Who should consider it

Benefits

• A defined income you cannot outlive, on the lifetime options
• Removes sequence risk at the point it matters most
• Life cover during the accumulation phase
• Section 80C on premium; part of the maturity corpus may be commuted tax-free
• Joint-life options that continue paying a surviving spouse
• Enforced long-term saving with no temptation to withdraw

What is covered, and what is not

Read the right-hand column first. It is the one that decides whether a claim is paid.

Inclusions and exclusions vary between providers and between plans from the same provider. The wording in your own policy document is what governs — we will walk you through it before you buy.

How it works with us

1. 1 Start with the goal, not the plan A school fee in 2038, an income from 2045, an estate to pass on. The goal decides the structure; the brand is the last decision, not the first.
2. 2 We separate the protection from the saving You see what the cover costs and what the savings portion is projected to return, as two numbers rather than one blended promise.
3. 3 Compared against the honest alternative Term insurance plus a mutual fund, on the same premium and the same horizon. Sometimes this plan wins; often it does not, and we say so.
4. 4 Proposal, medicals and financial underwriting Medicals arranged at home. For larger premiums, insurers assess income as well as health.
5. 5 Issued, with the illustration on file We keep the benefit illustration you were shown, so what was promised is on record for the whole term.

Important considerations

The things a brochure tends to leave out. Read these before you decide.

• A level income looks adequate at sixty and thin at eighty. If the plan offers an escalating option, price it — inflation over a twenty-five-year retirement is the real risk here.
• The annuity option chosen at vesting is usually irreversible. Take advice at that decision specifically; it matters more than the choice of plan.
• Use this for the essential-expenses layer of retirement income and hold market-linked assets for the rest. All-guaranteed is expensive; all-market is uncomfortable at eighty.
• Annuity income is taxable in the year received. Factor that into the income you actually need rather than the gross figure quoted.
• If retirement is more than fifteen years away, accumulating in equity and converting later usually produces a larger income than locking into a guarantee now.

Documents required

• Completed proposal form with full health disclosure
• Identity proof — Aadhaar, passport or PAN
• Address proof
• PAN card, mandatory for life insurance
• Income proof — Form 16, salary slips or filed returns
• Bank statements, for larger premiums
• Medical reports, where the insurer requires them
• Recent passport-size photograph