest. I've had life cover over that time ( thankfully not needed) and at least I've made a small profit 
When I took this plan out 10 years ago, the newspaper ads were if you'd put thet money in over the last 10 years, you'd have got £9K back...even a couple of years ago the ads were stating over £5K back.
In the letter I got it states ' ...the turmoil on the stock and property markets has taken its toll on investment returns. eg on 1 September 2009 the FTSE 100 was over 21% lower than its level on 1 September 1999.'
Just picking a useful statistic from over 6 months ago to support poor performance is even less likely for me to want to continue my investment with the company...which is what the rest of the blurb I was sent was on about.
I think these type of plans are really of no use in todays market.
What are your opinions?
When I took this plan out 10 years ago, the newspaper ads were if you'd put thet money in over the last 10 years, you'd have got £9K back...even a couple of years ago the ads were stating over £5K back.
In the letter I got it states ' ...the turmoil on the stock and property markets has taken its toll on investment returns. eg on 1 September 2009 the FTSE 100 was over 21% lower than its level on 1 September 1999.'
Just picking a useful statistic from over 6 months ago to support poor performance is even less likely for me to want to continue my investment with the company...which is what the rest of the blurb I was sent was on about.
I think these type of plans are really of no use in todays market.
What are your opinions?
They tend to be invested in a with-profits fund, therefore the return you receive is at the disrection of the company. Even if the fund had made good returns over 10 years (which is unlikely), they could still decide to only pass on a small part of these returns.
On the whole, with-profits are now a thing of the past as people want more clarity over the level of the returns they will receive. Better off saving into a monthly ISA, either cash or investment. At least that way you will be sure to get all of the returns it makes.
On the whole, with-profits are now a thing of the past as people want more clarity over the level of the returns they will receive. Better off saving into a monthly ISA, either cash or investment. At least that way you will be sure to get all of the returns it makes.
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