In a thriving economy, inflation is inevitable. Prices for consumer goods and services are expected to rise.
Your liquid cash in the bank will lose value if you don’t make any actions to preserve or grow it. One day, you may find yourself short of money when it’s time to pay for things like your kids’ college or your own retirement.
However, there are still ways we can stay ahead of inflation. One way you can hedge against inflation is through investing in an endowment savings plan.
What Is An Endowment Savings Plan?
Most Singaporean endowment plans are included in whole life insurance policies that aim to provide your coverage throughout your entire life. The premiums on an endowment plan are often considered as more expensive than those on other types of insurance, such as health or even term life insurance, but the money you put into the plan could grow over time.
An endowment policy works similarly with the savings or investment portion of a whole life insurance policy. While some insurance companies provide whole life insurance plans, consisting of endowment policies, some insurers offer investment-linked policies (ILPs). Because of the features of the endowment policy, some customers view their whole life insurance as an investment/savings plan rather than a simple protection plan. These “extra” features are what causes the whole life insurance to be more expensive than term life.
How Does An Endowment Savings Plan Work?
Usually, the premiums paid by policyholders are consolidated into a participating fund. The fund is managed by a group of professional investors and the profits are invested back into a variety of assets, such as equities, stocks, and properties. The goal is to maximize profits and increase higher returns.
In turn, you’ll receive guaranteed payments once the insurance matures; in fact, most modern endowment plans have a maturity capital guarantee. Also, there are incentives that are not guaranteed which are declared at any point during the policy term.
In this way, your contributions to the plan are protected, while you retain access to the potential profits from higher-risk investments.
Since the savings component is embedded into the regular insurance premiums, an endowment policy can be a useful tool for establishing good savings habits. Thus, selecting an appropriate endowment insurance could be a significant step towards a more effective savings strategy.
What You Need To Consider Before Buying An Endowment Plan
Choosing a whole life insurance policy that includes an endowment component requires some careful consideration. Whole life insurance plans typically have premiums that are 10 to 12 times more expensive than term life insurance plans since they provide protection for a much longer length of time (up to age 99, 100, or death depending on your policy). Here are a few things to think about before making the investment of a lifetime.
Guaranteed capital return
Few other insurance plans only offer this feature. These insurers offer a 100 guaranteed capital return once your policy matures. If you choose a plan like this, you may receive guaranteed payouts that are less than the total premiums you paid throughout the years, protecting your investments against long-term loss.
Overall distribution cost
This overall distribution cost is included in your paid premium and represents the cost that your insurer paid to its distribution channel. It’s beneficial to understand this cost, which is the amount you spent for the convenience of getting counsel from a preferred financial advisor, so you don’t overpay for a certain service.
Limited pay term
If you choose an endowment plan with a limited pay term, you’ll only have to pay premiums for a certain time period, but you’ll be covered for life.
Once you reach the age predetermined by your insurer, you will no longer be required to make premium payments, but your coverage will remain in effect for the remainder of your life. If you opt to surrender your insurance after reaching a specific age, the terms and conditions of your policy may entitle you to a portion of the accrued cash value, depending on your insurer and plan.
Surrender value
In the event of an early surrender, policyholders of endowment plans typically get a portion of their cash value in the form of guaranteed and, if applicable, accrued non-guaranteed bonuses.
In most cases, the premiums you pay will be more than the surrender value you receive if you decide to terminate your insurance early. The surrender value of a participation policy is composed of two parts: the guaranteed part and the non-guaranteed part.
Bonuses
Your policy receives accrued reversionary bonuses on a regular basis. Your overall sum assured will rise as a result of this bonus accumulation.
Terminal bonuses, on the other hand, are added to your payout when your policy matures, you make a claim, or you surrender it. In this case, it is added to the reversionary bonus. If you want to know how much of a reversionary bonus your insurer gives you, you can either ask them directly or look in your policy documentation.
Withdrawal before policy matures
After your endowment policy has built up cash value over the years, some insurance companies will give you the opportunity to reinvest the money at a predetermined percentage. If you have a retirement or education plan where cash payouts are a core component of the policy, you should consider reinvesting the payouts at the current prevailing rate rather than claiming them.
This is because taking withdrawals from your insurance reduces the sum insured and, in turn, affects the amount you will receive when the policy matures.
Next Step
Once you’ve determined that endowment plans are a good fit for you, the next step is to select the most suitable plan.
Although not all insurance providers will meet your requirements, you should look for one that does. At the same time, figures like returns and premiums do matter in the end.