We have a minor pressure on funds approaching because I need to find the deposit for my next investment property before I have sold my other house. Most of the cash is in place but there is currently a shortfall. After the disastrous performance of so-called with profits schemes in recent years I have decided the best options is to sell annuity bonds that I own. It is always worth looking at poor performing funds and considering how best to deploy them. After that when the cash comes through from the property sale I will leave an emergency fund in the bank and consider where to find my next property.

It is important to stay open to new ways of doing things, because the investment market is very different from the way it was twenty years ago. When I worked in the financial services industry it would have been considered ill advised to sell annuity holdings. But their poor performance has led many investors to cash them in and even make claims for mis=selling.