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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This, LIC Samridhi Plus, plan is said to safeguard the investment of the policy holders during the period of market fluctuations by offering you guaranteed NAV during the 100 months of the policy period.  There is also additional accidental benefit option available with this plan with the cover of the maximum of Rs. 50 lakhs with certain pre-conditions to it.

Policy Details

• The policy term for this ULIP plan from LIC is 10 years
• The minimum and maximum entry age for Samridhi Plus plan is 8 years and 65 years respectively
• The minimum premium is Rs. 1500 monthly and Rs. 30,000 (one time single premium)
• The maximum premium that you can pay with this policy is Rs. 1 lakh per year.
• The minimum premium payment term is 5 years
• Available only for the 3months from the date of launch

Features of LIC Samridhi Plus

• Highest NAV guaranteed of 100 months of NAV on maturity (whichever is highest)
• Partial withdrawal option is available for this Samridhis Plus plan after 5 years of policy’s existence
• Can avail accidental benefit by paying extra Rs. 0.50 per 1000 sum assured

Other Benefits

Death Benefits – With the death benefit of this policy the nominee will receive the sum assured or the fund value whichever is high.

Maturity Benefits – The policy holder will receive highest NAV of the policy value

Plan Charges

The fund charges for Samridhi Plus for the first year for the regular premium policy is 6% and 4.50% for 2nd and 3rd years.  For the single premium policy, it would be 3.3%.  There are also other charges like the policy admin charges of Rs. 30 per month and fund management charges of 0.90% p.a. as well as the guarantee charge of 0.40% p.a. throughout the policy term.

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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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ICICI Pru LifeLink Wealth SP can be brought only by way of paying single premium only and there are no options like annual, monthly or quarterly premiums particularly on this plan.  Since being an ULIP plan this plan’s returns and risks are solely dependent on the stock market and risk is to be entirely borne by the investors.

LifeLink Wealth SP Details:

• The minimum or maximum age entry is 0-60 years
• The minimum or maximum age at maturity is 8-70 years
• Minimum Premium is Rs. 40,000 (one time)
• Policy term – 10 or 20 or 30 years
• Sum assured – have a choice of 125% or 500% of the single premium being paid
• Tax benefits on premium paid as well as on the received benefit amount at the end of term

Benefits of ICICI Pru Life Link Wealth SP:

• Payment of premium once and benefit of staying invested for long term.
• A portfolio strategy namely Trigger Portfolio Strategy will help protect your gains in case of future market volatility but still maintaining the given asset allocation.  Fixed portfolio strategy will help you manage the funds from the given 8 funds and have the option of switching between those funds.
• Two options of sum assured – either 125% or 500% of the paid up premium to help better protection and returns need.
• Loyalty addition of upto 2.5% of the total fund value for every five years but from the start of the tenth policy year onwards.
• There is an option to top-up in the future and thus boosting up your investment value.
• Total tax benefits for the premium paid as well as tax exempt from tax on the returns as well.
• Partial withdrawal is allowed after completing five policy years.

Charges:

There is a premium allocation charge of 5% for Rs. 40,000 to 499,999 and 4% for Rs. 5 Lakhs and above.  Also there is policy administration charge of Rs. 60 per month for the first three policy years.  There is also fund management charges of up to 1.35% per annum.  As well as other charges being applicable, read the policy terms for full details.

ICICI Prudential LifeLink Wealth SP is indeed a different ULIP policy in terms of paying premium unlike any other ULIP plans where you had to pay continuously and regularly for at least 3 or more years to stay invested while Life Link Wealth SP offer protection with just single premium of as low as Rs. 40,000.  Otherwise this works the same as any other ULIP plans.  Being a ULIP plan its entire performance is market dependent.   Also as advised previously go for it if you have surplus funds lying and can park it in such plans and looking for very long term investment option with the added advantage of life insurance.  Otherwise just for other investment avenues and give this plan a slip.

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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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SBI Life opened up this Smart ULIP again after the initial issue that involved with that of IRDA and SEBI related to such similar Unit Linked Insurance Plans.  Smart ULIP helps you protect your investments and also helps you get the market returns that come with NAV guarantee.  But just as any other Unit Link Insurance Plans the investment risk is borne by the investors.

