As we all know that term plans are pure protection plans which does not have any survival benefit attached to but can only be benefited by your family in case of unfortunate death of the insurer during the policy term.  This is the pure form insurance that one should definitely have unlike the endowment plans, money back plans or even the much hyped ULIP plans which are nothing but investment cum insurance plans where you get to enjoy the benefit upon your survival.

Why Term Plan

Unlike the other insurance policies, term plans should definitely feature in everyone’s portfolio allocated for the insurance.  These term plans are ideal for anyone who have dependents who are living out of your income and cannot survive without it in case of sudden demise.  If you have term plan, the amount insured will be given to your family who can use it.

How to Buy Met Protect

1. Just visit the Met Life Insurance website and choose the MetProtect plan and then choose the amount that you desire which you would feel would be ideal for your protection of your family in case of unfortunate death of the insurer.
2. Choose the duration for the cover of the term plan (ideal to choose the maximum years for better protection)
3. Just fill in the proposal form given with all your details truthfully and correctly
4. Pay the premium via credit card/debit card, cheque or even the IVRS.
5. Just get the documents required (will be told at the time of buying the plan online) ready so that the representative from MetLife will come and collect it.
6. After that you will need to undergo medical tests at your place without any additional charges in which a medical personnel or tem authorized by MetLife will come and visit you depending upon your availability.
7. Finally after everything is done successfully you will be sent the policy documents via the courier and you are now officially the insurer of the Met Protect Term Plan from MetLife.

Features of Met Protect

• Lowest premium since brought online
• Even lower premium for the non-smoker
• Different premiums for female insurers
• Tax benefits under section 80C on premium
• Minimum and maximum entry ages 18 and 60
• Maximum expiry of policy 70 years
• There is no limit for the sum assured amount
• Flexible premium payment option (Single/annual/half yearly)
• Death benefit for the beneficiary
• No maturity or surrender value benefits

Free Look in Period

After buying the Met Protect Term Plan online you find some of the terms not in line with what you had expected or didn’t want to continue with your policy you can just cancel the policy within 15 days by returning the same to Met Life within that time frame and you will get the premium refund minus the medical exam expenses and stamp duty charge, etc.

Exclusions with MetProtect

There are some exclusions applicable for this pure term insurance plan as well like suicide within 1 year of the policy start.  There are also exclusions on certain travel where travel advisory had been advised.

Verdict

If you have not brought any term plan for yourself yet and looking to buy one, then you can surely try out this pure term plan, Met Protect from MetLife which on the whole looks like a very promising term plan and the premium that you are going to pay for the happiness of your family during your absence too seems to be reasonable.  It is a must to have a regular term plan rather than buying those useless endowment, ULIP or money back insurance plans.

But try to be as truthful and frank when filling the insurance claim form as well as with your medical examination as you don’t want your family to be denied of the claim during your absence simply due to the fact that you have hidden or given wrong information regarding your health or other habits (read smoking or other bad habits) you may have!

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• Birla Sun Life Insurance (BSLI) Foresight Plan

The minimum premium amount for the BSLI Foresight Plan for the single-pay plan is Rs. 2 lakhs and while for the 5-years option it is Rs. 1 lakh per year.

Life Cover

The life cover for the Birla Sunlife Insurance Foresight Plan can be chosen by the insurer depending upon the requirement.  The minimum life cover being 1.25 x basic premium for the single premium option while the maximum life cover is 5 x basic premium for the single premium plan.

The minimum life cover for the 5-pay option is 10 x basic premium while the maximum life cover is 300% of basic sum assured.

Investment Options

With the Foresight Plan you can choose the investment option between guaranteed option or the self-managed option.  With the guaranteed option the investment is made at the Foresight Fund and you will receive the minimum guaranteed maturity benefit by way of optimization of the entry as well as gains from the stock markets.  All these will be calculated via their own calculation and computation using the Net Invested Premium (NIP) value, etc.

Benefits of Foresight Plan

• Maturity Benefit will be decided upon the fund you have chosen, i.e., the guaranteed option or self-managed option.  With guaranteed option you will receive the Guaranteed minimum maturity benefit.  While for the self-managed option you will be getting the fund value as the benefit.
• Death Benefit will be in the form of Basic Sum Assured plus the fund value.
• Surrender Benefit can be availed after 5 years of policy existence and you will receive the fund value as well as the refund of the mortality charges for the remaining duration of the plan
• Partial Withdrawals can be made for any number of times for this policy from BSLI
• Policy Loans can be availed with this plan.

