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Legal & General
by pal60
I have this insurance.
I took out the insurance in 1996 I had at the time a insurance man call at my place of work to collect the money monthly through my wages, and so I took out the insurance and was happy.
I started it out at £30 per month and I intended to increase it each year and make it a good amount to cover me ... for more when I retired, I did this until about 2 years ago, I annually receive a projection of what it will be worth when I can claim it when I am 60 years old, and that projection was going down and down each year, I actually reached £40 per month by the time it had been running for 2 years, which I though I had done well as it was alot to pay out of my wages, as I do not earn that much and struggle like anyone else but I did not want to not be in bad times when retired, hence taking out the policy.
The projection was stated that because of the economic times my policy would only project to the cash amount of £900 to take out straightaway and the rest of around £12 per month, I was absolutely horrified it would project to this amount, so I made an appointment with my adviser at the time and he told me it was correct but only a projection but people were not being paid out the full payment amount.
This is absolutley terrible the way some insurances pay out, I have alot of insurances of which I should be covered but I so far have not been and I have them with what I think should or are good reputable companies.
What I did 2 years ago was I froze my pension because I was then up to the total amount of £42 per month and would not receive anywhere near that amount when I retire and so did not see the point of losing out on anymore money in the future and so now I just try and save some money for my retirement, although it is so not the same as a pension plan as I tend not to save it as I did before but if I do react retirement age at least I will have some money to go along with the small amount of pension I will still receive from this company, probably pennies now considering it was only £12 per month before, it is probably £2 now.
I have only ever claimed from one insurance and that was pet insurance and then I did not get the full amount, so my view on insurances are not a bright one, but some we just have to take out and some we have a choice in, just best to go with your instincts or look at reviews and make your own choice and try and generalise what the main review gives.
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Virgin Money Stakeholder Pension
by goblinite
The problem: I had £70,000 in a pension scheme that was about to close, so I had to move it FAST.
The solution: Find a new pension scheme quickly and transfer the money in.
Should be simple, right?
Pensions are never simple. A week researching the many different types of pension, of trawling through ... recommendations only to discover that the terms and conditions have changed or the scheme is no longer active. I was at the end of my tether until I found the Virgin Money page with the Virgin Money Stakeholder Pension.
The sheer relief of finding all the information clearly displayed, of knowing that I could transfer my existing pension (many others do not allow transfers in) and also could pay a regular sum in, or choose not to, or stop, or start whenever I liked was incredible. Another great plus point with Virgin is that you have online access so can check the 'value of your pension at close of business yesterday' 24/7.
My loved ones were particularly impressed with the idea that you can nominate how you want your pension to be divided in event of your death before benefits - I shall be checking the car brakes regularly from now on!
With the current economic climate a little shaky to say the least, recent performance in the scheme has not been great, but this is the same with 95% of other pension schemes too, so it hasn't concerned me too much.
I would certainly recommend this product to anyone who is looking for a simple, user-friendly, flexible pension product. The customer service I received from Virgin was excellent throughout the transfer and the option to phone them or contact them online made life far easier. All in all, a definite winner.
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Virgin Money Stakeholder Pension
by bucksfizz66
I hold a stakeholder pension on behalf of my daughter. A change in the pension rules about 7 years ago brought about the stakeholder pension enabling women who didn't work to start a pension fund; the change also created a loophole that enabled even babies to have a stakeholder pension fund in doing so despite not working and not paying ... tax they are still eligible for 20% basic tax relief on contributions made into the pension. So pay in £40 and it gets topped up to £50.
At the time my daughter was born I read about this in a finance magazine and decided to do some research - I settled on Virgin because their website has a page specifically dedicated to Children's pensions.
I would say only do this if you are prepared not to see the money for a long time - your child won't be able to access it until they are 55, so it's a long term investment. There is an annual charge for managing the pension but this is only a flat rate of 1% at present.
Payments into the pension are completely flexible so you can pay in what you want every month and you can stop and re-start payments when you want. The tax relief though is only on payments that reach the annual personal tax allowance (so once £3,600 for year 2009/10 is reached including tax relief; at that point no more tax relief can be gained). Any relatives can contribute to the pension - it doesn't have to be just the parents, so like the child trust funds in that respect.
The website used to have a pension calculator (not anymore) based on this I started my payments at £20 a month and agreed to increase them by 10% a year as this gave a better projection. The money markets are a volatile place and this maybe isn't the best time to talk about pension funds but you are in this one for the long haul so in the world of money there is plenty of time. Ownership of the fund transfers to your child when they become 18.
I have never had any cause for complaint with the Virgin fund. It something that just sits behind the scenes in the hope to provide a pension fund for my daughter in a world where the demographic ages and the likelihood of the state pension disappears.
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