Month: May 2013

Free Download: Excel RD Calculator

Reader Pattu had developed a great retirement calculator and shared it for free here on OneMint about two years ago, and several people have downloaded and benefitted from that calculator.

Since then he has developed a few other calculators, and the latest is an Excel based RD calculator. You can download it here.

Comprehensive RD calculator

What I liked most about this calculator is that it calculates taxes also, and in that respect it is a lot more useful than most other online RD calculators.

Of course, being an Excel RD calculator also has the added advantage of not needing an internet connection, and then it is faster as well since you don’t have to click a button to recalculate amounts.

Taxes on Recurring Deposits

A quick word on taxes on RDs – RDs don’t attract TDS, however that doesn’t mean they are tax free. You are supposed to pay tax on RD interest just like you would pay tax on other interest.

To the best of my understanding, the proper way of doing this is to declare the interest that accrues to you every year, and then pay tax on it regardless of when your RD matures. For details read my  post on taxes and interest rates on recurring deposits.

Advantage and Disadvantage of Recurring Deposits

When I looked at RD rates some time ago I noticed that banks don’t give you their maximum interest rates as RD rates, so if a bank gives 9% on a 400 day deposit, and 8% on a 1 year deposit then you are likely to get 8% on a 12 month RD, so in that sense you never get the best rate on a RD.

However, RDs are great when you want to get in the habit of saving regularly, and in this case even small sums add up. Most of us talk about how compounding greatly enhances returns, and while that is true, I feel that we don’t realize enough how quickly time passes.

What seems like just Rs. 10,000 a month now, will amount to a little over Rs. 4 lakhs in 3 years at 8%, and 3 years will also pass in the blink of an eye.

And then you will thank yourself for putting the little money away every month. This I say with personal experience, and I think everyone should get in the habit of forcing themselves to save at least a little every month and with time all of this adds up.

This great Excel RD Calculator will help you in getting an exact number on how much you will get in a few years time, and is a very useful tool. Please download it and keep it with you as a ready reference.

Please post any feedback, or report any bugs that you may have in comments – it is greatly appreciated.

Finally, a big thank you to Pattu for letting me share this great tool and I certainly do appreciate the hard work and skills that have gone into making it and I am sure other readers do too!

No related posts.

What is the meaning of premium waiver benefit?

One of the key things that insurance companies want to highlight in their child insurance plans is the premium waiver benefit, and Pankaj Parashar left a comment about this being the key feature of child insurances plans, and the need to look at it more closely.

When I was going through the plans, it did feel like premium waiver benefit is a great thing, but then I realized that it is not all that great if the insurance company is charging extra for it.

The premium waiver works in a very simple manner. If the child insurance plan covers the parent’s life and if something happens to the parents then you no longer have to pay the premium of the plan, and when the plan matures, your child will get the sum assured from the insurance company.

So in that sense the insurance policy does exactly what an insurance plan is meant to do, and there’s nothing remarkable about this feature. There is one benefit that I like though.

The benefit is that the child gets the money when their parent had originally planned for her to get the money, and I think this is a great benefit as far as the practical aspects of getting money from an insurance company, investing it on behalf of child, and also protecting the money from people who may take advantage of the situation is concerned.

I feel that this is indeed a useful feature to have, but as far as the financial angle is concerned, instead of paying money now, the insurance company is paying you later, and with inflation chipping away at the value of money, they are effectively paying less.

In this situation, I believe the child insurance plan should pay out more in the way of sum assured if they always pay a set amount after a certain point in time. If that’s not the case then you are still better off with a term plan that pays out immediately (at least financially).

In the coming days, I’m going to look at this feature closely on some of the insurance plans listed in my post yesterday, and if you had any other thoughts on what all I should be looking at, please leave a comment and I’ll try to address them as well.

No related posts.

Comprehensive list of child insurance plans in India

One of the most common questions I get is about children insurance plans, and usually the comment is accompanied with the name of a plan and a request to review it. I am not too familiar with child insurance plans, and the problem with following this approach is that I don’t know if there are plans better than the ones I have looked at. I thought it would be good if there were one page with child insurance plans, and I was a bit surprised to see that no one has already done that.

So I started by creating my own list of child insurance plans.

There are several child insurance plans in India, and I have created this list of every child insurance plan that I came across.
I think you can divide them into the following different categories:

1. No different than a normal plan: There are a few plans that some insurers have labeled as child insurance plans but which are totally indistinguishable from any other policy they offer.

2. Child is the insured: In these type of plans, the insurance is on the child, and I can’t understand why companies are offering such plans. What is the point on offering insurance on children?

3. Health insurance for children: These plans provide health insurance for children, and though not many parents think about medical or health insurance for children, these can be useful at times. I used to have one of these plans in my own childhood and it was a good because it came handy when I got an appendix operation in my college.

4. Parent is the insured: These are like term plans and pay up on the demise of a parent. These are of two types – they either pay the whole amount at the time of the death, or wait till the child becomes a major and then pays them.

5. Money-back plans: These are the most common type of child insurance plans where you pay a premium for a number of years and then the insurance company pays you back at set time periods. In children plans you usually get this amount when the child is 18 years old or some other milestone like that.

I have tried to list all the child insurance plans that I could find and took their description from the website itself. The idea was to see the whole list at one place and then narrow down ones that you find interesting to review further in later posts.

If you know a plan that’s missing from this list please let me know and I will update the post. If you want some parameters added then you can leave a comment and I’ll try to see if I can get that added on this post itself.

Insurer Name of the Policy Features
National Insurance Company Limited Amartya Siksha Yojana Policy

 

 The policy is basically intended for covering expenses to be incurred after happening of the accidental contingency to the insured parent/guardian of the insured student child for continuation of the insured students education in respect of the covered course till completion of the course.

