New AVC site

south London postie · Post by **south London postie** » 06 Jul 2019, 15:08

It's impressively flexible but goodness it's a tricky old game; woke up this morning with news of the earthquake and if California had fallen in the sea we'd all wish we were in cash

Post by **RobertT** » 06 Jul 2019, 15:31

south London postie wrote:It's impressively flexible but goodness it's a tricky old game; woke up this morning with news of the earthquake and if California had fallen in the sea we'd all wish we were in cash

That would really depend on how old you are in relation to your chosen retirement date.

As someone who experienced the last stock market crash, I know the feeling of seeing my investments drop like a stone – in my case by a 5 figure sum. But because I held my nerve and continued to invest, I effectively bought in the sales and have enjoyed good growth since. My money not only regained its value, but has increased handsomely on top.

If I'd been in cash, I wouldn't have seen my investments decrease, but I wouldn't have made the big profits either. And factoring in inflation, my money would most probably have reduced in value.

It's time in the markets, not timing the markets that makes your money grow.

south London postie · Post by **south London postie** » 11 Jul 2019, 08:34

As of this morning, mine is fully up-to-date. Full steam ahead!

maisymoo04 · Post by **maisymoo04** » 11 Jul 2019, 16:14

and mine

Post by **NorthernBoy** » 17 Jul 2019, 20:19

Just used the new AVC site to switch some of my funds and found it very easy to use.

I have just swapped 65% of my growth fund into the Shariah law fund. Even though the USA market is at an all time high, I am hoping that this fund will continue to do well over the long term, as I still have 11 years to go before I am 60.

Snurgs · Post by **Snurgs** » 04 Aug 2019, 20:04

Personally I've had all of my Flexiplan money in the Growth fund and the Aviva equivalent before Zurich took over. But fairly recently have split it between Growth, Balanced & Cautious as I no longer pay into Flexiplan due to already having enough to fund the lump sum and wanting to protect my gains.
I will make further changes over the coming years along the same lifestyling lines

Robert ,can i ask what you consider enough to fund the lump sum . I know everyone is different . I have 20 years service and £41000 in bonus plan and flexiplan . i haven't seen a definitive figure of what my pot stands at . . any advice please ?

Post by **RobertT** » 04 Aug 2019, 20:39

Snurgs wrote:Robert ,can i ask what you consider enough to fund the lump sum . I know everyone is different . I have 20 years service and £41000 in bonus plan and flexiplan . i haven't seen a definitive figure of what my pot stands at . . any advice please ?

Your main NRA60 & NRA65 benefits have a value which is worked out as 20x pension, plus standard lump sum(section B).

Add on the value of your DBCBS pot and AVC's, giving you your 'total pot value'.
You can take 25% of that value as tax free cash.

Take a look at page 12 of your plan guide for more info. It's available to view here: https://www.royalmailpensionplan.co.uk/ ... ts/library" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

*The value of our DBCBS pots won't be available until we get our next annual statements, which are due fairly soon.
But it's not too difficult to work out roughly how much has gone in using the weekly contributions on your wage slip.

*Any amount over the 25% tax free amount can be used to buy an annuity or taken as taxable cash if over £1,000, or commuted to more pension if under £1,000.

Snurgs · Post by **Snurgs** » 06 Aug 2019, 19:12

Thanks for your valued knowledge Robert . Perhaps you could get a part time job in Sheffield and train a few of them at the pensions line .

Post by **RobertT** » 07 Aug 2019, 19:52

Snurgs wrote:Thanks for your valued knowledge Robert . Perhaps you could get a part time job in Sheffield and train a few of them at the pensions line .

I quite like the idea of that!

In my experience the people you talk to on the phone are very poorly trained, and I've lost my temper with them a couple of times when they clearly didn't know what they were talking about.

Personally I've found emailing them gets a slower, but better informed response!

linntroika · Post by **linntroika** » 08 Aug 2019, 00:54

Robert u are a legend on this site , many thanks for all your valuable advice over the years

Post by **RobertT** » 08 Aug 2019, 04:34

linntroika wrote:Robert u are a legend on this site , many thanks for all your valuable advice over the years

Thanks for the kind words.

heapsy · Post by **heapsy** » 12 Aug 2019, 15:48

Can't log in. Helpline a waste of time. Useless.

Post by **RobertT** » 12 Aug 2019, 16:07

heapsy wrote:Can't log in. Helpline a waste of time. Useless.

Just logged in after reading your post, no problems!

heapsy · Post by **heapsy** » 12 Aug 2019, 16:20

Interesting. Will try again later. Cheers.