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Since being a pure term plan (vanilla insurance), don’t extra benefits or sum assured at the end of the term of this plan, but think of it as an excellent option to protect your entire family in case of unfortunate eventuality!

Key Features of Kotak e Term:

• Life cover at the lowest premium
• Option to increase life cover (Step up option)
• No need of medical examination if Step up option chosen
• Quick and ease of buying it online
• Less premium for women and non-tobacco users
• Tax benefits under section 80C and Section 10D
• Change to any other plan available with Kotak

Step-up Option:

This is a new and unique feature that Kotak eterm or epreferred term offers for the users to choose.  With this step-up option you can guarantee additional coverage of insurance during important milestones in your life like marriage and home purchase via home loan (where the sum assured will be increased to 50% extra), birth of a child as well as 1st, 3rd and 5th anniversary of the policy (where there will be 25% increase in sum assured).  This option is available only with the e preferred term plan of Kotak Life.

This step-up option is not available for those who have attained 45 years of age though.  Also as one would expect there is an additional fee (or premium) applicable in case you choose this step up option when you buy e-term insurance online.

Flexible Choice:

Another key flexibility that this Kotak e term plan offers is the fact that you can convert this term insurance plan into any other plan of your choice available at Kotak Life Insurance during any time of this policy coverage (but not available during 5 years before it ceases) and the premium rate for the newly chosen plan will apply there afterwards.

Premium:

The premium for this plan is calculated entirely dependent on the entry age, term chosen as well as the individual’s healthy behavior (smoker or non-smoker), etc.  You can calculate it yourself online at their website itself before buying the same.

Buying Online:

• Just logon to Kotak Life Insurance website
• Choose the sum assured or coverage
• Choose the term for coverage
• Choice of Step-up option
• Pay for the premium calculated

Conclusion:

Kotak e Preferred Term or e Term is the sort of insurance that any genuine financial planners would advice simply due to the fact that this is the real insurance that almost everyone should buy rather than having the endowment, ULIP or whole life plans that these insurance companies offer!

But choose your plan wisely considering the facts like the service rendered by them, claims approval ratio, reliability, etc.  Since there is no point in buying these term plans which are claimed to be very cheap (especially these online term insurance plans which have come up recently) but in case of eventuality of death and the claim is not paid citing various reasons, the sole purpose of buying them is lost which is even worse than not buying them at all!

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• Met Protect Term Plan from Met Life Review
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• LICs Bima Account Non-Linked Life Insurance

This non-linked plan from LIC offers you complete liquidity, guaranteed minimum returns, non-complex features, no need of medical examination, no hidden charges, and average risk cover.

Features of Bima Account:

• Lock-in Period of just 3 years
• Guaranteed returns of at least 6% p.a.
• Availability of loan after first year onwads
• Income tax benefits on premium paid
• Topping up of premium
• Option of choosing decreased benefits

Bima Account I

• Policy term – 5 to 7 years
• Entry age between 11 to 50 years
• Premium range of Rs. 7000 and Rs. 14,000 annually
• Up to 20 times of annualized premium as risk cover.
• No need for medical examination

Bima Account II:

• Policy term – 10 to 15 years
• Entry age of 8 to 60 years.
• Risk cover of 10 to 30 times annual premium
• Fixed premium of Rs. 15,000 annually no higher limit

Benefits of Bima Account:

• Death benefit of sum assured
• Maturity benefit in case of survival
• Guaranteed interest will be applicable in the account of the policy holder and not on the premium paid.
• LIC also can announce additional interest in case of regular premium payment

Just like each year, LIC seems to announce new plans during the tax planning period of February-March and this plan is just that.  It is not always advisable to mix your insurance and investment together and hence it is better to avoid this plan, instead go for a term plan and go for a good rated and good performing Mutual Fund via the SIP route.

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It is on the table No. 802 in the LIC policy info.  This plan from LIC offers you savings, insurance as well as investment all in one.  As claimed by LIC, the risk put forth on the investment is borne by the investors in this particular ULIP plan as well, just like any other ULIPs.