 

The Policy will also cover the first admission fees but will excluded Donation /Capitation Fees if any.

 
National Insurance Company Limited Vidyarthi – Mediclaim for students VIDYARTHI-Mediclaim for Students is a unique policy designed to provide Health and Personal accident cover to the students. It also provides for continuation of insured students education in case of death or permanent total disablement of the guardian due to accident.

Parents/Legal Guardian of individual student in any Registered Educational Institution affiliated to any State Board, Council, University and AICTE or any other Govt. Statutory Authority, within the territory of India may take this policy. The Educational Institutions may also take a Group Policy covering named students enrolled with them.
Future Generali Future Generali Flexible Money Back Key Features:

 

  • A Flexible insurance plan with two Money Back options
  • Guaranteed Money Back payouts after the premium payment term
  • Compounded Guaranteed Additions @ 3.5% of the Sum Assured during  first 5 policy years
  • Compounded Reversionary Bonuses from 6th policy year till maturity even after premium payment stops.
  • On maturity, balance of Guaranteed Money Back Payout plus Guaranteed Additions & vested Bonuses are paid
  • On Death or Accidental Total & Permanent Disability, 100% of Sum Assured is paid immediately and all future premiums are waived. The nominee also receives all Guaranteed Money Backs when due.

 
Future Generali Future Generali Select Insurance Plan – Child Insurance Plan Key Features

 

  • Specially designed Unit Linked Insurance plan to achieve your medium to long term financial security and goals through regular savings.
  • 3% Premium Allocation Charge & 4% Policy Administration Charge in the first year.
  • Advantage of five robust funds to match your risk appetite.
  • Flexi plan where you can decide your premium amount, policy term, mode of premium payment , extent of life cover along with a host of options like switching , partial withdrawal and additional benefit riders.

 
LIC India Jeevan Anurag LIC’s Jeevan ANURAG is a with profits plan specifically designed to take care of the educational needs of children. The plan can be taken by a parent on his or her own life. Benefits under the plan are payable at prespecified durations irrespective of whether the Life Assured survives to the end of the policy term or dies during the term of the policy. In addition, this plan also provides for an immediate payment of Basic Sum Assured amount on death of the Life Assured during the term of the policy

 

Assured Benefit
Payment of 20% of the Basic Sum Assured at the start of every year during last 3 policy years before maturity. At maturity, 40% of the Basic Sum Assured along with reversionary bonuses declared from time to time on full Sum Assured for the full term and the Terminal bonus, if any shall be payable. For example, if term of the policy is 20 years, 20% of the Sum assured will be payable at the end of the 17th,18th, 19th year and 40% of the Sum Assured along with the reversionary bonuses and the terminal bonus, if any, at the end of the 20th year.

 
LIC Komal Jeevan This is a Children’s Money Back Plan that provides financial protection against death during the term of plan with periodic payments on survival at specified durations. This plan can be purchased by any of the parent or grand parent for a child aged 0 to 10 years.

 
LIC Children’s Deferred Endowment Assurance Plan – Vesting at 21 This is an Endowment Assurance plan designed to enable a parent or a legal guardian or any near relative of the child (called proposer) to provide insurance cover on the life of the child (called life assured). The plan has two stages, one covering the period from the date of commencement of policy to the Deferred Date (called deferment period) and the other covering the period from the Deferred Date to the date of maturity. The insurance cover on the child’s life starts from the Deferred Date and is available during the latter period.

The Deferred Date in case of Plan No 41 is the policy anniversary date coinciding with or next following the date on which the child completes 21 years of age.

 
LIC Marriage Endowment Or Educational Annuity Plan Product summary:
This is an Endowment Assurance plan that provides for benefits on or from the selected maturity date to meet the Marriage/Educational expenses of the named child.

Premiums:
Premiums are payable yearly, half-yearly, quarterly, monthly or through Salary deductions, as opted by you, throughout the term of the policy or earlier death.

Bonuses:
This is a with-profit plan and participates in the profits of the Corporation’s life insurance business.  It gets a share of the profits in the form of bonuses. Simple Reversionary Bonuses are declared per thousand Sum Assured annually at the end of each financial year.  Once declared, they form part of the guaranteed benefits of the plan. Such bonuses are to be added till maturity even if the life assured dies before the maturity date. Final (Additional) Bonus may also be payable provided a policy is of a certain minimum term.

 
LIC Jeevan Kishore Product summary:
This is an Endowment Assurance Plan available for children of less than 12 years of age. The policy may be purchased by any of the parent/grand parent.

Commencement of risk cover:
The risk commences either after 2 years from the date of commencement of policy or from the policy anniversary immediately following the completion of 7 years of age of child, whichever is later.

Premiums:
Premiums are payable yearly, half-yearly, quarterly or monthly throughout the term of the policy or till earlier death of child, or single premium.

Bonuses:
This is a with-profits plan and participates in the profits of the Corporation’s life insurance business.  It gets a share of the profits in the form of bonuses. Simple Reversionary Bonuses are declared per thousand Sum Assured annually at the end of each financial year.  Once declared, they form part of the guaranteed benefits of the plan. A Final (Additional) Bonus may also be payable provided policy has run for certain minimum period.

 
LIC Jeevan Chhaya Product summary:
This is an Endowment Assurance plan that provides financial protection against death throughout the term of the plan. Besides payment of Sum Assured immediately on death, one-fourth of Sum Assured is payable at the end of each of last four years of policy term whether the life assured dies or survives the term of the policy.

Premiums:
Premiums are payable yearly, half-yearly, quarterly, monthly or through salary deductions as opted by you throughout the term of the policy or till the earlier death.

