Life Insurance

Life Insurance, Explained Honestly

Life insurance is a category, not a product, and most of it is savings wearing a protection label. What each type actually pays, and how to work out the return before you sign.

See the 7 TypesCompute Your Real Return

Types of Life Insurance in India

The seven product families, sorted by whether the payout is guaranteed, bonus-dependent or market-linked.

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How to Read a Benefit Illustration

Every savings policy comes with one, and it holds the number the pitch leaves out. Work out what a plan actually returns.

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All Life Insurance Articles21 articles

A short solid column of coins beside a taller dashed-outline column, standing for a small guaranteed return against a larger illustrated one

Bajaj Life ACE Advantage Review: 1.1% Is the Guarantee

The guaranteed part of this participating plan returns about 1.1% a year. Getting to 5.3% needs bonuses the insurer may declare and may not.

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A solid column of stacked coins beside an upright document and a small shield, standing for a savings plan whose payout is fixed by contract

Bajaj Goal Suraksha Review: 5.53%, and It Is Contractual

₹10,00,000 in and ₹17,81,000 out on the insurer's own example. As an annual rate that is 5.53%, and every rupee of it is in the contract.

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Two columns of coins of different heights beside a calendar and a small shield, standing for two annuity options that pay different incomes on the same money

Guaranteed Pension Goal II: The Plain Plan Pays More

Same insurer, same ₹25 lakh, same age. The regulator's standardised annuity pays 9.7% more income than this flagship product on the comparable option.

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A tall column of stacked coins beside a document under a magnifying glass with a percent symbol above, standing for checking the real annual rate behind a guaranteed plan

Bajaj Life Assured Wealth Goal Review: 3.72x is 6%

The brochure headlines 3.72 times your money. Run the same figures as an annual rate and it is about 6%. A review from Bajaj Life's own filed documents.

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A policy document with one line circled, beside a rising column of stacked coins and an upward arrow, standing for the annual rate hidden inside the illustration

Benefit Illustration: How to Find Your Real Return

Every savings policy comes with a benefit illustration, and it holds the one number the sales pitch leaves out. How to read it and compute your actual return.

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A short column of coins beside a graduation cap and an upright document, standing for an education savings plan and the modest rate behind it

Click 2 Achieve Smart Student Review: 3.6% for a Degree

The child education plan in HDFC Life's range returns about 3.6% a year on its own illustration - the lowest rate of any guaranteed plan we have reviewed.

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Two columns of coins of noticeably different heights beside a document, standing for the gap between a gross investment return and what is left after charges

HDFC Life Click 2 Wealth Review: The Wrapper Costs 1%

On the brochure's own figures, 8% gross becomes 6.99% net. That one point a year is what the ULIP wrapper costs, and it is less than the reputation suggests.

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One short solid column of coins beside a much taller column drawn as a dotted outline, standing for a small guaranteed benefit against a large one that is not promised

Sanchay Par Advantage: Only Your Money Back Is Guaranteed

The guaranteed maturity benefit is ₹8,00,000 on ₹8,00,000 of premiums. Everything above that is a bonus the insurer may or may not declare.

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Four columns of coins of different heights beside a document, standing for four plan options whose headline multiples rank differently from their annual returns

HDFC Life Sanchay Plus Review: 3.94x Is Not the Best Option

Four options, one plan. The one showing the biggest multiple returns 5.34% and the one showing a smaller multiple returns 6.15%. Rate and multiple disagree.

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A long row of small equal income coins stretching far to the right, standing for a guaranteed income paid slowly over decades at a low rate

ICICI Pru GIFT Select Review: 4.1% on the Illustrated Option

ICICI Pru GIFT Select pays a guaranteed income for decades. On the increasing-income option ICICI illustrates, the return works out to 4.13% a year. What that means against a PPF.

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A short column of coins beside a longer row of years, standing for a small guaranteed return spread across a long horizon

Kotak Assured Savings Plan Review: 3.6-4.7% Guaranteed

Kotak Assured Savings Plan is fully guaranteed. On its own figures the return works out to between 3.59% and 4.67% a year - among the lowest of the savings plans, below a bank FD.

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A single premium receipt beside a maturity cheque of roughly two and a half times its height, standing for money paid in versus money returned over 25 years

LIC Jeevan Labh Review: 5.3% at LIC's Own Best Case

On LIC's own benefit illustration, Jeevan Labh returns 5.3% a year at the 8% scenario and 1.81% guaranteed. What that means against a PPF, and who the plan is actually for.

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A tall column of premium coins beside a long low trailing stream of small yearly-income coins, standing for an 8%-of-sum-assured payout that works out to a far lower real return

LIC Jeevan Umang Review: The 8% Is Not an 8% Return

LIC Jeevan Umang pays 8% of the sum assured every year for life. That is not an 8% return. On LIC's own premium table the guaranteed return works out to about 4.47% a year.

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A tall stack of premium coins beside a shorter guaranteed maturity stack, the guaranteed return falling below what was paid in

LIC New Jeevan Anand Review: The Guaranteed Part Loses Money

On LIC's own premium table, New Jeevan Anand's guaranteed maturity is less than the premiums you pay in. Every rupee of positive return depends on bonuses LIC may or may not declare.

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One slim policy document overlapping a thicker layered stack behind a shield, standing for a single category holding two very different products

Life Insurance vs Term Insurance: The Real Difference

Term insurance is a type of life insurance, not an alternative to it. What the category actually contains, and which part of it you are being sold.

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A tall column of coins beside a longer one, standing for a guaranteed savings return that is higher than most plans but still short of a benchmark line

Axis Max Life Smart Wealth Plan Review: 5.9-6.4% Guaranteed

Axis Max Life Smart Wealth Plan is fully guaranteed. On its own illustrations the return works out to 5.93% on the lump-sum option and 6.41% on the long-term income option - the best of the savings plans, still below a PPF.

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A column of coins beside a calendar and a small shield, standing for a fixed income paid for life from a single lump sum

Saral Pension Review: 6.93% for Life, and the Catch

IRDAI's standardised immediate annuity pays about 6.93% of your purchase price for life. Every insurer sells the same product, so only the rate differs.

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Two coin columns of different heights, the taller one a market fund and the shorter one what reaches the investor after a wedge of charges is removed

SBI Smart Fortune Builder Review: 6.4% After the Charges

SBI Smart Fortune Builder is a ULIP. On SBI's own illustration, an assumed 8% fund return reaches you as 6.43% after charges. What the wrapper costs against a direct index fund.

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A steady row of equal income coins over fifteen years beside a single premium stack, standing for a guaranteed income that returns a low single-digit rate

SBI Smart Platina Plus Review: 5.49% on SBI's Own Numbers

SBI Smart Platina Plus pays a guaranteed income and returns 110% of premiums. On SBI's own brochure illustration that works out to 5.49% a year. What that means against a PPF.

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A column of stacked coins beside a document and a small shield, standing for a guaranteed income plan with an illness benefit attached

Tata AIA Fortune Guarantee Plus Review: 3x is 5.75%

The brochure shows ₹10 lakh in and ₹30.13 lakh out. As an annual rate that is 5.75%. A review built from Tata AIA's own filed brochure and CIS.

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A rising stack of differently shaped policy folders topped by a shield, standing for the seven product families inside life insurance

Types of Life Insurance in India: All 7 Explained

Term, endowment, money-back, whole life, ULIP, guaranteed savings and annuity plans. What each one actually does, what it costs, and who each is built for.

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