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

Is Bajaj Life Assured Wealth Goal a good plan?

It does what it says: a non-linked, non-participating savings plan where every rupee of the payout is contractual rather than dependent on markets or bonuses. Nothing here is hidden or mis-filed.

The problem is the framing. Bajaj Life's own brochure headlines its example as "3.72 Times" your money. That is accurate and it is not a return. Run the identical cash flows as an annual rate and the answer is about 6%. Both numbers describe the same contract; only one of them is the basis for a decision.

The brochure's own example, and what it works out to

Taken verbatim from the Assured Wealth Goal brochure, the Second Income variant:

The arithmetic reconciles exactly: thirty income instalments of ₹90,750 is ₹27,22,500, plus the ₹10,00,000 returned, giving the ₹37,22,500 the brochure states.

Expressed as an annual rate, those cash flows return roughly 6%. The precise figure moves slightly with the exact month each instalment falls, landing between about 5.8% and 6.1%, but the answer is approximately six percent a year over forty-one years.

That is the whole review in two numbers. 3.72 times sounds like a lot because it spans four decades. Six percent tells you what the four decades earned. Our guide to reading a benefit illustration sets out how to run this on whatever illustration you are given.

The life cover is token, and that matters

In the brochure's own example the sum assured on death is ₹12,00,000 against an annual premium of ₹1,00,000. That is twelve times the annual premium.

For comparison, a 35-year-old buying plain term insurance would expect a sum assured measured in crores for a fraction of that premium. This is not a criticism of the filing, it is a description of what the product is: a savings plan with life cover attached, not a protection plan.

The practical consequence is the one people miss. If you buy this instead of term cover because it is "life insurance", the people who depend on your income are protected for ₹12 lakh. If that is not enough, the plan has not failed - it was never doing that job.

The death benefit arrives monthly, not as a lump sum

On variants 1 to 4, the customer information sheet is explicit: the death benefit is paid to the nominee in equated monthly instalments over a period of five years.

There is an option to take it as a lump sum, and the nominee can elect to receive future instalments as a discounted present value. But the instalment route is the default, and a family expecting a single payment to clear a loan would find out at the worst possible moment.

The benefit itself is the higher of:

• the sum assured on death,
• 105% of total premiums paid to the date of death, or
• the prevailing surrender value.

That 105%-of-premiums floor is the standard regulatory minimum, and it is what makes the early years defensible: die in year two and the nominee is not simply handed back what you paid.

Six variants under one UIN

"Assured Wealth Goal" is not one product. UIN 116N170V14 carries six payout shapes: Lifelong Income, Second Income, Step Up Income, Extra Income, Wealth Creation and Assured Income. They differ in what maturity pays:

Establish which variant you are being quoted before comparing anything, because a 3.72x figure from one variant tells you nothing about another. Ask for the variant name and the UIN together.

The tax check, worked on the brochure's numbers

Since April 2023, maturity proceeds on a non-linked policy are exempt under Section 10(10D) only where the aggregate annual premium across such policies is ₹5 lakh or less, and where the annual premium stays within 10% of the sum assured.

Run the brochure's example through both tests:

• Premium ₹1,00,000 a year. Well inside the ₹5 lakh aggregate limit, assuming you hold no other such policies. Count them together, not one at a time.
• ₹1,00,000 against a ₹12,00,000 sum assured is 8.3%. Inside the 10% ceiling, so this test passes too.

At that premium the example qualifies. Scale it up and both tests start to bite: a ₹5 lakh annual premium on the same 12x cover ratio would clear the percentage test but sit at the aggregate threshold, and anything above it loses the exemption on the excess. Larger cases need the arithmetic run rather than assumed.

What is genuinely clean

Worth saying plainly, because a review that only finds fault is not a review.

• The only exclusion is the twelve-month suicide clause, paying the higher of 80% of premiums paid or the surrender value. The customer information sheet states there are no other exclusions. That is a narrow exclusion list.
• Every figure is contractual. Non-participating means no bonus assumptions are doing quiet work in the illustration, which is more than can be said for participating plans quoting similar multiples.
• A policy loan is available up to 50% of the surrender value, and the revival window runs five years from the first unpaid premium.
• Once a surrender value exists the policy converts to paid-up rather than lapsing, so missing premiums later does not wipe it out.

Who this suits

Someone who wants a contractually fixed long-term income, has already bought adequate term cover separately, is comfortable committing for four decades, and has looked at roughly 6% a year and decided it suits them.

It does not suit someone buying it as life cover. That is the substitution to guard against, and the sum assured in the brochure's own example makes the point better than any argument.

If you are weighing this against pure protection plus separate investing, life insurance vs term insurance sets out the comparison, and types of life insurance places this product among its neighbours.

FAQs

What return does Bajaj Life Assured Wealth Goal give?

On the example published in Bajaj Life's own brochure - a 35-year-old paying ₹1,00,000 a year for 10 years and receiving ₹90,750 a year for 30 years plus ₹10,00,000 at the end - the cash flows work out to approximately 6% a year. The brochure describes the same figures as "3.72 Times" the premium paid. Your own illustration will differ with age, term and variant.

Is Assured Wealth Goal a guaranteed plan?

Yes, it is filed as a non-linked, non-participating savings plan, which means the payouts are contractual rather than dependent on bonuses or market performance. That also means the return can be computed exactly before you buy, rather than estimated.

How much life cover does this plan give?

Less than people expect. In the brochure's own example a ₹1,00,000 annual premium carries a ₹12,00,000 sum assured on death, or twelve times the annual premium. The death benefit is the higher of that sum assured, 105% of premiums paid, or the surrender value. It is a savings plan with cover attached rather than a protection plan.

How is the death benefit paid to my nominee?

On variants 1 to 4 it is paid in equated monthly instalments over five years rather than as a single payment, with an option to take a lump sum instead. The nominee may also elect to receive future instalments as a discounted present value. If a lump sum matters to your family, that option has to be chosen rather than assumed.

What are the exclusions in Bajaj Life Assured Wealth Goal?

Only the suicide clause. If death is by suicide within twelve months of the policy starting or of its latest revival, the claimant receives the higher of 80% of all premiums paid or the surrender value. The customer information sheet states there are no other exclusions.

Is the maturity amount tax free?

It depends on your premium, not on the plan. For non-linked policies issued on or after 1 April 2023, Section 10(10D) exemption applies where aggregate annual premiums across such policies are ₹5 lakh or less and the premium stays within 10% of the sum assured. The brochure's ₹1,00,000 example passes both tests; larger premiums need checking rather than assuming.