I know many of you will be going to the london fair and other fairs where SCI is the sponsor of the fair. PROCEED with CAUTION. They will be selling you annuities that the I consider to have extremely high fees. Also you can not get out of it for 25 years or you may lose your money due to penalities.
What Gavin Snook will be trying to convince you of is to buy a retirement plan. It is not a retirement plan in my opinion, it is a VERY HIGH FEE BASED PENALTY BASED annuity through Friends Provident International. Your money will be tied up with Friends Provident for at least 25years and you will be paying 7-10% in FEES a year!
Once you invest you will end up losing money due to all the high fees and penalties.
Invest in no load mutual funds or ETF's or companies like Vanguard and use their Index funds. NO FEES and no scam artists to deal with and no withdrawing penalties.
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ISR Forum Admin Note: We have been contacted by Mr. Snook. He tells us that the above information misrepresents the facts and that the company does not sell annuities. A visit to their web site shows they sell and manage retirement and pension funds which do differ from annuities.
We have offered Mr. Snook the opportunity to post a reply to this post which we offered to put in this space.
SCI BEWARE!!!!!!!
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Cheery Littlebottom
- Posts: 207
- Joined: Sat May 11, 2013 8:32 am
The scary thing is that the products they sell are perfectly legal. They are perfectly legal. The even scarier thing is that many financial instruments in the UK are really very similar indeed. To American eyes, they are the last word in rigid inflexibility.
Our family investigated some of their products as a way of diversifying our investments. In the US you can invest (more or less) what you want, when you want. British products, which are mainly based in the Isle of White, have some fairly hefty front loaded fees, a very fixed fee schedule, a rigid payment structure and penalties for any sort of change or particularly for surrender. That's not a scam, that's just how it is in the UK! In return, you usually get quite good ROI (stock market permitting, as with everything of this nature) and funds are also tax sheltered and can be drawn upon anywhere in the world upon maturity. We did the calculations and, frankly, after a hypothetical 25 year run, the UK Vs US was a wash (literally about $400 to choose between them.)
We chose not to invest in any UK instruments, staying with our US based diversified portfolio.
SCI are a fairly standard investments company. Most companies sell similar products. I suppose one could take issue with way in which these products are sold. When I had dealings with them, they were very clear about the terms and conditions. However, my husband is extremely savvy about this sort of thing and asks all the right questions. We never felt at any point that they were being anything other than what they are: Salesmen, selling a fairly standard product.
Concerns about investments and investment companies are fairly universal, whatever line of work you are in. The sad reality is that most people, both sides of the Atlantic, are simply not very knowledgeable about finance. I do think that teachers who move abroad are vulnerable, especially if they get a good job and find themselves with disposable income for the first time. It can be a steep learning curve finding out the best place to put your dosh. Interest rates in bank accounts are miniscule, Americans can still be taxed and Brits AND Americans are blocked from putting money into certain state pensions/investments back home.
If you are from the UK, you should have a teachers pension with the Pru. This is one of the last of the very good national, employment based pensions. If you have one, DO NOT surrender it under the QROPS scheme or any other as it will result in huge losses. Let it sit there whilst you are abroad and start adding money to it to the greatest extent that you can upon your return.
At least, by talking to SCI you will see what is on offer with regards to tax-sheltered investments which are UK based. Use them to explain their products and to educate yourself. You can then walk away. There are plenty of companies out there, and lots of different opportunities.
By the way, I am actually a bona fide IS teacher, not en employee of SCI!
:wink:
Our family investigated some of their products as a way of diversifying our investments. In the US you can invest (more or less) what you want, when you want. British products, which are mainly based in the Isle of White, have some fairly hefty front loaded fees, a very fixed fee schedule, a rigid payment structure and penalties for any sort of change or particularly for surrender. That's not a scam, that's just how it is in the UK! In return, you usually get quite good ROI (stock market permitting, as with everything of this nature) and funds are also tax sheltered and can be drawn upon anywhere in the world upon maturity. We did the calculations and, frankly, after a hypothetical 25 year run, the UK Vs US was a wash (literally about $400 to choose between them.)
We chose not to invest in any UK instruments, staying with our US based diversified portfolio.
SCI are a fairly standard investments company. Most companies sell similar products. I suppose one could take issue with way in which these products are sold. When I had dealings with them, they were very clear about the terms and conditions. However, my husband is extremely savvy about this sort of thing and asks all the right questions. We never felt at any point that they were being anything other than what they are: Salesmen, selling a fairly standard product.
Concerns about investments and investment companies are fairly universal, whatever line of work you are in. The sad reality is that most people, both sides of the Atlantic, are simply not very knowledgeable about finance. I do think that teachers who move abroad are vulnerable, especially if they get a good job and find themselves with disposable income for the first time. It can be a steep learning curve finding out the best place to put your dosh. Interest rates in bank accounts are miniscule, Americans can still be taxed and Brits AND Americans are blocked from putting money into certain state pensions/investments back home.
If you are from the UK, you should have a teachers pension with the Pru. This is one of the last of the very good national, employment based pensions. If you have one, DO NOT surrender it under the QROPS scheme or any other as it will result in huge losses. Let it sit there whilst you are abroad and start adding money to it to the greatest extent that you can upon your return.
At least, by talking to SCI you will see what is on offer with regards to tax-sheltered investments which are UK based. Use them to explain their products and to educate yourself. You can then walk away. There are plenty of companies out there, and lots of different opportunities.
By the way, I am actually a bona fide IS teacher, not en employee of SCI!
:wink:
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Cheery Littlebottom
- Posts: 207
- Joined: Sat May 11, 2013 8:32 am
The fee schedule we were quoted dropped from 6% in the first year to 2% then 1% after that (lower than some of our US managed funds.)
