Insurance Bytes

In my article Critical Illness Insurance – A must have we had discussed on the importance of having a critical illness plan. It provides the financial muscle needed to fight a critical ailment. Medical advancements have brought about vast improvements in the treatment capabilities and this has increased the survival rates for various critical illnesses. However, this does not come cheap. A deep pocket is essential to have any chance of emerging victorious against a critical illness. Certain diseases like cancer are cash guzzlers and can gobble up lakhs of rupees in treatment. Now, many insurance companies have introduced exclusive cancer insurance plans to take care of this aspect. This gets us to the question on which is better, an exclusive cancer plan or a critical illness plan which covers multiple critical illnesses including cancer. Before we answer that question, let’s get some insight into the cancer estimates for India. Cancer estimates for India There were 1...

A study conducted by Bigdecisions.com, a personal finance advice platform, says about 95% of Indians are without adequate health insurance cover to meet some of the most common procedures and ailments. It goes on to state that healthcare inflation is seeing double digit inflation in India*. Health insurance can no longer be viewed just as a tax saving tool, it is a necessity today. As such, the time is ripe to clear the various myths that abound about health insurance.  Listed below are some of the common myths and the reality regarding them: 1)       I am young and healthy, so I don’t need health insurance. Well, you could be right about the first part of the statement but the same cannot be said about the latter part. Here’s why: ·       Your health insurance policy also covers accidents. After all, anybody irrespective of age can meet with an accident. Especially if you are young and with insufficient savings, an accid...

The introduction of LTCG tax on equity and equity oriented mutual funds have put ULIPs in focus as they do not attract LTCG (as per current tax laws). Most insurers have started pitching ULIPs as an alternative to mutual funds and stocks. One of the USPs of an ULIP is the flexibility and control it offers the policyholder unlike traditional life insurance. However, this control and flexibility translates into responsibility in the policyholder’s hands to manage his ULIP investments well. Simply buying the best available ULIP will not result in superior returns. Reviewing the policy at regular intervals and making necessary changes as per the market conditions, life stage, goals etc alone will ensure that the policy fund registers a stellar performance. Let us look at the various ways in which you can maximize the potential of your ULIP: 1.        Asset allocation: First and foremost, when you buy an ULIP you need to define the asset allocation. As p...