Tax Exempt Savings Plan | POIS

Tax Exempt Savings Plan

Affordable savings today,
For a tax free tomorrow

You’ve paid taxes all your life. Now it’s time for a little break. Our Tax Exempt Savings Plan helps you to save a tax-free cash sum for your future. The best bit? You can use it to do all those things you’ve always dreamt about.

Affordable
saving of just

£25

a month

Invest for

10

years

Life cover

included

The potential for

long-term

growth

Whether it’s a holiday of a lifetime, buying a new car, giving the kids a little nest egg or finally treating yourself to that conservatory, you can use the money from your plan for whatever you want. And it’s all the sweeter knowing it’s tax-free.

Request a pack to find out more about the Tax Exempt Savings Planrequest a pack

A little thank you, just for you!

We’re delighted you’re thinking about taking out a POIS Tax Exempt Savings Plan. As a thank you, when you take out a new plan online, we’ll send you an eGift Card worth up to £25 once three monthly direct debit payments have been received, providing you haven’t held the plan with us before.

Your eGift Card can be swapped, in full or in part, for more than 200 of the UK’s favourite brands – the choice is yours and it’s the ultimate reward!

This offer may not be combined with any other offer. See full Terms & Conditions.

Why choose a Tax Exempt Savings Plan?

A 10 year savings plan. At the end of the 10 years, you can either cash in your plan, extend it for a further 10 years or leave it invested. It’s your choice!

Available to all UK residents aged 16 to 74 who are not already investing their £25 per month tax exempt savings allowance with a friendly society.

An additional tax-free allowance on top of your annual ISA allowance.

Responsibly invested in our Flexible Growth Fund for potential growth over the longer term whilst making a positive impact on society.

Life cover automatically included at no additional cost to you.

By saving with POIS, you’ll become a member of a mutual society. We differ to other financial services providers as we provide additional benefits to our members. You will have access to membership benefits including discretionary grants to help cover the cost of things like higher education and healthcare costs.

A simple way to save regularly for your future by a monthly Direct Debit of just £25.

How would you describe POIS to someone who had never heard of them before?

“They are a mutual company who look after their members, their policyholders, you can trust them 100 per cent and I would have no hesitation in recommending them to friends and family.” POIS Member

“It is friendly, reliable and trustworthy.” POIS Member

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See how much you could save

A real-life example

A £25 per month Tax Exempt Savings Plan which commenced in August 2013 with a 10 year term provided a payout of £3,568.35 at maturity. This is an average annual return of 3.4% and a total return of 19%, after administration fees and charges.

The above graph is provided for information purposes. Past performance should not be seen as a reliable indicator of future results. The value of holdings within the fund can fall as well as rise, and you could get back less than you have paid into the plan. As the fund holds overseas assets, the Sterling value of these assets may rise and fall as a result of exchange rate fluctuations.

Ready to start making tax-free savings? Apply today!

Investing responsibly in the POIS Flexible Growth Fund

The POIS tax exempt plans invest in our Flexible Growth Fund. This is a responsible investment which we believe can not only deliver sustainable, long-term value but that can also make a positive impact on society.

This is an actively managed fund with the aim of achieving long term growth, while spreading risk across a wide range of investments. It invests mainly in shares, both UK and overseas, along with convertible bonds.

When you invest with us your money buys units or shares in a fund and the units in each fund have a daily value which can be used to work out the current overall value of your plan.

To work out the value of your plan simply take the number of units your plan currently holds, and multiply this number by the current Unit Price for that plan.

POIS Flexible Growth Fund

Tax Exempt Saving Plan Children’s Tax Exempt Plan

07/12/2023

Unit Price (pence):

130.90

Change from previous day:

0%

Added value for you – Member Benefits

Taking out a Tax Exempt Savings Plan is only the start. By doing so, you will become part of the POIS family which is now a part of Foresters Friendly Society, a well established UK friendly society.  This means you can enjoy some wonderful, unique benefits such as discretionary grants to help you cover the cost of things like higher education, dental and optical costs. In 2022, we gave back over £1.65 million to our POIS and Foresters members in the form of discretionary grants and charitable donations.

Find out more

Common questions

What if I already have an ISA?

A Tax Exempt Savings Plan like this can be held in addition to any other tax free plans, such as ISAs.  It provides an additional £300 per year (£25 per month) tax-free savings allowance that you can use.  Any returns will be paid free of capital and income tax.  What’s not to like!

You should be aware that if you cash the plan in early, there may be some tax to pay on its returns.

Can I pay a lump sum into the plan?

It is not possible to make a lump sum payment into the POIS Tax Exempt Savings Plan.  You can however consider the Stocks & Shares ISA, Lifetime ISA or Junior ISA we offer which all accept lump sum investments should you wish to save in this way instead.

Where will the money be invested?