Bonuses:
This is a with-profits plan and participates in the profits of the Corporation’s life insurance business.  It gets a share of profits in the form of bonuses. Simple Reversionary Bonuses are declared per thousand Sum Assured annually at the end of each financial year.  Once declared, they form part of the guaranteed benefits of the plan. Bonuses for full term on the full Sum assured are paid at the end of the term even if death occurs during policy term. Final (Additional) Bonus may also be payable provided policy has run for certain minimum period.

 
LIC Child Career Plan This plan is specially designed to meet the increasing educational and other needs of growing children. It provides the risk cover on the life of child not only during the policy term but also during the extended term (i.e. 7 years after the expiry of policy term). A number of Survival benefits are payable on surviving by the life assured to the end of the specified durations.

 
LIC Jeevan Ankur LIC’s Jeevan Ankur is a conventional with profits plan, specially designed to meet the educational and other needs of your child. If you are the parent of a child aged upto 17 years, LIC’s Jeevan Ankur is the most suitable insurance plan for you which ensures that your responsibilities are met whether you survive or not and without depending on anyone else.

The risk cover under this plan will be on your life as a parent and the named child shall be the nominee under the plan. The policy term shall be based on the age at maturity of the child.

 
AEGON Religare AEGON Religare Educare Plus Insurance Plan AEGON Religare’s Educare Plus Insurance Plan provides you with lump sum payouts during the last four policy years so that recurring college fees are never a hassle!

 
AEGON Religare AEGON Religare Rising Star Insurance Plan
  • In case of your death during Policy Term, benefits to nominee:
  • Higher of cover amount (Sum Assured) or 105% of all premiums paid immediately
  • All future premiums waived off and paid by the company into the Policy Fund value, policy continues
  • Amount equal to the annualised premium excluding rider premium will be paid every year to the nominee
  • On maturity, Policy Fund Value will be paid
  • In case you survive the Policy Term, you will receive the fund value existing on the maturity date
  • Auto rebalancing of funds
  • Partial Withdrawal
  • Tax benefits as per prevailing tax laws. Please consult your tax advisor for details.

 
Aviva Aviva Family Income Builder

 

Benefits That I Will Receive

Guaranteed Income for self: Pay annual premium every year for 12 years and get Double the annual premium every year from 13th to 24th year.

Guaranteed Income for family in case of your death: If death occurs after the first policy year, an amount equal to Double the Annual Premium is guaranteed as annual payouts for family from 13th to 24th year, if all due premiums were paid till death. Future premiums are not required to be paid by the family.

If death occurs during the first policy year, an amount equal to the Annual Premium is guaranteed as annual payouts for family from 13th to 24th year, if all due premiums were paid till death. Future premiums are not required to be paid by the family.
Aviva Aviva Young Scholar Advantage

 

 Death Benefit:

  • All future premiums are waived off and invested as a lump sum amount into the fund, so the policy continues even in the unfortunate event of the parent’s death
  • The amount of Life Cover shall be payable to the nominee
  • Life Cover pertaining to Top-up premiums, if any, shall also be payable to the nominee
  • In case of death due to an accident between age 18 to 60, an additional amount under the in-built Accidental Death cover shall also be paid

Rider Benefit:

  • Aviva Child Education (CE) Rider – fixed monthly amount as chosen by the policyholder at inception is paid throughout the Policy Term to ensure uninterrupted education of the child in the event of parent’s death
  • Comprehensive Health Benefit (CHB) Rider – upon disability or covered critical illness the Life Cover is paid immediately, future premiums are waived and paid as a lumpsum into the fund and the policy continues with investment benefits intact
  • Aviva Term Plus Rider- an additional amount equal to the Aviva Term Plus Rider Sum Assured is paid on death of insured. To view Rider Brochures,click here.

 

Loyalty Additions:

  • You will be eligible for Loyalty Additions, if you continue paying all due premiums
  • The addition will be 1.5% of Fund Value pertaining to regular premiums at the end of year 11 and thereafter at the end of every subsequent 2nd policy year till the end of the Policy Term
  • Loyalty Additions will be added even after the death of the insured parent

Maturity Benefit:

  • On maturity, the Fund Value pertaining to both regular premiums and Top-up premiums will be paid to the policyholder along with accrued Loyalty Additions, if any as on the maturity date. This Maturity Benefit will be payable to the Nominee in case of death of the policyholder prior to maturity
  • Settlement option – This allows you to keep the money invested in the fund even after maturity and enables you to receive the same systematically over a period of 1 to 5 years. You can opt for this option at maturity
Aviva Aviva Young Scholar Secure

 

 Death Benefit:

Upon death, Life cover is paid to the nominee (beneficiary) and the policy continues with all benefits intact. Any installment already paid by us will not be deducted from the death benefit.

All future installments of Tuition Fee Support, College Admission Fund & Higher Education Reserve will be paid on the scheduled dates

Additional benefits as detailed below will also be paid if the corresponding riders are opted for:

– Aviva Term plus rider Sum Assured is also payable on death if this rider has been opted for

– An additional sum equal to ADB Rider Sum Assured would be payable, if ADB Rider has been opted and death is due to an accident.

– Aviva Dread Diseases rider Sum Assured is paid on contracting any of the 18 critical illnesses covered or on suffering Permanent Total Disability (PTD) due to illness or accident, while the policy continues with Death Benefit intact.

The said benefits are applicable only if the policy is inforce as on date of evantuality

Guaranteed Education Support Benefit:

This plan provides guaranteed Tuition fee support, College Admission Fund and Higher Education Reserve irrespective of you being there or not. Please click here for further details on payout pattern.

