From vaccination, school to higher education, my friend Satish planned everything even before the birth of his son. Also, one day he sat with his wife and decided the travel destination for the next two years. Not only this, but he also started investing to support his ‘planning’. He was confident that his investment would […]
Oops! It’s been close to 3-months now since I last wrote — it’s the usual “life just got busy” excuse and I pick-up all the blame for letting things slip. We’ve also just entered a brand-new financial year and I wish each of you a prosperous year ahead. Lot’s of stuff did happen in between […]
I’ve simply lost track of the number of horror stories I’ve heard about totally junk life insurance being forcibly dumped on your head by relatives/friends-cum-insurance-agents. Everyone out there seems to have bought a life insurance policy from either a relative, or a friend, or a friend of a relative, or a relative of a friend, […]
As a follow-up to my recent post on Capital Advisor’s impact on the Indian life insurance industry, I thought it’d be a fun idea to figure out where all those download requests for my ULIP Surrender Request Letter template were coming from. Here’s a chart of the Top-10 Countries along with the total number of […]
I seriously think ULIPs ought to be called Unit “Loss” Investment Plans. I am yet to come across someone who has actually made money off a ULIP. A recent comment on one of the other posts reads — “My wife had taken a ULIP from Bajaj Allianz 5-years back and the first year charges were […]
2,150+ readers have downloaded my ULIP Surrender Request Letter template! 1,500+ readers have downloaded my LIC Jeevan Anand Surrender Request Letter template! If even 50% of them have taken action, that’s a pretty good impact! Just think of all that hard-earned money readers are retaining in their pockets and the equivalent lost revenue for the […]
The hidden message being — We managed to fool you all these years under the guile of “Premium Allocation Charges.” No one in this industry knows why there has to be a special charge just to allocate your premium (premium = your hard-earned money). And no one in this industry even wants to know why […]
An excerpt from an interview published in a recent issue of Outlook Money: The biggest challenge for my company [Star Union Dai-ichi] is how to sell Ulips and give good returns to our intermediaries who are our corporate agents. At present, big banks that are giving us distribution business includes Bank of India and seven […]
[sniplet facebook reposts] My interest in this ULIP stemmed from an ad I saw in the morning newspaper. 0% allocation charge. 100% premium invested. That too for a ULIP? Seriously, there’s got to be a real catch somewhere. And there are — quite a few of them. First-up, a Policy Administration Charge that seems to […]
Consider these Risk Factors copied verbatim from a Unit Linked Health Insurance Policy ad that I happened to see on this blog itself (snarky comments mine): The premiums paid in unit linked plans are subject to investment risks associated with capital markets. (Means we’re going to have fun gambling on your health with your own […]
I sometimes receive queries over email from readers who are in a particular situation with respect to their personal finances and want to know what actions they ought to take in order to move ahead. Some of these queries are generic enough to apply for a broader audience. In the past, I’ve tried publishing these […]
First of all: Wishing you and your family a financially prosperous 2011. And what better a way to start 2011 than knowing how to get rid of your Unit Linked Life Insurance Policy (ULIP). I recently closed one, on D’s behalf, and luckily for us we emerged above water on that one. It all started […]
Take a shirt. Stitch a pant to it. Then stick a pair of shoes to the pant. You really wouldn’t want to be seen wearing such clothes. Similarly, you wouldn’t want to buy the LIC Endowment plus Unit Linked Plan which purportedly combines Savings, Investment, and Insurance — in short, a guaranteed recipe to make […]
When you hear the words “five, years, investment, product” all in the same sentence from whoever is pitching you a financial product your first instinct must be to get ready to run as fast as you can in the opposite direction. Because it couldn’t be anything other than a ULIP. Last weekend, I ran as […]
An SMS I received reads [verbatim]: Guaranteed Bonus! Investment Profit! Insurance Cover! Tax Saving! Invest in Bajaj Allianz Assured Gain. NOW min term changes 3 to 5 yrs in July. SMS BAJ2 to 98401XXXXX. My two words: AVOID ULIPS.
Makes you poor and your agent/insurer rich. Look what I found in my email. A job (commission-based) that allows you to be your own boss. Life insurance consultant with LIC of India (part-time or flexi-time). The job involves prospecting, understanding life insurance needs, advising on suitable options and closing the sale. It’s a freelance marketing […]
Here’s a timely article featured in The Economic Times on why you shouldn’t invest in a ULIP. Between us, D & I have a ULIP that commands a ridiculously hefty premium, provides a really laughable amount as insurance coverage, and has actually tanked in value. Ouch! Thankfully, it’s about to complete three years of tenure […]
Mutual funds are a grossly mis-sold, mis-positioned, and mis-communicated financial product in India — Dipen Seth, Money Today, June 25, 2009. Add misunderstood to that list. Add Unit Linked Insurance Plans (ULIPs) to that list.
A while back, reader Lakshmi wrote to me saying, My mom is particularly concerned that my brother’s job is non-pensionable and recently she heard about the SBI Life Insurance Pension Fund. Please throw some light on this matter. I couldn’t write back since I was held up with other work. But Lakshmi soon wrote back […]
I’ve previously dissected Bharti AXA’s AspireLife Unit Linked Life Insurance Plan and found it to be a terrific example for bad financial jargon, lame financial products, and lame advertising — in short a toxic financial product (as most ULIPs are). A recent issue of MoneyToday carried an ad for Bharti AXA’s Life AspireLife Unit Linked […]