Michael Parkinson annoyed me.  I’m 50 next month and have come up with the clever idea of taking out a series of over 50s life policies meaning that I pass on more to the kids when I’m finished.

For most, this is a bad call.  The plans are expensive compared to saving and payouts are modest.  Anybody reaching average life expectancy will pay in more than gets paid out.

For me the sums are slightly different.  Even if I survive four more years, £1,200 will pay out £10,000.  And based on average success span of osimertinib I’m likely to be teetering on the brink of an exit much sooner than 2021.

So why have Parky and Sun Life annoyed me?  Because I’ve only just discovered that somebody aged 49 can have one of these plans.  There’s a two year period from taking the plan out when they only return 150% of the premiums.  After two years it’s jackpot time.

In other words, I could now be eleven months into a two year deferment period when, in reality, the clock starts now.

It hasn’t stopped me filling in the very short online proposal form.  If I croak in a year I’ll have turned £300 into £450.  Cling on two years and nearly £10,000 cascades to the kids.  Cling on thirty years and it’ll have cost me a fortune, but I’ll be too happy to care.

But the advertising is false.  It’s a 49 to 85 plan.  And if your end is nigh, start one on your 49th birthday.  There’s a £75 gift card too!

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