If you would like to understand the benefits using an Illustration please click here
Birla Sun Life Insurance BSLI Bachat Child Plan Once you have chosen your premium amount, you receive a series of benefits as follows:

 

1. You will get a life cover for the financial security of your family.
2. You stand to receive premium rebates for choosing annual and semi-annual mode of payment. You get a rebate of 4% if you choose to pay annually, and 2% for semi-annually.
3. Your policy continues till maturity, as you planned to secure your child’s future in case of an untimely demise.
4. On maturity, you will receive a lump sum which you can use to fulfill your child’s dreams and goals.
5. You have the advantage of liquidity on your savings to access your money any time you need it after three policy years.
6. You have the option of double life cover in case of accidental death, for a nominal additional premium, to ensure enhanced financial security of your family

 
Birla Sun Life Insurance BSLI Classic Child Plan You choose the Savings Date that suits your financial goals for your child.
2.  Your Policy Term will be the Savings Date + 20 years.
3.  You choose the Basic Premium you want to pay every year.
4.  You will receive Basic Sum Assured which is the minimum death benefit payable on the demise of the primary life insured. The Basic Sum Assured is automatically determined as your Basic Premium multiplied by:
• ​The higher of 10 or the number of years to maturity divided by 2, for entry ages below 45; or
• The higher of 7 or the number of years to maturity divided by 4, for entry ages 45 and above
5.  You have an option to choose an Enhanced Sum Assured and increase the financial security for your child’s future. With this option you can choose any amount of additional life cover over and above the Basic Sum Assured at a nominal cost.
6.  You have an option to choose from our range of riders and customise your family’s future financial security.

 
Birla Sun Life Insurance BSLI Dream Child Plan You choose the Guaranteed Savings Date that suits your objectives. Your Guaranteed Savings Date is the policy anniversary when your child’s attained age is from 18 to 27 years, subject to a minimum of 10 policy years.
2. Your Policy Term will be your Guaranteed Savings Date + 20 years.
3. You decide the Basic Premium you want to pay every year.
4. You will receive Basic Sum Assured which is the minimum death benefit payable on the demise of the primary life insured. The Basic Sum Assured is automatically determined as your Basic Premium multiplied by:
• The higher of 10 or the number of years to maturity divided by 2, for entry ages below 45; or
• The higher of 7 or the number of years to maturity divided by 4, for entry ages 45 and above
5. You have an option to choose an Enhanced Sum Assured to increase the financial security for your loved ones. With this option you can choose any amount of additional life cover over and above the Basic Sum Assured at a nominal cost.
6. You have an option to choose from our range of riders to further customize the financial security of your loved ones.

 
Canara HSBC Life Canara HSBC Oriental Bank of Commerce Life Insurance Future Smart Plan Our Future Smart Plan is a unit linked child plan that provides long-term investment opportunity to build a bright future for your child. Its comprehensive insurance cover (Sum Assured on death and Premium Funding on death or disability) ensures that your plan for your child’s future continues unaffected, in any unfortunate event.

 
Edelweiss Tokio Life Edelweiss Tokio Life – Education This is a non participating guaranteed endowment Plan.

• All the benefits of the plan are guaranteed. No benefit is contingent on the company’s investment performance.
• The plan provides for flexibility in both premium payment and benefits. You can choose among various premium payment terms depending on your income. For payouts, you can choose the option that best matches your child’s particular education needs.
• Unplanned expenses are taken care of, with the option of a guaranteed flexible amount, as chosen by you.

The comprehensive death benefit pays not only a lump sum amount to your family, but also waives future policy premiums, thereby protecting the maturity value that you had planned for your child. In addition to all this, the plan also offers a monthly benefit to take care of your child’s needs in the years before graduation.

 
HDFC Life HDFC SL YoungStar Super II

 

 In case of your unfortunate demise or critical illness, we will pay the greater of Sum Assured (less partial withdrawals) or Fund Value to your child (Beneficiary). The policy will terminate. We will pay 100% of all the future regular premiums to the Beneficiary as and when due, on an annual basis. Please refer to the sales brochure for details.

 
HDFC Life HDFC SL YoungStar Super Premium

 

 The Triple Insurance Benefit helps you secure your child’s immediate and future needs. In case of your unfortunate demise or critical illness, we will pay the Sum Assured to your child (Beneficiary). Your family need not pay any further premiums. With Save -n- Gain benefit ,we will pay 50% of all the original regular premiums towards your policy and 50% of the premiums will be paid to the Beneficiary as and when due, on an annual basis. Any Death Benefit or Critical Illness cover terminates immediately.

 
ICICI Prudential Life Insurance ICICI Pru Smart Kid RP This plan guarantees educational benefits to your child. It provides you with two options to receive those benefits.
ICICI Prudential Life Insurance ICICI Pru Smart Kid Premier You need to choose the premium amount, sum assured, coverage option, premium payment option, premium payment mode, policy term and portfolio strategy for your policy.

After deducting the premium allocation charges, the balance amount will be invested in the portfolio strategy of your choice. At maturity, the Fund Value including Top up Fund Value, if any, shall become payable. Alternatively, the Settlement Option can be chosen.

In the unfortunate event of death of the parent (Life Assured) during the term of the policy, the Company shall pay the full Sum Assured and shall also waive all the future premiums payable under the policy while continuing the allocation of units as if the premiums are being paid.

However, if the joint life option is chosen, the death benefit shall become payable on death of either of the parents, whichever is earlier. The maturity benefit shall become payable on the date of maturity.
IDBI Federal Life Insurance Co Limited Childsurance Pay premiums for a limited period or for the entire term of the plan
– Pay additional top-up premiums whenever you want. Grow wealth faster and get tax benefits

Choose how your money is invested from a wide choice of investment options, based on your return expectations and risk tolerance

– Choice of wide range of fund options, with varying levels of risk and return

Choose your investment strategy

– Manage your investments as per your choice with complete flexibility or
– Opt for Systematic Allocator, a facility which balances your asset allocation between equity and debt based funds to provide growth and safety, aligned to the maturity of your plan

Boosters to help your savings grow faster

– Receive Guaranteed Loyalty Additions** at the end of specific terms as a reward for making long-term investments

 
ING Life ING Aashirvaad Guarantee 1:-
Guaranteed Maturity Benefit (GMB) with flexible payout options
ING Aashirvad guarantees the target amount you have aimed for your child and offers flexible options to receive your maturity payout that will take care of your child’s key financial needs.

