All Posts in Life Plan

|In: Life Plan|Last Updated:

As the earnings of any person increases, it becomes very important to plan the investments also carefully. In fact, with exponential earnings, investments in terms of “Life Insurance” becomes very critical. To give an example, when I had taken a Home Loan, the returns [every 4 years] of a “Cash Back Life-Insurance” policy came in very handy irrespective of the size of amount. Just like a dialogue in the movie Spider-man “With great power, comes great responsibility”, the analogue of that in insurance terms would be “More earnings means investments should be thought-off, planned & should provide good insurance cover” !!!

It becomes critical that you choose the right company, right policy that reaps the best returns…

Overview of Life-Insurance

Life insurance or life assurance is a contract between the policy owner and the insurer, where the insurer agrees to pay a sum of money upon the occurrence of the policy owner’s death. In return, the policy owner agrees to pay a stipulated amount called a premium at regular intervals. From an investor’s point of view, an investment can play two roles – asset appreciation or asset protection.

The core benefit of life insurance is that the financial interests of one’s family remain protected from circumstances such as loss of income due to critical illness or death of the policyholder. Simultaneously, insurance products also have a strong inbuilt wealth creation proposition.

Benefits of Life-Insurance

Life insurance allows long term savings to be made in a relatively painless manner because of the low and convenient investments made through premiums. More investment options make your money work harder, but there are no substitutes to the life insurance. Because only a life insurance gives you both – risk cover against your life as well as returns on your money invested like a “Money Back Policy”. Amongst the most known benefits of Life Insurance is the savings on your income taxes. So, a life insurance policy is an ideal tool to gain security and ensure savings. If you require loans, say for building a house, it can be easily obtained against a life insurance policy which was there in my case !!!

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Edelweiss tokio Life – MyLife+

When it comes to Insurance, there are many options that are available to the customers, however from an investment perspective & life-cover, Edelweiss tokio Life MyLife+ insurance policy provides both the benefits.

Some of the key-features of the product are below:

  • Flexibility of payout options
  • Cover up to the age of 80 years
  • Low Cost Term Assurance Plan
  • Tax benefits for premium and claim amount
  • Comprehensive Cover Through Riders
  • Low Cost Term Assurance Plan
The minimum entry age for the policy is 18 years and the product offers two death benefit options; Lump-sum benefit option and Income benefit option. One can choose between a combination of both the options as well, depending on the family’s need, level of financial literacy & stage of life.
Some of the product details are below
The major advantage of this plan over near-similar plans offered by other companies are
  1. Choice of payout options i.e. monthly, annual or combination of both.
  2. Term period of 80 years which is highest in the industry.
The interesting part about the policy is that it offers discounts for women, as well as on choosing a high sum assured. The premium rate for 21 year old women would be equal to rate paid by 18 year old male.
The policy offers three riders to choose from : Accidental total & permanent disability rider, accidental death benefit rider and waiver of premium rider. Edelweiss Tokio Life – MyLife+ product brochure for reference can be downloaded from here
Options to Edelweiss Tokio Life – MyLife+
Given the unique set of features that MyLife+ offers, there are some options available from other insurance companies
  1. HDFC Life Click 2 Protect
  2. Aviva i-Life Term Plan
  3. ICICI Prudential Icare Term Plan

Given that the policy-holder has options to pay the insurance amount & the way that Edelweiss Tokio Life MyLife+ is tailor-made to handle different kind of customers [as mentioned above], it definitely has a winning-edge over it’s competitors !!!

If you have taken the MyLife+ policy & want to share your experience, please leave a comment…

Image Credit – Edelweiss Tokio Life – MyLife+

|In: BarCampBangalore 4|Last Updated: | 4 Comments
This is a thought that came to my mind during the talks at BarCamp Bangalore-4 which were focussed on “Business Plans”.But is it always about Business Plans?…let’s find the answer.Most of us have ideas in mind but where most of us lack is the understanding of the market penetration of the idea.Take the example of blogging, when people started blogging, no one would have thought that there was so much money in blogging.Now since we know that many bloggers are earning a handful of money , some bloggers[who get a decent traffic] may feel that “We can also go into full-time blogging” but this may not be the case.Blogging is not an easy job and it is always a tough decision “Do you go full time or work(on an idea) part time“?
Similar is the case with ideas.Each one of us have ideas but it is very important to understand the penetration of the idea in reality.Along with the penetration,there are lots of other environmental factors that you should consider:
  • What is your current status?
  • Do you have any dependents?
  • Are you married or engaged? and so on….
If you consider India , such factors are very important.I just happened to speak to one of the founders of a startup[in Bangalore] regarding a job opportunity for my friend and his first question was “Are you married?” and I understood the importance of that question.A girl may prefer a person having some average work profile(in an MNC) over a budding entrepreneur who is working on an idea that would change the world !!! When you talk about a startup , it is always in terms of stake rather in salary hence, many times you may have to settle down with a much lesser salary sad

The bottom line is “In India, though there are many startups taking shape day after day, (full time) entrepreneurship is still at a nascent stage”.Hence, along with the idea & it’s estimated growth , it is also important to understand “Why you want to take a plunge?” and “Are you ready to go full time [since, your idea would be better only if it is taken part-time , which means it may not be worth making it as a business]“.

The message is there are two sides of the coin “Business Plan” and “Life Plan“. “Life Plan” is your present and targetted future in a short plan.This is very important for any aspiring entrepreneur since, it would help him/her understand whether “(S)HE IS READY FOR A FULL TIME PLUNGE”

There is a 8 point life plan from Startup Nation comprising the following:

  1. Your Current Status
  2. Your Ideal Life
  3. Your Loves: What You Really Like Doing
  4. Your Skills & Capabilities: What You Do Well
  5. Your Track Record: What You Have Experience Doing
  6. Your Ideal Work Style
  7. Your Manifesto
  8. Key Moves to Get You Where You Want to Go
You can find a detailed explanation to points(1-5) here , points(6-8) here and a sample life-plan here. Time to review your life and than your idea; since, you have to decide whether you are ready for full time Entrepreneurship or Patro-preneurship [my terminology for part time entrepreneurship] !!!

Image Courtesy:
SG Entrepreneurs Group