The short answer

An international regular-premium savings plan is a long-term plan, usually wrapped in an offshore life insurance contract, into which you pay a fixed amount every month for a set term. It's invested in funds, held in a currency you choose, and travels with you from country to country. Plans work best when they're matched to a clear goal — retirement or education — and kept for the full term, because many have an establishment period in the first year or two that carries higher charges and an exit penalty if you leave early. Before you start one, know the total yearly cost, the flexibility to pause or reduce payments, and exactly what you'd get back if you stopped. Set up properly, a plan is a disciplined, portable way to save. Lawrence can help you choose the right one, or check the one you already have.

What an international savings plan is

Strip away the jargon and an international regular-premium savings plan has four parts.

A wrapper

Most plans are set up as a life insurance contract issued by an insurer based in an international financial centre such as the Isle of Man. The "insurance" element is usually small — often little more than the value of the plan — but the wrapper matters, because it decides how the plan is held, how it passes on when you die and how it may be treated for tax in different countries.

Your monthly payments

You choose how much to pay each month (one widely used plan starts at £200 a month), for how many years (typically 10 to 25), and in which currency. Larger payments sometimes earn a slightly better allocation.

The investments

Your payments buy units in a range of funds you choose — usually a mix of shares, bonds and other assets from fund managers around the world. You can typically switch funds during the plan.

The term

The plan has an agreed term, at the end of which you can take the money, keep it invested or draw an income. Many plans reward you for completing the term with a loyalty bonus.

What makes these plans "international" is that they're designed for people whose lives cross borders. The plan doesn't care whether you live in Thailand, Hong Kong or Spain, and you can usually keep paying in from wherever you are.

Why expats use them

For all the warnings you'll read about savings plans, millions of expats use them, and for good reasons.

• Portability. The plan moves with you. Change country and it carries on, unlike many national pensions and savings schemes.
• Currency choice. Save in pounds for a UK retirement or university, or in dollars or euros for a more international future.
• Discipline. A fixed monthly commitment turns good intentions into actual saving — and keeps you investing when markets fall.
• Access to funds. A wide choice of investment funds in one place, without needing a separate platform in each country.
• Goal-based. A plan with a fixed end date is a natural fit for a fixed goal: a child starting university, or a retirement date.
• Estate planning. Because the plan is an insurance contract, it can often be placed in trust, helping it pass to the people you choose.

The key is that these benefits only pay off if the plan is right for you — the right amount, the right term, the right currency and a cost structure you understand. That's where most problems start: not with the idea of a savings plan, but with a plan sold without enough thought.

How a typical plan is structured

To make the structure concrete, here are the published terms of one widely used plan — the RL360 Regular Savings Plan, from its January 2024 brochure. Other providers differ in the detail, but most follow a similar pattern.

Source: RL360 Regular Savings Plan (GBP) brochure, RS19b 01/24. Fund charges are extra. Shown as an example of how plans are structured, not a recommendation.

The establishment period: the part to understand before you sign

The single most important thing to understand about most regular-premium plans is the establishment period — sometimes called the initial period, with payments buying "initial" or "establishment" units.

During the first 18 to 24 months, your payments buy establishment units. Those units carry an extra charge that keeps applying for the whole payment term — in the example above, 0.5% a month. That charge pays the plan's set-up costs, including the adviser's commission, which is effectively paid up front. If you keep the plan for the full term, those costs are spread over many years. If you stop early, the provider recovers what it hasn't yet collected through an exit charge.

That is why the plans have such a mixed reputation. Someone who starts a 25-year plan at £1,000 a month, then stops after three years because their circumstances change, can find that the value they're offered is far below what they paid in. Nothing has gone wrong with the investments — it's the structure working as designed.

What it means for you

• Choose a term you can genuinely complete — matched to a real goal.
• Choose a payment you can sustain, even in a tight year. It's better to start lower and add top-ups later.
• Ask for the surrender value at years 1, 3, 5 and 10, in writing, before you sign.
• Know your options if money gets tight: reducing payments or a payment holiday is usually far better than cashing in.

Charges: what you pay and why it matters

A savings plan usually has three or four layers of cost: the plan's own charges (establishment, administration and servicing), the charges of the funds you invest in, and sometimes an ongoing adviser fee. Each looks small on its own. Together, over twenty years, they decide a large part of what you end up with.

The chart at the top of this page shows why. £500 a month for twenty years is £120,000 paid in. Growing at 8% a year before charges, it would be worth about £260,000 if total costs were 1% a year, about £245,000 at 1.5% — and about £206,000 at 3% a year. The difference between a low-cost and a high-cost plan is roughly £55,000 on the same savings.

That doesn't mean the cheapest option is always best — a plan that keeps you saving through bad markets, in the right currency, towards a fixed goal, can be worth paying for. But you should always know what you're paying, and it should be competitive.

• Ask for the total yearly cost — plan, funds and adviser — as one percentage.
• Ask for it in pounds, for your actual payments, over the full term.
• Ask how the adviser is paid, and whether there's an ongoing fee.
• Ask about fund charges separately — they're on top of the plan charges.

Our guide to understanding charges on long-term savings plans goes through every layer in detail.

A good plan vs a poor one

The same type of product can be a sensible long-term savings vehicle or an expensive mistake. These are the differences to look for.

If you can tick every box on the left, a plan can be a disciplined, portable way to save.