  • Option A – Part Staggered & Part Lumpsum to fulfill your child’s education and marriage needs
  • Option B – Single Lumpsum Payment for post graduation or marriage needs

Guarantee 2:-
Guaranteed Death Benefit paid in addition to the GMB, on the life of the parent and the child, in case of any unfortunate event
Guarantee 3:-
Guarantee of Premium contribution by the company (waiver of all future premiums) in the unfortunate event of the demise of the parent.
Guarantee 4:-
Guaranteed Life Cover for your child for a period of 30 years even after policy has reached maturity.

 
ING Life Creating Life Child Protection Plan: A Children Life Insurance Policy
  • Payment to child in case death of parent and at maturity
  • Future premiums waived in case of death of parent
  • Reversionary Bonus Benefit

 
ING Life Creating Life Money Back Plan-Financial planning for children
  • Payment to child in case death of parent
  • Future premiums waived in case of death of parent
  • Guaranteed Survival Benefit
  • Reversionary Bonus Benefit

 
Kotak Life Kotak Child Advantage Plan Save up for your children’s education or marriage through the Kotak Child Advantage Plan – a savings-cum-life-insurance plan. Not only can you accumulate money for your children, you also protect them from unfortunate financial consequences as a result of eventualities like an untimely death of the parent.

 
Kotak Life Kotak Headstart Child Assure

 

 Your regular investments made with this plan will provide you with a planned corpus upon the maturity of the plan, ensuring that the cost of education will never be a deterrent to fulfilling your children’s dreams.

 

Secure the well-being of your family through triple protection

In the unfortunate event of a parent’s death, Kotak Life Insurance helps lessen the financial burden the child might face by providing the benefit of triple protection as follows:
Your beneficiary is paid the life cover amount immediately to compensate for immediate loss of income.
All future premiums of this insurance policy will be waived and fully paid for by Kotak Life Insurance.
Your beneficiary will receive the fund value of the insurance policy.

 
Kotak Life Kotak Child Edu Plan

Edu Booster
Policy Anniversary After the Child’s Birthday % of Basic Sum Assured
15 years 15%
17 years 20%
19 years 30%
21 years 60%
Total Payout 125%
   
   

Kotak Life Kotak Child Future Plan

Future Booster
Age of Child % of Basic Sum Assured
After Child’s 23rd Birthday 15%
After Child’s 25th Birthday 110%
Total Payout 125%

 
Max Life Insurance Shikhsha Plus II

Immediate Family Support:

100% of applicable Sum Assured is paid immediately in the event of death ofLife Assured. This ensures that the child doesn’t have to depend on anybody else in your absence.

University Education Pool:

Upon policy maturity, the prevailing Fund Value is paid out to take care of higher education expenses of your child. It is calculated as (Accumulated Units x prevailing NAV).

University Education Support:

In the event of death of Life Assured, all future premiums are funded by us to boost the University Fund corpus and protect the child’s dreams of studying in an university of his/her choice.

School Fee Support:

10% of Sum assured will be paid immediately along with Immediate Family support. From the next policy anniversary following the date of death, 10% of the base sum assured will be paid on each policy anniversary to provide for school expenses subject to a maximum of 100% of the base sum assured but not beyond the original term of policy.

Talent Enhancement Withdrawal:

To encourage and nurture your child’s special talents, you can withdraw a specified amount from your Fund Value to assist talent enhancement.

 
Max Life Insurance Max Life College Plan

Key Features:

Living and maturity benefit:

The total payout is 120% of Sum Assured. There are guaranteed cash backs every year from child’s age 18 to 21.

Child’s age Money back (% of Sum Assured)
18 40%
19 20%
20 20%
21 40% + (Accrued Reversionary Bonus + TerminalBonus, if any)

PNB Metlife  

Met Bhavishya

 PNB MetLife offers ‘Met Bhavishya’ – a guaranteed money back plan that pays out funds to help you meet the education and career milestones of your children. With this plan, the Life Insured is that of the parent. The plan also has inbuilt guaranteed additions to add value to the policy over its term.

There are two options to choose from and fixed term benefits, periodic additions & terminal additions are payable based on the option that you select. The policy is suitable for parents with children between the ages 0-12 and parents in the age group of 20-50 years old.
PNB Metlife Met Smart Child Today, your role in your child’s life extends from being a provider to a nurturer, a mentor and a friend. You are a part of your child’s dreams and rising aspirations – the one responsible to ensure that your child gets what they aspire for. This decision requires you to plan and be prepared for tomorrow. Our specially designed plans take care of the ever changing requirements of your child, be it the rising education cost, financial planning for his extracurricular developments or marriage. We understand each of your roles and participate with you to realize your child’s every dream.
PNB Metlife Met Junior Endowment PNB MetLife offers ‘Met Junior’ – a flexible endowment plan that combines savings and security. Your children’s well-being is your highest priority. So we offer a plan which offers both timely and efficient “Return on Investment”. All with a guarantee.

Met Junior is available in both participating (UIN:117N010V01) as well as non-participating versions(UIN:117N005V01).
PNB Metlife Met Junior Money Back PNB MetLife offers ‘Met Junior Money Back’ – a money back plan that combines savings and security. Your child’s well-being is your highest priority. So we offer you a money back plan which provides guaranteed periodic survival benefits at the end of 5, 10 & 15 years, along with guaranteed growth of your savings. 

