RL360 Regular Savings Plan

What is their savings solution?

RL360’s Regular Savings Plan acts as a cash builder for expats who have relatively modest and sensible amounts of money to put aside for the longer term. If you are aged between 18 and 65 and have decided to save at least £200 a month for five years or more, then RL360’s new Regular Savings Plan may be for you.

The RL360 Regular Savings Plan is an international product which commits you to save an agreed amount on a regular basis for a pre-agreed number of years.

Savings plans like RL360’s Regular Savings Plan are designed to run alongside expat company pensions, not to replace them. It aims to offer somewhere to build savings for significant future expenses, such as schooling & university or just a place to sensibly put savings for retirement.

That’s why the plan is more flexible than a domestic pension in some ways, including having shorter terms. Savers can start to access money when they like from when the establishment period has ended.

What’s the investment choice?

RL360’s Regular Savings Plan has a huge range of funds and there are no charges for switching your savings between funds, sectors or investment themes between funds whenever you wish.

Is RL360’s Regular Savings Plan multi-currency?

You can set up your plan in one of seven major world currencies – the British Pound (GBP), Euro (EUR), United States dollar (USD), Swiss franc (CHF), Australian dollar (AUD), Hong Kong dollar (HKD) or Japanese yen (JPY).

What’s the minimum amount I can contribute to an RL360’s Regular Savings Plan?

Expats can save how much they wish, providing a minimum level of US$280 per month is hit. If you want to save more, then the contribution can be increased at any time.

Saving terms are from 5 to 25 years and the minimums are 5 – 9 years = £400 per month, 10 years+ = £200 per month. Or currency equivalent (accounts offered in GBP, USD, EURO, Hong Kong dollar, Japanese yen, SWISS Franc, Australian Dollar).

Putting money into your Regular Savings Plan is easy – by direct debit, transfer from your bank account or even credit card. It’s worth noting that with the exception of American Express, RL360 does not apply any additional charges for using a credit card to put money into your plan.

How do I get a valuation or see my plan statements?

Keep up with your account, savings and investments at anytime 24/7 with the RL360 Online Service Centre, accessible from anywhere.

What are the charges?

Establishment charge: a charge of 0.50% per month will be deducted from the value of the establishment units held within your plan. This charge will be deducted in arrears throughout the payment term.

Administration charge: there is an ongoing administration charge of 0.125% of the current plan value, deducted each month in arrears. The charge is applied proportionately across both establishment and standard units.

Servicing charge: a monthly servicing charge will be deducted in arrears from the plan’s standard units. This equates to £5 or currency equivalent. The servicing charge will increase each year in line with the Isle of Man Retail Price Index.

The funds that are held within your plan will be subject to an annual management charge, typically between 0.5% and 2%.

There are a variety of fees and charges that apply to the plan and all these will impact on the return you receive from the plan.

Are there any discounts or bonuses available?

Bonuses depend on the savings level, term, how long the plan has been open and number of full year contributions are made. This means that each customer is likely to receive a different bonus amount.

Obviously, the longer the plan is held and payments maintained, the higher the bonuses paid.

The plan offers a choice of more than 350 funds and savers can have money in as many as they like, providing they maintain the low regular allocation for each fund, which is only £25 a month.

What happens if I want to close the plan early, stop contributing or withdraw some cash?

If a RL360 Regular Savings Plan is cancelled during the 30 day cooling off period, you will receive back your initial payment unless the funds you invested in fall in value. In this case you may get back less than you paid in. A plan cancelled after the cooling off period but during the establishment period has no value – in effect suffering a 100% early exit charge. Once the plan has completed the establishment period, then if it is cancelled in part or in full, then only the establishment units purchased will be subject to an early exit charge.

It is important to be aware that the RL360 Regular Savings Plan is a medium to long-term savings plan, if you decided to completely cancel the plan in the early years you could lose a large proportion of the money you have saved.

RL360 is a life insurance company. They know a customer’s financial circumstances can change at short notice, so the plan includes a payment holiday that allows a saving’s break. You also have the flexibility to take cash out when you like and to pay in extra lump sums. Savers can take a break from contributing to the RL360 Regular Savings Plan for up to two years.

Each RL360 Regular Savings Plan has an establishment period. During this time, each payment made is allocated to establishment units. Once the establishment period has expired, each payment made for the remaining payment term is allocated to standard units. At the end of your plan term, all remaining establishment units are converted into standard units.

If you need to access money during the payment term you can but only after the establishment period is complete. Withdrawals can be made on a monthly, quarterly, four-monthly, six-monthly or yearly. One-off withdrawals are also allowed.

The Regular Savings Plan is designed for capital growth over the medium to long term, so taking regular withdrawals which exceed investment growth are likely to impact the value of any savings.