Where to start

Someone to set up the right plan — or check the one you have — plus the practical tools to fund it.

Choosing the amount, term and currency

Three decisions shape a savings plan more than any other. Get them right and the plan does its job; get them wrong and no fund choice will rescue it.

The amount

Pick a monthly payment you could keep up even in a lean year. Many plans let you increase payments later or add lump-sum top-ups, so it's usually wiser to start at a level you're sure of and build up, than to start high and have to stop. A useful test: could you keep paying if your income fell by a fifth?

The term

The term should match the goal. Saving for a three-year-old's university? About fifteen years. Saving for retirement at 65 from age 45? Twenty years. A term chosen for a reason is a term you're likely to complete — and completing the term is what makes the structure good value.

The currency

Choose the currency you'll most likely spend the money in. For a UK university, pounds. For a retirement that could be anywhere, perhaps dollars or a mix. Plans typically don't offer baht, so if you'll spend the money in Thailand, you'll convert at the end — which is where a good FX rate matters.

Savings plans for school and university fees

One of the best uses of a regular savings plan is education. The goal has a fixed date, a rough cost and a currency — which is exactly what a plan with a fixed term and currency is built for. And because education is usually years away when a child is young, the money has time to grow.

Saving monthly for thirteen years with growth of 8% a year, more than 40% of the goal can come from investment returns rather than your own pocket. The earlier you start, the more growth does.

When life changes: pausing, reducing and moving

Over ten or twenty years, something will change: a job, a marriage, a move, a child, an illness. A good plan — and a good adviser — plans for that from the start.

1. Reduce your payments if money is tight. Many plans allow it, though there may be a minimum.
2. Take a payment holiday once outside the establishment period — the money already invested stays invested.
3. Add top-ups when you have a bonus or a windfall, often without extending the establishment period.
4. Keep it when you move — the plan follows you to a new country. Tell the provider your new address.
5. Switch funds as your goal gets closer, moving to steadier investments in the final years.
6. Talk to Lawrence before you stop — there's almost always a better option than cashing in early.

Savings plans compared with the alternatives

A savings plan isn't the only way to save regularly as an expat. Here's how the main options compare.

Many people use more than one. Lawrence can help you decide what fits.

Already have a plan? What to do

Many expats in Thailand already hold a savings plan they took out years ago, sometimes in another country, and aren't sure whether to keep it. Before doing anything, gather the facts:

• The current value and surrender value — they're often different in the early years.
• When the establishment period ends, and when exit charges fall away.
• The total yearly cost, including fund charges.
• What the plan is invested in, and whether that still suits your goal.

Often the best answer isn't to cash in. It may be to reduce or pause payments, switch to better funds, keep it until the exit charges have fallen away, or simply carry on because it's doing its job. The worst outcome is to surrender in a panic and crystallise the exit charge for nothing.

Two worked examples

Dan and Pim: university in the UK

Dan is British and Pim is Thai; their son is three and they hope he'll go to university in the UK. With Lawrence, they start a plan in pounds at £400 a month for fifteen years, so the money is ready when he turns eighteen. The payment is comfortably within their budget, the term matches the goal, and in the final three years the plan moves to steadier funds so a late market fall doesn't hit the fees. They write the plan in trust so it goes to their son's education whatever happens.

Claire: an old plan from Dubai

Claire, 52, took out a 20-year plan at £1,000 a month while working in Dubai. Now living in Phuket on a smaller income, she was about to cash it in. A free review with Lawrence shows the establishment period ended years ago and the exit charges are small, but the plan is invested in expensive funds. Instead of surrendering, she reduces her payment to £400 a month, switches to lower-cost funds and keeps the plan running to its end date — which falls a year before she plans to stop work.

The mistakes we see most often

1. Signing up after a cold call without comparing anything.
2. Choosing a payment that's too high to sustain.
3. Choosing a term with no goal behind it.
4. Not asking for surrender values before signing.
5. Cashing in during the establishment period without checking alternatives.
6. Leaving the plan in expensive funds for years without a review.
7. Forgetting to update the provider after moving country.
8. Not considering a trust, so the plan is tied up when it's needed most.

Questions to ask before you start a plan

• What is this plan for, and does the term match that goal?
• What is the total yearly cost, as a percentage and in pounds?
• What would I get back if I stopped after one, three and five years?
• Can I reduce or pause payments, and when?
• Which funds will I invest in, and what do they cost?
• Can the plan be placed in trust for my family?

Keeping your plan and accounts secure

A savings plan is managed online over many years, often from different countries. A few habits keep it safe:

• Use a password manager and a different strong password for every account.
• Turn on two-factor sign-in on your plan and bank accounts.
• Use a private, protected connection on hotel, café and condo Wi-Fi.
• Be wary of unexpected calls offering to "transfer" or "unlock" your plan.

How we researched this guide

We used the published terms of the RL360 Regular Savings Plan (GBP brochure RS19b 01/24) as an example of how international regular-premium plans are structured, and our own guides to cross-border investing and lump-sum versus regular saving. The charges illustration assumes £500 a month for 20 years with growth of 8% a year before charges; the education illustration assumes 8% a year after charges, the level Lawrence's plans typically aim for. These are illustrations, not forecasts. Checked 13 October 2026. Investment growth isn't guaranteed and values can fall as well as rise. This guide is general information, not personal financial advice.