When is it changing?

[silver_fox]

Hi I’ve tried cancelling contributions on the Scottish widows website but it comes up with an error message.
I don’t want to change to cdc and happy to stop paying in , as it will also increase my gross pay and help with a mortgage.
Should I ring up to cancel or any reason to keep paying in for time being?

[RobertT]

You'll gain more in tax relief, PSE and employer contributions than you'll gain in take home pay by paying into thr RMDCP. Plus investment growth.

You could use the tax free lump sum to help pay the mortgage off in the future.

[derricksmyth]

Is that the same scheme as the Flexiplan , I have just started paying into Robert?

[koolishy67]

Saving on tax and employer contribution no point to stop this is the win win situation for us

[Jefferson Starfish]

I don't understand people opting out of pensions, they're just taking a voluntary pay cut.

[Steve_claret]

I don't understand people opting out of pensions, they're just taking a voluntary pay cut.

That's because some people only look at the short term gain and don't fully grasp the additional benefits of being in a pension scheme.

[derricksmyth]

I was looking at the 7 AVC funds provided by Scottish Widows when you invest through Bonusplan and Flexiplan and it I think the best one for both past performance and Charges was the Sharia Law fund.

[RobertT]

It's probably the most risky too!

Your choice of fund/s will depend on your age, attitude to risk, etc.

The 'guide to AVC's' will give you more info:
https://www.royalmailpensionplan.co.uk/ ... sp_1_0.pdf

[derricksmyth]

That's true, but the charge is 0.4 per cent , one of the funds charges 1.92 per cent

[RobertT]

To be honest I'm struggling to find accurate charges for all of the AVC funds, but I don't think any of them are as high as 1.92%. I thought the highest was around 0.6%?

Can I ask where you're getting your info from?

EDIT: charges are available in the 'guide to AVC's' : https://www.royalmailpensionplan.co.uk/ ... sp_1_0.pdf

[heapsy]

To be honest I'm struggling to find accurate charges for all of the AVC funds, but I don't think any of them are as high as 1.92%. I thought the highest was around 0.6%?

Can I ask where you're getting your info from?

EDIT: charges are available in the 'guide to AVC's' : https://www.royalmailpensionplan.co.uk/ ... sp_1_0.pdf

I currently invest in the Growth, Balanced and Cautious funds and they all charge 0.3%. It was renegotiated downwards by RM a while back. The Sahria fund I believe it more costly, but I I can't tell you how much. Not sure about the others.

[RobertT]

To be honest I'm struggling to find accurate charges for all of the AVC funds, but I don't think any of them are as high as 1.92%. I thought the highest was around 0.6%?

Can I ask where you're getting your info from?

EDIT: charges are available in the 'guide to AVC's' : https://www.royalmailpensionplan.co.uk/ ... sp_1_0.pdf

I currently invest in the Growth, Balanced and Cautious funds and they all charge 0.3%. It was renegotiated downwards by RM a while back. The Sahria fund I believe it more costly, but I I can't tell you how much. Not sure about the others.

Some of the AVC charges actually went up in 2019 as part of the transfer from Zurich to Scottish Widows, along with changes to some of the underlying funds. We had one of those A4 booklets about it at the time.

My info from the AVC guide and that 2019 booklet suggests the following current and previous charges in percentage terms:

Balanced – 0.631% up from 0.33%.
Cautious – 0.508% up from 0.33%.
Growth – 0.552% up from 0.33%.
Cash – 0.272%
Ethical Global Equity – 0.362%
Sharia – 0.560%

[derricksmyth]

Sorry, I was given the wrong info when I rang. I have been trying to find info of the charges since but without success. They should really publish these more freely.

[RobertT]

I agree.
They have the fund factsheets which are helpful, but I think the charges should be included on them aswell, so all the info is in one place.

[derricksmyth]

I have now decided to change to Ethical Global Fund. Thanks for the info on fees Robert.