The monthly contributions you make will purchase units in the POIS Flexible Growth Fund. The aim of the fund is to achieve long term growth, while spreading risk across a wide range of investments. It invests in UK and overseas shares, along with Global Convertible Bonds. It is an actively managed fund which means our expert fund managers make decisions about how to invest the fund’s money as opposed to the fund just following a market index.

The value of holdings within the fund can fall as well as rise, and you could get back less than you have paid into the plan. As the fund holds overseas assets, the Sterling value of these assets may rise and fall as a result of exchange rate fluctuations.

The price of each unit is based on the value of the fund, divided by the number of units in issue. The number of units bought will depend on the price of those units on the day the units are bought.

The price of the units may go down as well as up and you may get back less than you have paid in.

For more information on the fund please see our Fund Information.

What makes this a responsible investment?

As a responsible investor, we want to manage ESG risks and opportunities when investing on behalf of our members.

We have identified certain sectors, products and services, in which we will not invest, above a certain threshold due to ESG-related risk factors.

Consequently, exclusions on controversial weapons, palm oil, soft commodities and climate risks are applied across all assets.

We also exclude the following sectors and areas within our Flexible Growth Fund:

  • Tobacco: To avoid financing the tobacco industry and thus contribute to protecting public health.
  • Defence: White Phosphorus – To avoid financing companies producing or distributing incendiary weapons with white phosphorus.
  • Low ESG Quality: Tight monitoring of companies with the worst ESG practices.
  • Severe Controversies: To avoid financing companies in violation of the United Nations Global Compact.
Are there any charges?

As with any investment, there are costs in managing the plan on your behalf. These include an annual management charge and a monthly administration charge which are deducted from the value of your plan. For more information about charges, see the  Tax Exempt Savings Plan Key Information and Important Information documents.

What is life cover?

One benefit of the Tax Exempt Savings Plan is that life cover is automatically included at no additional cost to you. This means that if you pass away before the plan ends then your estate will receive a cash payout. You won’t have to answer any medical questions when applying for the plan making it simple for you to take out but you will benefit from this type of cover.

The amount of life cover is calculated as 75% of the contributions you are due to make over the initial 10 year term.

If you are aged 56 or over when you apply, the amount of life cover is reduced by 2% for each year. For example, if you are 56, you will receive life cover based on 73% of the contributions you are due to make over the initial 10 year term. If you are 57 you will receive 71%.

In all cases, the life cover is available as long as monthly contributions continue to be paid.  If the value of the plan is higher than the life cover, the plan value will be paid to the estate.

What if my circumstances change and I can no longer pay into my plan consistently?

We understand that the challenges posed by the cost-of-living crisis may impact your ability to save and invest. Although we’d recommend you keep up with your monthly contributions for the plan’s full duration where possible, we understand that this may not be as easy as it once was.

This is where we provide some flexibility with your existing plan contributions.

If you miss some monthly contributions into the plan, you have 13 months to pay the missing contributions, altogether in one lump sum, and continue paying into the plan without the need to close the plan entirely.

If, at the end of the 13 months, you have not made up the missing contributions there will be various scenarios that could apply. Please bear in mind that if you need to stop paying into the plan, your life cover will end, so, if you pass away, the payment returned to your estate will be the value of the plan. Please see the Important Information  for further details.

What happens if the plan is cashed in early?

If the plan is cashed in before its 10th anniversary, a charge will be deducted before the cash sum is paid to you.  The amount of the charge will depend on how long you have held the plan, as shown in the Important Information document.

In the early years, it is possible the plan value may be less than the surrender charge due.  In that instance, no plan value will be paid out and no further charge will be payable.  If a payout is returned to you, you may be liable for tax on any growth.

What happens if I pass away?

If you were to pass away the value of the plan, or the life cover if higher, will be paid. This will normally form part of your estate and may be subject to Inheritance Tax, depending on your individual circumstances.

If you wish, you can nominate a beneficiary to receive the value of your plan if you pass away, providing you have kept your contributions up to date.  This can help to make a difficult time more bearable for your dependents.  They can receive up to £5,000 immediately following your death.  This can be done without having to wait for your estate to be administered, which can often be a lengthy process at a difficult time. Any returns over £5,000 would become part of your remaining estate and have to wait for probate.

I’m not sure if the Tax Exempt Savings Plan is right for me. What should I do?

If you’re unsure as to the suitability of this plan, you should seek advice from a Financial Adviser. Of course, you may have to pay for this advice.

Ready to get started? APPLY ONLINE or request a pack

We’re here if you need help or have any questions

If you have any questions that we have not yet covered or just want to talk your application through, please give us a call. Our friendly UK based team are on hand to make things as easy as possible (lines are open Monday to Friday 9 am to 5 pm).

Call free on 0800 622 417