Is there value for money in over-50s financial products?

What this Convo is really about is whether “Parkie ” will make me take up his offer of a “free ” ball point pen in exchange for no return on my investment (well not personally ) , an ever decreasing value of the product, non-refundable, fixed amount , becoming lower the older you get . It is aimed UN-shamefacedly at males , although one or two ads have the occasional female. It reminds me of what Elvis did when he didnt like a TV advert/programme -he took out his ,45 and shot up the screen . I dont care how “beloved ” of the nation he is this advert make me want to put my hands round his throat and –squeeze-squeeze- squeeze ! Ever since the media came out with –old people have money , backed up by the Governments -rip-off “equity release ” , -aka – spending your hard earned savings on BB holidays and other profitable items for shareholders , while leaving you with little to live on in old age as the government has cut-back benefits so maybe dying earlier to save the government money . I would like to say it leaves me “cold ” (well I would be when dead ) but all it does is make me hot and angry.

The covert message in these schemes is that people over fifty can easily get something that they wouldn’t otherwise qualify for without undergoing a process – like a medical examination, or having to answer lots of questions, or fill in difficult forms. It only takes a moment’s thought to realise that a company prepared to take on any old risk with no questions asked will need to load the premiums pretty heavily in order to protect against high or early claims. But there are people who know they cannot get insurance cover on normal terms so these sort of policies appeal to them and might give them comfort or peace of mind for which the supposedly inferior terms are an acceptable ‘price’ to pay – the purely mercenary approach is not appropriate in their case. I think, before castigating such schemes as bad deals, we need to bear in mind that there are different markets based on different needs. The most important thing for people contemplating a specialist over-50 plan is to do some research and take advice. It used to be possible to read objective and sensible articles about these policies in the weekend newspapers but too much of the content nowadays is ‘advertorial’ or sponsored by one of the providers so not unbiased. And, in the words of the noted adage, “if something looks to good to be true, it probably is”. Always count to ten before signing on the dotted line.

No matter what you are going to buy a short time spent looking on the Internet or elsewhere can save you a lot of money .more money than sense some people!