Background

Retirement Advantage was formed by MGM Advantage re-branding in 2015, following the purchase of former equity release lender - Stonehaven Equity Release. Retirement Advantage can trace its roots back to 1852 have since become a specialist in providing retirement products such as lifetime mortgages and their retirement account.

Retirement Advantage's range of lifetime mortgage UK plans offer a 'design-it-yourself' approach to equity release. Offering a suite of base products such as lump sum, interest only lifetime mortgages and voluntary repayment schemes, any qualifying homeowner can add-on extra's they require such as cashback or drawdown facility which all influence the final deal they receive. Couple this with their 8 year fixed early repayment charge makes Retirement Advantage a serious provider in the equity release arena.

 

Eligibility

This Retirement Advantage Voluntary Select Gold scheme is actually the core product - the Voluntary Repayment Plan, with the option of adding a drawdown facility at the homeowners request. This would suit an applicant requiring flexibility in managing their future balance by making ad-hoc payments whenever required. However, in addition the homeowner can opt for a cash drawdown facility which provides the option of extra funds in the future, if required.

The minimum property valuation acceptable to the Retirement Advantage Voluntary Select Gold Flexible Lifetime Mortgage is £70,000 with a maximum overall property value across the UK of upto £10 million.

The property to be offered as security should be the homeowners main residence and located within England, Scotland and Wales.

Retirement Advantage's Voluntary Select Gold plan is available on both a single and joint life basis with a minimum age of youngest homeowner being 55, with a maximum age at application stage being 90. For joint equity release borrowers, the youngest applicant must be 90 or younger.

The minimum release at application stage is just £10,000 with an overall maximum equity release amount of £750,000 available on a nationwide basis & subject to underwriting. For loans greater than £750,000, bespoke quotations are available via Equity Release Supermarket. Please call 0800 678 5955 for your personalised Key Facts Illustration.

 

Features

The Retirement Advantage Voluntary Select Gold plan is a voluntary repayment lifetime mortgage scheme. This allows the homeowner to make voluntary repayments of a minimum of £50 back to Retirement Advantage with the main advantage being that NO proof of income is needed. Therefore, for those having difficulty obtaining residential mortgages, voluntary repayment schemes offer a great non-verification mortgage alternative.

An additional feature of this Retirement Advantage scheme is that it can be taken as a drawdown lifetime mortgage scheme which provides an initial tax-free lump sum cash release for immediate use, with any remaining unused cash being retained in a cash reserve facility. This is ideal for those needing access to immediate cash but with a further drawdown amount in the future. The minimum withdrawal amount from the cash reserve facility is just £2,000 with no further administration charges for any additional drawdown amounts taken.

A generous free valuation is offered along with a fixed equity release lifetime interest rate on the initial lump sum. Any further withdrawals would be at the interest rate applicable at the time of withdrawal.

Included as standard now in Retirement Advantage's Voluntary Select range are two Early Repayment Charge waivers - Downsizing Protection and the Compassionate 3-Year Early repayment Waiver. Both these automatic inclusions allow for the plan to be repaid early, with no penalty, under certain life changing events.
Downsizing protection allows homeowners wishing to downsize property after 5 years from inception of the plan, to be able to repay the whole plan with no penalty.
The Compassionate waiver allows any survivor of a joint lifetime mortgage plan, the ability to repay the whole scheme with no penalty as long as repayment occurs within a 3 year window of their partner either dying, or moving into long term care.

Retirement Advantage are members of the Equity Release Council all their plans come with a no-negative equity guarantee. Therefore, upon eventual sale of the property, any beneficiaries cannot be left with a debt owing to the equity release company.

One of the strongest features of Voluntary Select Gold is the early repayment charge (ERC). Retirement Advantage only charge an ERC for the first 8 years following inception, drawdown or additional borrowing on this equity release loan. The ERC starts at 5% for the first 5 years, then reduces to 3% for the next 3 years and then NO penalty thereafter.

Additional borrowing is available once all cash funds have been utilised in the future. The minimum additional borrowing amount is £4,000 with no completion fee charged by Retirement Advantage.

 

Options

This Retirement Advantage Gold Mortgage enables any homeowner to spend their tax-free cash as they wish, with no need in having to make any repayments.

A special feature of this Retirement Advantage plan is the Voluntary Repayment Option which allows the homeowner to start making upto 15% repayments of the original amount borrowed each year with no penalty. This helps manage control the future balance of the lifetime mortgage UK scheme, either to reduce the roll-up effect of the interest, pay off the interest only or even reduce the future balance by using the full 15% allowance.

Payments can be made back to Retirement Advantage on an ad-hoc basis with minimum £50 payment which can start the day following completion. This can be paid by cheque or bank transfer. Retirement Advantage will also allow a standing order to be set up to make monthly repayments from day one of the scheme starting. Therefore, it can be used as a monthly interest only lifetime mortgage scheme, but with the added benefit of NO verification of income.

A further option for inclusion is the Inheritance Protection feature so the homeowner can secure a fixed percentage of the final sale value of the property. This is important for those who wish to guarantee a percentage of the house value from their inheritance.

Being a core lump sum product, by adding the cash drawdown facility to it has the effect of adding 0.2% to the standard equity release interest rate.

As part of the Retirement Advantage Equity Release plan range a cashback of £1,000 can be selected by the homeowner, which has the effect of increasing the interest rate by 0.10%.

 

To obtain further information or to request a quotation on the Retirement Advantage Voluntary Select Gold Lifetime Mortgage, please contact the Equity Release Supermarket team on 0800 678 5955 today.