A plan which offers both timely and efficient “return on investment” with payouts at different milestones.
Reliance Life Insurance Reliance Child Plan As a parent, it is only natural to dream of a smooth and blissful life for your child. Which is exactly why you need to secure your child’s tomorrow, today.

Reliance Child Plan helps you save systematically so that you can give your child the much-needed financial security in the future. Simply put, Reliance Child Plan gives you the freedom to enjoy every moment with your child today, without worrying about his/her tomorrow.

 

Key Features
Risk protection for you during the term of the Policy
Accumulated bonus at the end of the Policy Term
25% of Sum Assured payable every year as lump sum Benefit during the last four Policy Anniversaries
All future premiums are waived in the event of unfortunate loss of life
Guaranteed Fixed Benefits continue even after loss of life of the Policy holder
More value for your money by way of High Sum Assured Rebate
Choose to add the Benefit of two Riders – Critical Illness and Accidental Death Benefit and Total and Permanent Disablement Rider
Policy participates in profit even after the loss of life of the life Assured

 
SBI Life Insurance SBI Life – Scholar II A traditional participating plan, SBI Life – Scholar II has guaranteed benefits which are payable at the regular intervals during the term of the policy. In an unfortunate event, your nominee would receive full sum assured along with vested bonus, plus regular guaranteed survival benefit.
Key Features: 
•

Twin benefit of saving for your child’s education and securing a bright future despite the uncertainties of life.
•

Full risk cover throughout the policy term irrespective of payment of survival benefits installments.
•

Option to receive the installments in lump sum at the due date of first installment of Survival benefit.
•

Rebate for Female lives and High Sum Assured.
•

15 days Free Look Period.
SBI Life Insurance SBI Life – Smart Scholar
Key Features: 

•

 Secure your child’s future by gaining from the financial markets and much more.

•

 Dual protection for your family, in case you are not around –

• Payment of base Sum Assured and
• Inbuilt Premium Payor Waiver benefit to ensure continuance of your benefits.

•

 Accident Benefit which includes Accidental Death benefit and Accidental Total and Permanent Disability (Accidental TPD) benefit, is an integral part of the plan.

•

 Free allocation of units by way of regular Loyalty Additions, giving periodic boosts to your investments.

•

 Enhanced investment opportunity through 9 varied fund options including P/E Managed Fund, Index Fund & Top 300 Fund.

•

 Twin benefits of market linked return & insurance benefit.

•

 Liquidity through partial withdrawal(s).

 
Tata AIA Life Insurance Tata AIA Life Insurance United Ujjwal Bhawishya Supreme
  • In case of unfortunate demise of the parent (Life Assured), the death benefit is paid and policy benefits continue till maturity.
  • The company will waive all future regular premiums in case of Death or Total Permanent Disability of the parent (Life Assured).
  • On maturity, get Fund Value that provides for your child’s education needs
  • You can withdraw* money from your fund for the important events in your child’s life
  • Option of 7 Investment Funds to suit your investment risk profile
  • You can avail of additional protection by attaching Riders to your basic policy
  • Tax benefits u/s 80C and 10(10D) of the Income Tax Act, 1961

 
Tata AIA Life Insurance
  • Safety Net (Inbuilt Waiver of Premium Benefit# )
    • In case of death of the insured, Sum Assured is paid, policy benefits continue, future premiums waived and paid by the company
    • In case of total permanent disability too, future premiums paid by the company

Security Net (Inbuilt Waiver of Premium Benefit# + Family Income Benefit)

    • Safety Net benefits + additional Family Income Benefit that serves as readjustment income to supplement your family’s expenses
  • #2 options available to choose from the Waiver of Premium benefit as per your needs
    • Family Guard to guard your child’s education savings by investing 100% future premiums into your fund
    • Family Advantage to provide supplementary income for other educational needs where 50% of the future premiums gets invested into your fund and 50% given as cash payouts
  • Guaranteed Maturity Addition** to augment savings planned for your child’s dreams
  • Avail additional risk protection through 3 Riders
  • Customize your investment strategy as per your risk profile through
    • Choice of 7 Fund options
    • Choice of Portfolio Strategies: SMART (Systematic Money Allocation & Regular Transfer ) and AAA (Automatic Asset Allocation)
 Tata AIA Life Insurance TATA AIA Life StarKid
  • From policy anniversaries following 18th birthday till 21st birthday, 20% of Sum Assured is paid to ensure expenses such as college fees etc. are provisioned
  • On maturity, the balance 20% of Sum Assured is paid along with Simple Reversionary Bonus, Terminal Bonus# and Guaranteed Additions*,equal to five years premium
  • In-built Payor benefit – protects your child’s future in case of an unfortunate event in your life
  • In case of death/disability of the payor
  • During the premium paying term: all future premiums will be waived off
  • After premium paying term and before maturity: 50% of the Sum Assured is paid to the nominee
  • In case of death of insured child, the nominee gets
  • Sum Assured, plus
  • Guaranteed Addition* equal to 5 years premium, plus
  • Simple Reversionary Bonus accrued till death and Terminal Bonus#
  • Tax Benefits u/s 80C and 10(10D) as per the Income Tax Act, 1961

