Insurance protection and wealth creation all in one

Ever since the Unit Linked Insurance Plan (ULIP) came into existence, any individual planning to buy an insurance policy goes for it. ULIPs are by far the most successful product because not only do these provide insurance protection, but are also a great way to create wealth.

If the current success of ULIPs is anything to go by, these plans will very soon outsell every other policies present in the market. So what is ULIP? Why is it so attractive? What are its advantages over the other plans? Let’s have a look.

Currently, people are always on the lookout to enhance their incomes with the help of convenient measures and ULIPs just happen to be one of those means. Owing to the fact that a Unit Linked Insurance Plan meets both the purposes of an individual which are, insurance and investment, it is held in higher regard than endowment and term plans.

The most significant advantage of ULIPs is that these yield capital appreciation which is tied to the capital market. 

How does ULIPs work?

A specified amount from the total premium paid is allocated to make the investments once the required charges of the plan that one has chosen have been covered.

One must be well-versed with a few terms like NAV, Unit, and Unit Fund when they are making an investment in a Unit Linked Insurance Plan.

Unit Fund – The fund which is formed from all the investments made in a particular type of scheme after deducting the required expenses is known as Unit Fund.

Unit – A part of the total investment ma de in a particular type of fund is known as Unit.

NAV – NAV or Net Asset Value is the cost of a unit in a particular fund which keeps fluctuating as per the market conditions. One must always stay abreast of the NAV of the ULIPs that they have bought.

Advantages of a Unit Linked Insurance Plan

• Flexibility:  With ULIPs, one can choose the kind of investment that they want to go for. Such plans also come with feasibility factor and allow defining the amount which is to be allotted for making an investment.
•  Transparency: One can get a status on their investment, whenever they like. Every insurer in the market provides the latest NAV as soon as it fluctuates. Other than that, the insurers also update their investors about the investments with quarterly investment portfolio, annual account statement, and other such reports at regular intervals.
• Liquidity: Investors can partially withdraw money from their ULIP account after a period of five years. However, they must keep a minimum stipulate amount intact.

It would not be wrong to say that a Unit Linked Insurance Plan is a single product that comes bundled with many advantages. 

The gains on life insurance explained

Taking life insurance in today’s turbulent times is not just an intelligent move, it is an essential one. All we have any reasonable control over is our present. The future may bring with it tremendous joys in the form of our children topping their schools and college exams, an unexpected windfall or even a surprise trip to Europe on your 50^th birthday. But the future can also come with tremendous lows, such as the unexpected death of a loved one or the loss of a stable job.

But life insurance can, if not entirely pre-empt, considerably nullify the effects of these future calamities. By playing the insurance game intelligently, you can make your life insurance policy work for you at maturity. Here’s how:

* Choose a maturity date based on future life goals. At your current position in life, you may be looking at financing your child’s foreign education 15 years hence. Or you may be at a mid-career phase and looking to retire in 10 years. Are you certain that you will have enough financial resources to mark these major milestones? If not, you can choose life insurance plans for 10, 15 or 20 years that provide a large corpus on maturity, just in time to send your child to college or for you to set funds aside for your retirement.

* The plan can finance future dreams. In the race of life, you may need to sacrifice your own small joys to help your loved ones realise their dreams. At the start of one’s career, especially, one does not have a very high salary to finance such activities as annual vacations and regular expensive purchases. But a life insurance policy maturing after a certain number of years can provide the money to finance the dreams you are putting off for later.

* Your loved ones are cared for even in your absence. The best laid plans can go awry in the case of your unfortunate demise. Your endowment life insurance takes away the worry of future financial insecurity. If the policy holder passes away before the policy matures, the death benefits accrued over the policy are passed on to the holder’s family. So whether you are present in their life or not, your loved ones are assured of a stable living.

* It creates a sizeable corpus for parents. Our parents sacrifice everything to raise us, and they continue to give their time and effort even when they are in their autumn years. Taking life insurance plans in their name for a certain number of years can guarantee a corpus for them when the policy matures. They need not depend on anybody for their upkeep in their old age – the policy you take in their name will keep them in good stead.

Despite the many advantages of investing in life insurance in India, several people continue to subsist without it. Not taking life insurance is like living with a constant threat of financial insecurity every day. Unless you have a lot of money saved up in the bank and have some high yield investments, your family is completely unprotected against future monetary shocks. In your absence, your loved ones are left to fend for themselves – and it’s a cruel world out there. Instead, taking life insurance plans is the way forward.