SBI Life SMART ULIP Series II comes with the tagline of “Heads you win.  Tails you win.”  Also comes with the maximum growth potential, helps you invest hassle free and flexible premium payment terms.

Features of SBI Life Smart ULIP:

• Guaranteed highest NAV from the first 7 years of the plan at maturity
• Short and convenient premium paying terms (PPT) with the choice between 2 PPTs
• Guaranteed NAV on maturity grows even beyond the premium term
• FlexiProtect Fund (Series II) – structured investment fund.
• Hassle free fund with the protection of investments against volatile market conditions.
• Tax benefits under Section 80 C

Plan Details:

• Entry age – minimum 8 years, maximum 60 years.  Age at maturity 70 years.
• Premium Payment Years – 3 years or 5 years.
• Premium payment mode – monthly/quarterly/half yearly/yearly
• Minimum Premium:
  • Monthly – Rs. 5000
  • Quarterly – Rs. 15,000
  • Half Yearly – Rs. 25,000
  • Annual – Rs. 50,000
• Sum assured – 5 x annualized premium.

Benefits of Smart ULIP:

• Maturity Benefit:  NAV as on date of maturity or guaranteed maturity NAV.
• Death Benefit:  In case of death, the higher of fund value or sum assured will be paid to the nominee.
• Surrender of policy is allowed after 5 years or 3 years depending on PPTs chosen.
• Partial withdrawal is allowed after the completion of 5 policy years.

Although sounds and looks lucrative, since being an ULIP and hence the cost involved during the initial period of the policy term is very high and hence it is left up to the individual whether to go for it or not.  My personal view would be to just avoid such Unit Linked Plans at least for the time being until IRDA sets right the fees and make it lesser just like what SEBI has done to mutual funds!  Till then wait and watch rather than being lured by the agents who sell them.  Meanwhile you download the brochure for SBI Smart ULIP  Series II here and read all the policy terms and charges involved before making a decision.

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This plan was launched on December 17, 2009.  Although this is one of the recent ULIP policy from ICICI Pru Life it has done relatively well compared with the latest NAV it has achieved at around 10.3 as of May 3, 2010.  Although it has to be mentioned that it was also not a great jump or improvement in NAV compared with how the markets have fared all these months since the inception of this policy.

Benefits of LifeTime Maxima:

• The options to choose between two portfolio strategies namely trigger portfolio strategy and fixed portfolio strategy.
• Partial withdrawal can be made every 3 years after the sixth year of the policy.
• Additional allocation can be made after the sixth year of the policy onwards and thus getting 100% allocation to the fund from the premium being paid.
• Maturity benefit will be the fund value with the availability to choose settlement option.
• Sum assured plus the fund value in case of death benefit.

Features of ICICI Prudential LifeTime Maxima:

• Policy Term:  10/15/20/25/30 years.
• Minimum entry age is 0/65 years and maximum maturity age is 18/75 years.
• Minimum sum assured:  5 X annual premium
• Minimum Premium:  Rs. 24,000 per year.
• Premium Frequency:  Monthly, Half yearly and yearly.
• Tax benefits for the entire premium amount paid.

Top-Up:

There is an option of being able to top-up premiums with this LifeTime Maxima Plan and the minimum amount to do so is Rs. 2000.

You have the option of switching between funs under fixed portfolio strategy, among the seven existing funds under this plan.  The 7 funds options available are Multi-cap growth fund, opportunities fund, Bluechip fund, Multi-cap balanced fund, Income Fund, Money Market fund, and return guarantee fund.  The option to choose between funds is solely left to the investors and thus they can decide on which one to choose depending up on their risk versus benefit ratio of their liking.

You can decide on the Change in Portfolio Strategy or CIPS once during every policy year and this can be done for free and while the not-used CIPS will be carried forward to the next year.

The ICICI Pru LifeTime Maxima brochure can be downloaded from here to get to know more details about this ULIP Plan.

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