THE BENEFITS OF INVESTING IN ULIPS

What is ULIP?

The term ULIP stands for unit linked insurance policy. ULIP is both insurance and an investment. The premium that the policyholder pays is divided into two parts, one goes to the life insurance and the other goes to mutual funds as investment. A ULIP holder has the option of either investing in equity or in debt. An aggressive policy holder will choose to invest his money in equity while a conservative policy holder might chose to invest his money in debt. The money is invested during the term of the policy which may range between 5 to 15 years.

In recent times ULIPs have been the investment opportunity. Here are five things you should know about ULIPs before you invest in them.

1.ULIPs were the most sought after form of investment, but lost their appeal when banks started levying heavy charges going up to 80% of the premium for these policies. The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) in 2010 put an end to it and capped the annual charges for ULIPs at 2.25% for the first 10 years of holding.

2. ULIPs give you a wide range of investment opportunity. They come in three broad categories, aggressive, balanced and conservative with respect to the equity and debt investment ratio. You can choose the variant that suits your needs the best.

3. ULIPs allow high level of flexibility. An investor can switch from one investment variant to the other according to the market opportunities. Banks allow a set number of switches for their investors. This is a very important feature of this type of policies, since no other investment policies allow investors to make such switches.

4. ULIPs are very similar to Systematic Investment Plans (SIP). In SIP an investor invests regularly on a monthly or quarterly basis without worrying about the stock market being up or down. In ULIPs the investor invests his money on a quarterly or half-yearly basis. An added benefit of ULIPs is that an investor can also invest one-time amount in the ULIP either to earn from opportunities in the stock markets or if they have an investible surplus in a particular year that they wish to put aside for the future.

5. In recent times insurance providers are offering even more perks with ULIP plans. They give discounts and are selling these policies at the lowest rates, making this the best time to invest in ULIPs.