Additionally, "FPI" stands for Friends Provident International, part of one of the biggest investment and insurance groups in the world. They essentially underwrite the instruments sold by various companies as they don't sell direct to the individual.
I agree with some of the posters investment suggestions. Unfortunately, some of them are simply not accessible to non-US citizens, certainly in the form that they exist for nationals.
For Brits, investments such as those outlined by the first poster are the norm. But as I said before, self-education is the key!
Good luck to those who are looking for jobs....or indeed investment opportunities!
Additionally, "FPI" stands for Friends Provident International, part of one of the biggest investment and insurance groups in the world. They essentially underwrite the instruments sold by various companies as they don't sell direct to the individual.
I agree with some of the posters investment suggestions. Unfortunately, some of them are simply not accessible to non-US citizens, certainly in the form that they exist for nationals.
For Brits, investments such as those outlined by the first poster are the norm. But as I said before, self-education is the key!
Good luck to those who are looking for jobs....or indeed investment opportunities!
Stay away from Friends Provident and Zurich International and stay away from any companies that suggest these as reasonable investments. They have extremely high fees and poor benefits. All you will be doing is lining the pockets of the advisor.
If you want to invest for the future take a look at Andrew Hallam's blog (he's a teacher at Singapore American School and also a writer for Canada's Globe and Mail). Indexing is the way to go. You don't need an advisor, you just need to diversify. Keep fees as low as possible (preferably below 0.25%).
http://andrewhallam.com/2010/11/beware- ... rnational/
http://andrewhallam.com/
His book, 'poor Teacher', is available on Amazon. He has another one coming out this year on expat investing.
Here's a list of books you should read if you want to invest for the future;
http://www.amazon.com/poor-Teach ... rew+hallam
http://www.amazon.com/The-Coffeehouse-I ... d_sim_b_15
http://www.amazon.com/Elements-Investin ... +investing
http://www.amazon.com/Little-Book-Commo ... +investing
http://www.amazon.com/Random-Walk-Down- ... all+street
If you want to invest for the future take a look at Andrew Hallam's blog (he's a teacher at Singapore American School and also a writer for Canada's Globe and Mail). Indexing is the way to go. You don't need an advisor, you just need to diversify. Keep fees as low as possible (preferably below 0.25%).
http://andrewhallam.com/2010/11/beware- ... rnational/
http://andrewhallam.com/
His book, 'poor Teacher', is available on Amazon. He has another one coming out this year on expat investing.
Here's a list of books you should read if you want to invest for the future;
http://www.amazon.com/poor-Teach ... rew+hallam
http://www.amazon.com/The-Coffeehouse-I ... d_sim_b_15
http://www.amazon.com/Elements-Investin ... +investing
http://www.amazon.com/Little-Book-Commo ... +investing
http://www.amazon.com/Random-Walk-Down- ... all+street
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Helen Back
- Posts: 242
- Joined: Fri Dec 28, 2012 4:16 pm
Our school was recently approached by this company in Cairo http://www.sovereignoffshoreltd.com/ . After sending some links to my principal and telling her a little about the companies they represent, the offer to come and do a presentation at our school was withdrawn.
This company sells products for Friends Provident, Zurich International, Nomura, and Generali. All have high fees & poor benefits.
ISR should do an article or blog about this.
This company sells products for Friends Provident, Zurich International, Nomura, and Generali. All have high fees & poor benefits.
ISR should do an article or blog about this.
Index funds and/or ETFs are available in the UK, as they are in the US, Canada, Australia. Vanguard has offices in the UK, Australia, US and Canada. Vanguard is a non-profit and charges extremely low fees.
https://www.vanguardcanada.ca
https://www.vanguard.co.uk
https://www.vanguardinvestments.com.au
https://investor.vanguard.com
If you are non-resident in your home country you should buy your funds through an offshore brokerage such as
http://int.tddirectinvesting.com . If you are a non-US citizen don't buy funds on US exchanges as you will be dinged for estate tax when you sell.
http://andrewhallam.com/2014/01/expat-i ... ate-taxes/
https://www.vanguardcanada.ca
https://www.vanguard.co.uk
https://www.vanguardinvestments.com.au
https://investor.vanguard.com
If you are non-resident in your home country you should buy your funds through an offshore brokerage such as
http://int.tddirectinvesting.com . If you are a non-US citizen don't buy funds on US exchanges as you will be dinged for estate tax when you sell.
http://andrewhallam.com/2014/01/expat-i ... ate-taxes/
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Cheery Littlebottom
- Posts: 207
- Joined: Sat May 11, 2013 8:32 am
Yes, international school teachers are being preyed upon by these fund managers. Take some time to educate yourself about personal investment and you will be so much better off. I watched an excellent Frontline (PBS) episode called "The Retirement Gamble" that clearly spelled out in detail how high the fees are with managed funds. Yet I find a lot of people, including my colleagues, who are content to have their money managed ("I have a guy who takes care of my money, and he does very well!"). If you take the time to understand the fee structure and how huge of a dent it makes in your nest egg over time, you would run for the hills when these guys approach you.
From personal experience . . . stay far away from Integrated Financial Planning Services if you work in Europe. I learned the hard way but was lucky to get out after only 5 years. Get a book on personal finance and read it. We want our kids to be lifelong learners yet we are sometimes happy in our total ignorance about financial planning.
From personal experience . . . stay far away from Integrated Financial Planning Services if you work in Europe. I learned the hard way but was lucky to get out after only 5 years. Get a book on personal finance and read it. We want our kids to be lifelong learners yet we are sometimes happy in our total ignorance about financial planning.
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Helen Back
- Posts: 242
- Joined: Fri Dec 28, 2012 4:16 pm