Are ULIPs getting better?

I was recently approached by an insurance agent with a ULIP. Even though I was not willing to take the policy, he wanted to present the plan and get my feedback. 

The plan in question is Birla Sun Life’s Classic Endowment Plan . The basic sum assured for the plan presented to me was Rs.3,75,000. But paying an extra premium I can get the life cover enhanced to whatever I prefer. In this case, we took the enhanced sum assured as Rs. 18,00,000.  Policy paying term is 10 years (I pay for only 10 years) and the policy term is for 30 years (I get cover for 30 years). For a 33 year old male, the annual policy worked out to Rs.36,538. (total pay-out of Rs.3,65,380)

Common Insurance Mistakes

Here is a short story based on a real life example.

Mr.X passed away two months back after a sudden illness. He was 52 and is survived by his wife, college going daughter and school going son.

Mr.X worked in the Merchant Navy and was always aware of the risky nature of his job. So he was more than happy to take a few insurance policies when approached by relatives/ friends who were insurance agents. He kept all the policy documents with his wife for safe keeping. Being a house wife, he knew she was good at filing papers neatly, and she was the one who would need those anyway, if something happened to him. He had 5 policies in all and his yearly premiums were close to 75,000 - more than sufficient to cover the tax exemption limits along with his PF contributions. His annual salary was around 10 lakhs.

New Car - Ritz Zxi

It has been almost 2 months since i took the Ritz (Zxi, Baker's Chocolate). Over these days i am happy to notice a steady increase in the number of Ritzs on road. And why not, as per my experience (and many reviews on the internet) it is a real value-for-money, practical car. If you have a weak lower-back, has a tall frame to carry with you and do not yet want a "big" car, the Ritz is a boon!

When i decided to go for a new car, my prime consideration was a higher and better riding posture than my good old Zen. And my budget was around 5 lakhs.  So the options for me were rather limited. The following were considered:

Truth behind "NAV guaranteed" policies

There are a host of "NAV guaranteed" policies (ULIP/ ULPP) these days. It comes in different names and variations and easily one of the hottest in sales kits of insurance agents. Here is good hard look at such policies.

Insurance Advisor

Just tried creating a cartoon strip using ToonDoo and the topic selected was for obvious reasons!The average insurance advisor that one gets to see these day seem to ask about anything and everything, except insurance!!

(Click the image for a better view. Thanks!!)

Comparing ULIP Fund Performance

Come Dec/ Jan and there is a big rush of insurance and investment companies and agents to cash in on the tax saving season. They would be the best aware that the typical salaried class would think about investments and tax savings only when their respective finance departments send the deadline for submitting tax saving receipts in Jan/ Feb - "Show the receipts or get taxed (heavily) during the last 2 - 3 months)!".

So I was not surprised when I got a call from a relatively new private insurer last month. As in typical sales talk, they said they had something exclusive for me, which they wanted to present to me in detail. I decided to play along, as i was impressed with their aggressive pricing in some of their other products and marketing strategies.

Health is Wealth?

I was recently asked by a blog reader for a review of ICICI Pru Health Saver policy. Health insurance is also a topic that i covered a couple of weeks back in a guest post at Jago Investor.

ICICI Pru Health Saver policy is a unit linked health insurance plan, where the policy provides Health Insurance as well as creates a "Health Fund" by allocating a part of the premium to market linked investments. Unlike ULIPs the costs associated with unit linked health insurance plans are somewhat opaque. Have a look at this link for an illustration.