Salient Features of Endowment Plus:

• Entry age: 7 to 60 years
• Term: between 10 to 20 years
• Maturity age: 18 to 70 years
• Minimum annual premium: Rs. 20,000, maximum annual premium: Rs. 1,00,000
• Maximum single  premium: Rs. 30,000; maximum single premium: no limit
• Regular premium for monthly mode (ECS): Rs. 1750
• Premiums can be paid at yearly, half- yearly, quarterly or monthly (ECS) intervals
• Premium Allocation charges: 7.5 % in 1^st year, 5% from 2^nd year to 5^th year; 3% from 6^th year onwards.
• Critical illness and accident benefits are optional riders available for extra premium
• Partial withdrawal allowed after 5 years from policy commencement date
• Loan facility after 3 years of policy commencement if all previous premiums have been paid
• Risk cover: 11 to 30 times of annualized premium

Benefits:

• Benefit payable on death: Nominee is eligible for the Sum Assured or policy holders fund value, whichever is higher
• Benefit payable on maturity: Policy holder is eligible for fund value
• Critical illness rider benefit: minimum sum assured is Rs. 50000 and maximum sum assured is Rs. 10,00,000
• Accident benefit: minimum sum assured is Rs. 25,000 and maximum sum assured is Rs. 50,00,000

The policy holder of LIC Endowment Plus can choose to invest his premiums in one of the four funds: Bond Fund, Secured Fund, Balanced Fund and Growth Fund. Allocation charges are deducted from the premiums and units of the fund chosen are purchased from the remaining amount. Depending on the NAV i.e. net asset value; the unit value increases or decreases.

Switching between funds with this Endowment Plus policy can be done any number of times in year. The first four switches are free of cost but a nominal charge is levied after that.

After three years, policy holder can avail a loan of up to 30% of fund value of the policy holder (if all premiums have been paid). There is also an option to the policy holder to encash fund at regular intervals over a period of 5 years from the maturity date.

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Overview:

Max New York Life Smart Bond comes with the benefits of ensuring maximum protection for your entire family with the least possible investment.

Features:

• Policy term – 10 years fixed
• Minimum or maximum entry age – 91 days to 55 years
• Maximum age on maturity – 65
• Single premium payment term
• Two times single premium as sum assured after two years
• Minimum Rs. 50,000 and max Rs. 10,00,000 premium

Benefits:

• Tax benefits on premium
• 169% guaranteed returns
• 10 Years policy term
• Single Premium
• Maturity benefit and/or Death benefit

This plan closes on December 20, 2010.

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Main features of this plan:

The policy uses the fund value to offer a pension based on the current annuity rates under the chosen annuity option. The policy guarantees a return with minimum rate of interest of 4.5 per cent. One-third of the corpus can be withdrawn after maturity. In case of surrender of the policy within 5 years from the date of commencement of policy, the policy holder can obtain the amount equivalent to the fund value after deducting the policy discontinuance charge. If case of surrender of the policy after 5 years from the date of commencement of policy, then the policy fund value can be used for payment of an annuity and there will be no deduction of policy discontinuance charge.

Benefits of Pension Plus:

Some of the benefits of the policy are as follows:

• The policy offers two choices of fund – Debt Fund and Mixed Fund.
• The policy can be purchased by anyone between 18-75 years of age.
• The minimum maturity time of the policy is 10 years.
• The policy offers guaranteed maturity benefits and death benefits.
• The policy offers a minimum guaranteed return of 4.5 per cent.
• The minimum premium is Rs. 1500 per month while minimum single premium is Rs. 30,000.

Fund options of the policy

The new Pension Plus policy is associated with the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority’s (IRDA) latest ULIP guidelines. The policy offers two fund options – Debt fund and Mixed fund. Under the Debt fund, more than 60% of the policy amount will be invested in government securities and the remaining 40 % will be invested into money market instruments. Under the Mixed fund plan, more than 45% of the policy amount will be invested in government securities, 40% of the amount will be invested into money market instruments, and the remaining 15-35 % will be invested into equities.

Overall, this LIC Pension Plan seems just like another ULIP plan from LIC, but the only significance is that it comes after the wake of the latest tussle between IRDA and SEBI as well as the first ULIP from LIC after some of the new guidelines being announced by IRDA on ULIP policies.  If you really are looking for a new ULIP plan then go for it, else just stick with any of the Mutual Funds via SIP route.

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