 
 Tata AIA Life Insurance TATA AIA Life Assure Career Builder

Key Features

  • 20% of Sum Assured is paid on policy anniversary following 18th, 21st and 24th birthday of the child, which can be used to finance your child’s college, post-graduation and professional studies
  • On maturity at age 27, get 40% of Sum Assured + Guaranteed Addition* of 10% of Basic Sum Assured + Compound Reversionary Bonus and Terminal Bonus#
  • In case of death of insured, the nominee gets
  • Basic Sum Assured, plus
  • Guaranteed Addition* of 10% of Basic Sum Assured, plus
  • Compound Reversionary Bonus accrued till death and Terminal Bonus#
  • All the Periodic payments do not affect the full payment of the Sum Assured in case of the insured’s death
  • Option of attaching Tata AIA Life Payor Benefit Rider (UIN: 110C002V01)
  • Tax benefits u/s 80C and 10(10D) of the Income Tax Act, 1961
 Tata AIA Life Insurance TATA AIA Life Assure Educare
  • Option to choose maturity at age 18 or 21 of the child
  • On maturity, you get
  • 100% Sum Assured, plus
  • Guaranteed Addition* of 10% of Basic Sum Assured, plus
  • Guaranteed Education Amount* of 20% of Basic Sum Assured, plus
  • Compound Reversionary Bonus and Terminal Bonus#
  • In case of unfortunate death of life insured, the nominee gets
  • Sum Assured, plus
  • Guaranteed Addition* of 10% of Basic Sum Assured, plus
  • Compound Reversionary Bonus accrued till death and Terminal Bonus
  • Option to attach Tata AIA Life Payor Benefit Rider (UIN:110C002V01)
  • Tax benefits u/s 80C and 10(10D) of the Income Tax Act, 1961
 Tata AIA Life Insurance TATA AIA Life Assure 21 Years Money Saver Plan
  • Guaranteed coupons of 10% of Sum Assured every 3 years from 3rd policy anniversary to meet your periodic short-term and mid-term goals
  • On maturity, you get
  • Final coupon of 40% of Sum Assured, plus
  • Guaranteed Loyalty Addition* of 10% of Sum Assured, plus
  • Compound Reversionary and Terminal Bonuses**
  • On death of the insured, the nominee gets
  • Sum Assured, plus
  • Guaranteed Loyalty Addition* of 10% of Sum Assured, plus
  • Compound Reversionary and Terminal Bonuses**
  • Option to opt for Riders for ‘added protection’ at nominal extra cost
  • Tax benefits u/s 80C and 10(10D) of the Income Tax Act, 1961

* In case the policy has been in force for 10 years;
** Depending on company performance

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Single Malt Elephants drive 3 million miles on Cadillac to meet complex cannibals

Let’s start this week with a very interesting story that appeared in the NYT about a AComplaintFreeWorld.org. The idea is that you wear a bracelet and every time you complain, you take the bracelet from one hand and move it to another. This way you are conscious of when and how much you complain and as a result stop or at the very least reduce your whining.

I think I will try doing this, (not with the bracelet) and see if I can feel a positive difference in my life.

The WSJ had a fascinating story on how the physical makeup of the brain is different in criminals from the rest of us.

The BBC had a story on how people in Jamestown, the first permanent English settlement in the America were forced to Cannibalism in the winter of 1600s. I was eating while reading this story, and that is a very bad idea.

National Geographic has a great article on how Elephants communicate. Just amazing how complex and sophisticated their communication is.

Whether you drink or not, at some point, someone is going to ask you what a single malt is.

Harvard Business Review has an interesting article on people who add complexity to everything, and delay progress on all projects.

Finally, this car is in the Guinness book because it holds the world record for the highest recorded mileage on a car. Can you guess how much it has run?

Enjoy your weekend!

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How to watch Indian TV Channels Online in the USA?

In the last few years, there have been vast improvements in the quality, pricing and availability of Indian TV channels in the US.

A lot of these have been made possible with the ability to stream Indian TV channels online, and I feel the online options are the best in terms of price and quality.

Here, I don’t mean the free pirated streams which in addition to being illegal are crappy feeds and ruin your whole experience but rather paid services that are legitimate and provide a good experience.

In this post I’m going to list down some options to watch Indian TV channels online, and discuss some pros and cons of them.      

1. Indian TV Channels from Comcast: A lot of people already have a Comcast cable connection, and if you want to temporary add a few Indian TV channels to that connection, you can get the Comcast South Asia package.

I think this may perhaps be the most unpopular way of watching Indian channels in the US because the options are really very limited, and they aren’t exactly cheap either.

2. YuppTV: YuppTV is a very popular option to watch Indian channels online and on your TV. It is fairly cheap, and some channels are even free to air as well. It has channels in 8 languages, and has a lot of options, but I don’t think it has any channel that shows IPL which is a big demand for a lot of Indian customers. Please correct me if I’m wrong on this, but as far as I can see, they don’t have any option to support that.

 The great thing about Yupp is that YuppTV is compatible with a lot of devices, and has apps on some of the major selling Smart TVs also, so if you have a Samsung Smart TV, you can just download the app on that and start using that without having to buy anything extra.

3.  Dish TV: Till sometime ago you had to get into a 2 year contract and get a dish installed if you needed access to Dish TV. All that has changed now with internet streaming and you neither need a dish nor do you need to get into a contract.

You can just download the Dish TV app on your phone, tablet or PC and start watching Indian channels without the need to buy a separate device.

You can connect your TV to your computer and watch the channels online on your TV as well, or you can buy a Roku device and install the Dish TV app on that.

I think Dish has the highest number of Indian channels of all operators and also has IPL streaming through its Willow cricket channel. The quality is good, and you don’t see any lag at all while connected to the TV using your Roku box, and there is certainly no lag while watching it on Mac or PC.

4. Jadoo TV: Jadoo TV is similar to the Roku device but is quite a bit more expensive than it. You can stream Indian channels on it but I really don’t see a lot of appeal in this option. If someone is using this option, please leave a comment on your experience.

These are some of the popular options that I’m aware of and in these, I feel that the Dish TV option is the best one if you don’t mind the monthly subscription, the next best is YuppTV which is priced much lower but has fewer Indian channels too.

If you know of any other ways to watch Indian channels in the US, please leave a comment and I will update the post. Please don’t leave   links to sites which are streaming content illegally, as I will remove those comments anyway.

