Types of Life Insurance :
- Term Insurance
- Child Insurance Plans
- Savings Plan & Investment
- Term Insurance with Return of Premium
- Unit Linked Insurance Plans
- Endowment Plans
- Moneyback Policy
- Whole Life Insurance
- Group Life Insurance
- Retirement Plans
Term Insurance
A term insurance policy is a pure life cover, and its structure is very simple to understand. You pay a premium to an insurance company for a specific number of years, and in return, in case you were to meet with an untimely death, the insurer promises to pay the sum assured to your family. It does not come with any maturity benefit (apart from Term Plan with Return of Premium or TROP).
- It provides higher cover for a lesser premium as compared to other life insurance products.
- TROP comes with a maturity benefit, which is the sum total of all premiums paid. No interest amount is paid on that.
Whole Life Insurance Policy
As the name suggests, a whole life insurance policy gives you a cover for life. If the premium amount is paid regularly, the insurer promises to pay the sum assured to the nominee of the policyholder after the death of the policyholder. Apart from the sum assured, it also includes a saving component.
- Unlike other insurance policies, it does not have a defined term. The sum assured is paid to the dependent upon the death of the policyholder.
- Apart from the sum assured upon your death, it also has a saving component. You can re-invest it letting the cash amount grow, or you can remit a part of the cash value during your lifetime. You can also avail of a loan against the saving component.
Endowment Policy
Endowment plans are again a combination of savings and protection. If the premiums are paid on schedule for a specific number of years, insurers promise to pay the assured sum to the nominee in case of the untimely death of the policyholder. Meanwhile, if the policyholder survives the policy term, he/she receives a lump sum payout as the maturity benefit.
- Apart from the sum assured, there is a saving component. You can use this to make goal-based savings, and in case of financial emergencies, you can avail of a loan against it.
Moneyback Policy
Moneyback policies are also a combination of savings and protection. But the key advantage of this policy is that a portion of the sum assured is paid to you at a regular interval during the policy tenure. The remaining amount, along with the bonus, is paid at maturity. This benefit is not available for any other life insurance policy. However, if the policyholder dies during the policy tenure, then the entire sum assured is paid to the nominee; this is despite the survival benefits that the policyholder has already received.
- The biggest advantage of moneyback policies is the liquidity it provides, i.e., you receive a percentage of the sum assured at the regular interval.
Term Insurance with Return of Premium
Traditionally, term insurance plans don’t provide any maturity benefits but with the TROP plans the survival benefit offered is the return of the premiums paid. The time where the difference between a basic term insurance policy and a term insurance with return of premium (TROP) becomes clear is when the policy matures. At the time of maturity, the insurer will return the entire premium paid by the policyholder towards the policy.
Unit Linked Insurance Plans (ULIPs)
Unit linked insurance plan, better known as ULIP, is a combination of insurance and investment. The investments are made in debt and equities by a fund manager assigned by the insurance provider. However, the policyholders can choose whether he/she wants to invest in debt or equity and in what proportion. Though there are no guaranteed returns, a lump sum amount is paid to the policyholder at maturity. However, if he/she dies during the policy tenure, the insurer pays him/her a sum assured.
- Though there is no guaranteed return, ULIP provides a higher return than traditional policies with a savings component.
A term plan is a pure life cover that focuses on offering your dependents the sum assured in case you were to die. Hence, it is a must-have for every earning member of a family.
However, if you are planning to buy a second life insurance policy, try to assess what you need it for. And once you know the purpose, evaluate all the policies to understand which one will give you maximum benefit. Your decision to buy life insurance should be determined by three factors – requirement, the benefits you get from the policy, and your ability to pay the premium.
Group Life Insurance
Group life insurance, as the name suggests, provides life insurance cover to a defined group of people such as employees of an organization, members of a professional association, or a housing society all under a single contract or insurance policy.
Saving and Investment Plans
Saving and investment plans are the types of life insurance plans that provide you with the assurance of lump sum funds for you and your family’s future expenses. While providing an excellent saving tool for your short term and long-term financial goals, these plans also assure your family a certain sum by way of an insurance cover. This is a broad categorization that covers both the traditional and unit linked plans.
Retirement Insurance Plans
These plans provide you with income during retirement, hence the name. These plans are offered by life insurance companies in India and help you build a retirement corpus. On retirement, this corpus is invested for generating a regular income stream which is referred to as a pension or annuity
Child Life Insurance Policy
A child insurance policy is a saving cum investment plan that is designed to meet your child’s future financial needs. It allows your kids to live their dreams and gives you the advantage to start investing in the child education plan right from the time the child is born and provisions to withdraw the savings once the child reaches adulthood. Some child insurance policies do allow intermediate withdrawals at certain intervals.
