SUBSTITE FOR TERM PLAN???

INTELLIGENT(?) INSURANCE INVESTOR

One reader of my blog Raj sent me this letter
Hi Srikanth,

Can you guide me on this ULIP doubt. I am 35yrs of age and I have a ULIP from Metlife(Met Smart Premier) which covers me for 100 yrs with a sum assured of 20 Lacs. My annual premium is one Lac. Minumum premium payment period is 3 yrs as with most ULIP's.
Since the objective is to keep investment and insurance separate, I plan to make premium payments for the first 3 - 4 yrs and leave it to grow till the 5th year. At a very conservative rate I expect a return of 5% p.a at the end of 5 yrs. If I pull out my money leaving back one annualized premium (1 lac), I am still covered till 100 yrs of age without paying any more premium. I expect the amount that I have left behind to suffice the policy expenses till the age of 100. Net to net, what I spend for an insurance cover of 20 lacs till 100 yrs would be far far less than what it would be for a term policy. I guess Metlife has discontinued this policy and no more new policies are opened under this scheme. I am not sure if there are other ULIPS that give 20 times cover. If there are I would be interested in opening another one. How is my idea???

Raj




SRIKANTH MATRUBAI replies :

Dear Raj,
You are playing with fire. Already you are on the wrong side of the age. As the policy in question is Type - 1 ULIP, & as per your own admission, you are planning to withdraw money after completing 5Y up to the extent that fund value equal to 1Y premium remains there.
The basic problem is with your thinking................................................
The moment fund value decreases below the 1L figure, the policy will be terminated with immediate effect.
Now let us see how this will happen - As there is no more extra money so the sum at risk is always around 19L Rs. for the ins. co. (20L basic sum assured - 1L fund value) now as the person ages, his mortality charges 'll keep on increasing & in case the market is not favorable, the fund value 'll come down below the 1L figure very easily. Rest you can guess!!!!

From the query, it seems you want to run this policy as a substitute of Term plan. Well well well. Even in this case, there are too many problems. I don't see any merit to run a cover for age 100. While you are comparing the non productive term cover premium (as per your own admission) to your own calculation that keeping 1L fund value in this ULIP is a better option, you are missing the point, that you are paying upfront 1L Rs.

In my view if you are opting Aegon Religare I-term plan for maxium possible term of 25Y, the annual premium will be around 5K Rs. for 20L cover from now onwards & invest remaining 95K rupees in a good funds like HDFC top 200/DSP Eq., Reliance Growth Fund, etc (you can go through the list in other articles in this site) the final outcome will be far far better than what you are planning to opt for at present.

Regarding the non issue of new policies of this class, the same are banned due to IRDA's guidelines of capping of charges.


Regards,
Srikanth Matrubai

P.S.
Dear Raj,
You need to read your Policy Document, in the case of premium holiday.........
Premium Holiday
The Policyholder is however entitled to submit a written notice to the Company within the period allowed for the reinstatement of the Policy opting to continue the Policy provided 5 full years premiums have been paid. The Company will continue deduction of applicable Policy Charges and keep the Policy in force until the Fund Value does not fall below the amount equivalent to the Sum of 120% of Annualized Regular Premium of the Basic Plan and applicable Surrender Charge. Switches and Partial Withdrawals are allowed during this period, subject to satisfying the applicable criteria for the same.
Where the Fund Value falls to the level of an amount equal to the sum of the 120% of Annualized First Year Regular Premium of the Basic Plan and applicable Surrender Charge or the Fund Value is inadequate for the deduction of the applicable Policy Charges whichever is earlier, the Policy shall stand Terminated and the Surrender Value, if any, shall be paid.

Either you hasn't read your policy document or you are an another victim of MIS SELLING.




thanks to dear Ashalanshu for invaluable inputs.

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