Update: Mr. Rajagopalan sent in the following email on this post:

Dear sir,

I am at present in U.S. My daughter got me Yupp T.V. connection.  The service is very bad. If you are lucky you may get 5 min. of continuous streaming.The viewing experience is disastrous
N.K.Rajagopalan

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What is dividend yield?

A shareholder is a part owner in a company, and therefore has a certain share in the profits of the company.

Many companies return this profit to their shareholders in the form of a dividend. Usually, the companies that regularly declare dividends, do it multiple times a year. If the dividend is declared before the company’s AGM (Annual General Meeting) it is called an interim dividend, and if it is declared at the AGM of the company, then it’s called final dividend. 

This needn’t be the case always, and Andhra Bank is a good example of a regular dividend paying company that declares dividends just once a year.

For 2011 and 2012, they paid Rs. 5.50 as dividend, and for 2010, they paid Rs. 5 as dividend.

How to calculate the dividend yield of a stock?

To calculate the dividend yield, you have to simply calculate the percentage of how much money you got from the company in the form of dividends for the price per share.

In the case of Andhra Bank, they closed at Rs. 91.20 yesterday so at 5.50 dividend, the yield comes out to be (5.50/91.20)x100 = 6.03%.

As you can well imagine, the exact dividend yield changes very frequently because the stock price is different every second of the day. And then with a market as volatile as the Indian one, the yield may look quite different in a 12 month time frame.

In the case of Andhra Bank itself, the 52 week high of the share is Rs. 130 so sometime within the last year the dividend yield on this share was 4.2% which is not bad, but isn’t quite as impressive as 6 odd percent.

Then there is the case of splits, bonuses and special dividends. Kilitich  Drugs announced a special dividend of Rs. 30 sometime last year, and right now the market price of this company is Rs. 22 making the dividend yield ridiculously high. It isn’t likely that you get another dividend this high ever again so looking at the dividend yield is pretty much useless for this company.

How to find high dividend yield stocks?

I created a big list of high dividend yielding shares last year, and that was a very time consuming exercise for me. It took days if I remember correctly, and while it was quite useful, for the time it took, I couldn’t do it again.

I searched for this information again, and this time I got a link from Moneycontrol that has a list of high dividend yield shares neatly arranged by descending order.

I think this is a great place to start if you are looking for high dividend yield shares. I say great starting point because you need to dig deeper once you find names on this list. The company that I mentioned earlier – Kilitich – tops the Moneycontrol list and while the dividend yield may be technically correct, it doesn’t do you a lot of good practically speaking.

How to use high dividend yield stocks for investing?

Although there are many ways to look at dividend yields, I feel it is quite useful in one very specific instance. If you are a risk averse investor who wants to start out in the stock markets, then buying a few very old companies with low debt, low P/E and a decent dividend yield is a good way to get started.

I did this for my wife’s portfolio during the last crisis and bought a few companies that had been around for ages, had low debts, and a reasonable dividend yield.

The results aren’t mind boggling but for the risk that she wanted to take, I think they are pretty satisfactory. If the dividends keep coming in then you are at peace that although there is panic in the market, this company seems to be doing okay, and you don’t panic yourself and sell the shares.

Finally, dividend yields can be a starting point to narrow down your choices, but that alone shouldn’t drive your decision. You need to look at other aspects like the financial strength of the company, debt levels, competition, promoter pledges etc. before making a final decision to buy.

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Petrol prices in different countries across the world

IOC announced today that petrol prices will be reduced by Rs. 3 per liter from midnight because international crude oil prices have come down from around $116/bbl to $107/bbl since the last price change (16th April 2013).

With this, the current petrol price will come down to Rs. 63.09 per liter in Delhi and Rs. 70.35 per liter in Kolkata.

Currently, the petrol price at Panjim is Rs. 51.48 per liter, and I think this might be the cheapest in the country since Goa eliminated VAT on petrol in their last budget.

I think this is very interesting because a few months ago I remember seeing a lot of Tweets from people about petrol prices in the US being cheaper than in India, but at Rs. 51.48 per liter, Panjim’s prices are cheaper than some US states.

Like India, prices in American states vary a lot, and the state of South Carolina has the lowest price, which is $3.19 per gallon – this translates to Rs. 45 per liter and is lower than Panjim price, but about 12 US states have a price of more than $3.64 per gallon which is more than the Goa price.

This also made me wonder how petrol prices in India compare with the rest of the world and finding that out was a lot harder than I expected.

The best that I could do is to look at this Bloomberg list from August of last year, and then adjust it for prices based on the price changes in US.

Here is what that list looks like:

Petrol Prices Around the World

Country Rupees Per Liter
Venezuela 1.19
Saudi Arabia 6.44
Kuwait 11.8
Egypt 22.94
UAE 25.06
Nigeria 30.76
Iran 37.12
Malaysia 42.83
Mexico 42.96
Pakistan 47.07
USA 46.41
Russia 49.72
Indonesia 51.05
Philippines 58.6
Thailand 59.8
China 64.84
India 65.9
South Africa 70.27
Canada 72.39

Venezuelan prices are just incredible and they are pretty much handing out petrol for free there. The other countries at the top are also petrol exporting nations, and I wonder if citizens there look at Venezuelan prices and feel envious like the rest of the world looks at their prices.

Let me emphasize that this is not a very accurate list because I took data from last year’s Bloomberg’s list and adjusted it according to the price change in the US, and the utility of this list is mainly to judge how countries are relative to each other rather than the absolute value.

Also, I did a post on how much do taxes contribute to the high prices of petrol a few months ago, and that may be a useful read to understand how petrol is priced in this country.

Update: Updated the Saudi Arabia price based on information sent by Dr. Koustubh Chakraborty. 

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