ANNOUNCEMENT : ALL OF ROYAL MAIL'S EMPLOYMENT POLICIES (AGREEMENTS) AT A GLANCE (Updated 2021)... HERE

ANNOUNCEMENT : PLEASE BE AWARE WE ARE NOT ON FACEBOOK AT ALL!

Flexiplan cash fund

Royal Mail pension news and discussion.Please note the advise given in this forum is unofficial, please use the links we have for a more detailed response or see an independent financial adviser.
aled34
Posts: 10
Joined: 29 Mar 2013, 14:27
Gender: Male

Flexiplan cash fund

Post by aled34 »

Hello! Aged 53 with 31 years service. Decided to try and boost my pension for my last 7 years service( section C), going at 60. Just started paying into the cash fund- does this have growth potential?or would I be better off moving to another fund? P.S. I know flexiplan could close soon.Thanks!
RobertT
EX ROYAL MAIL
Posts: 6645
Joined: 09 Sep 2007, 14:26
Gender: Male

Re: Flexiplan cash fund

Post by RobertT »

The cash fund offers a very poor return – you'll be lucky to see 0.5% per year.

But there are alternatives with different levels of risk. See this link for info on the 7 funds available:
https://digital.feprecisionplus.com/cor ... ory=2rmp62

The RMPP guide to AVC's might be worth a read too as it covers things like your risk profile, etc. Available here:
https://www.royalmailpensionplan.co.uk/ ... n-benefits
Links to all RM pension related websites are here
Hawkey99
Posts: 568
Joined: 23 Oct 2011, 11:19
Gender: Male

Re: Flexiplan cash fund

Post by Hawkey99 »

Hi Robert,

Ive noticed that it hasn't updated since 22nd Jan.

Any ideas why ??

Thanks
aled34
Posts: 10
Joined: 29 Mar 2013, 14:27
Gender: Male

Re: Flexiplan cash fund

Post by aled34 »

Thanks for your help Robert.
RobertT
EX ROYAL MAIL
Posts: 6645
Joined: 09 Sep 2007, 14:26
Gender: Male

Re: Flexiplan cash fund

Post by RobertT »

Hawkey99 wrote:
01 Feb 2021, 13:05
Hi Robert,
Ive noticed that it hasn't updated since 22nd Jan.
Any ideas why ??
Thanks
Your correct, the page that my link goes to hasn't been updated since 22/1/21 - I don't know why that is the case! :cuppa

But if you look on the performance charts for each fund, at the time of writing, they are dated Friday 29/1/21, which as today is Monday 1/2/21, is probably as recent as you're going to get.
aled34 wrote:
01 Feb 2021, 13:08
Thanks for your help Robert.
No problems! :thumbup
Links to all RM pension related websites are here
NWpostie
Posts: 3601
Joined: 04 Aug 2007, 17:32
Gender: Male
Location: Sector 001 Borg Collective, 6 o f 9

Re: Flexiplan cash fund

Post by NWpostie »

I choose Growth, I accepted the risk that can come with volatility of the market however as a general trend over the long term, the market usually progress upward, its not a get rich quick scheme, its more steady as you go, blue chips, bonds and equity types of dealings.

I'm projecting over the next 7 years to retirement and hopefully it pays off, at the same time I've got my bonusplan and savings to build up as well, spreading the risk and hedging my bets.
Six of Nine loves Seven of Nine, together in Electric Dreams.
koolishy67
Posts: 665
Joined: 04 Nov 2010, 21:02
Gender: Male

Re: Flexiplan cash fund

Post by koolishy67 »

7 years is still long time I will go with shariah, ethical or growth one
NorthernBoy
EX ROYAL MAIL
Posts: 384
Joined: 27 Sep 2010, 21:08
Gender: Male

Re: Flexiplan cash fund

Post by NorthernBoy »

aled34 wrote:
01 Feb 2021, 12:06
Hello! Aged 53 with 31 years service. Decided to try and boost my pension for my last 7 years service( section C), going at 60. Just started paying into the cash fund- does this have growth potential?or would I be better off moving to another fund? P.S. I know flexiplan could close soon.Thanks!

It all depends on your attitude to risk and whether you can live with the fluctuations in the growth funds. The cash fund won’t grow much, but it won’t fall much either.

The Sharia fund has been performing really well recently, but this is no guarantee for the future, it could quite easily go down by 20% or more in the next year, no one knows.

Personally I am all in on Sharia and have 10 years to go until retirement, but I am okay with the risk level.

You pays your money you takes your choice.
mrcurve
Posts: 112
Joined: 23 Nov 2011, 19:27
Gender: Male

Re: Flexiplan cash fund

Post by mrcurve »

I move most of my avc pot into cash, its managed to lose a few pounds, 20ish over the last three months.

I was a bit worried about the sharia fund, its had been reaching such highs, I was looking at the us tech stocks at the time, and I was thinking this may well be part of the Sharia fund. what caught my attenting was that tech stocks keep reaching new highs and at the time tesla car/tech business had become the biggest automaker in the world by market value, worth more than ford, gm, toyota, vlokswagen, bmw, combined. Big bubble came to mind, but on the other hand with such low savings returns, I suspect that lots of people are investing, and as long as this happends stocks seem grow despite the value of a business.
RobertT
EX ROYAL MAIL
Posts: 6645
Joined: 09 Sep 2007, 14:26
Gender: Male

Re: Flexiplan cash fund

Post by RobertT »

When I first got interested in equities over 20 years ago there was a fund called Aberdeen Technology, which invested in many tech start ups at the time.

The financial papers at the time(before everyone had the internet) used to have tables of how much your money would have grown had you invested £1,000 over the previous 1, 3 or 5 years.
The returns over 5 years were amazing – anything up to 850%!

I thought about putting money in myself, but thought no the profits have already been made and I chose another home for my cash instead.

About a year later the dot com bubble burst and had I invested when I thought about it, I'd have lost over 90% of my money.
And a few years after that I got talking to someone I delivered to at the time, who had invested at the top of the market and did lose over 90%!

The Sharia fund reminds me of that!
I'm not saying the same will happen, but for me it's highly weighted in just a few big players and represents the riskiest AVC option.

Each to their own, but it's not for me.
Links to all RM pension related websites are here
Hawkey99
Posts: 568
Joined: 23 Oct 2011, 11:19
Gender: Male

Re: Flexiplan cash fund

Post by Hawkey99 »

Some great points.

With Uncle Joe and his stimulus package I would hope the Shiriah does well this year but who knows the future.
reedy
Posts: 51
Joined: 09 Sep 2007, 19:41

Re: Flexiplan cash fund

Post by reedy »

Im in Sharia and Growth Fund. Im looking to invest in it for another year then move it to a less riskier fund. Im 51 and plan to go at 55. But everybody has there own plans and attitudes to risk.