Max Life Smart Secure Plus Plan – Review (2023) – Should you buy?

A life cover insurance plan will act as a strong financial support system for your loved ones.

A pure-term insurance policy will keep your family secure & financially stable during challenging times.

It is important to always take into account all your financial requirements for the future in order to choose a life cover option accordingly.

Max life insurance has a new product called Secure plus plan. Will this term plan come to the rescue and act as a protective financial shield for you and your family?

Table of Contents:

1.) What is Max Life Smart Secure Plus Plan?

2.) Features of Max Life Smart Secure Plus Plan

3.) Eligibility Criteria of Max Life Smart Secure Plus Plan

4.) Advantages of Max Life Smart Secure Plus Plan

5.) Dis-advantages of Max Life Smart Secure Plus Plan

6.) Analysis of Max Life Smart Secure Plus Plan Benefits

7.) Final Verdict

What is Max Life Smart Secure Plus Plan?

Max Life Smart Secure Plus Plan is a Term Insurance Policy. It claims to financially secure the dreams of your loved ones. 

In general, a pure term policy will pay the nominee the sum assured in case of death of the policyholder & no other benefit such as Maturity benefit or survival benefit is payable.

But the Max life secure plus plan offers an array of optional benefits such as; 

• Joint life cover 
• Premium breaks 
• Additional pay-out on accidental death 

There are also many more options to choose from to customise your term plan.

Features of Max Life Smart Secure Plus Plan:

• Death benefit: Life Cover or Increasing life cover
• Claim pay-out mode: Lump sum or Monthly income or Part lump sum & part monthly income.
• Terminal Illness cover: Free coverage against the diagnosis of terminal illnesses which will accelerate your pay-out.
• Return of premium: Return of 100% premium paid at the end of policy term upon survival.
• Special exit value: Option to receive all the premiums paid at a specified point within the policy term. This option is available only when the policyholder does not choose the Return of the premium variant.
• Premium break: In case of a financial crunch, there is an option to skip a premium payment for one year & still stay covered. 2-premium break is available for the whole policy term.
• Joint life: Cover your spouse at inception, at a nominal premium.
• Voluntary top-up sum assured Option to double your Insurance Cover. Increase your Sum Assured up to an additional 100% of base Sum Assured, which can be chosen at inception.
• Critical Illness: Additional health cover will accelerate the lumpsum pay-out in case the policyholder got diagnosed with any of their listed 40 critical illness from their policy brochure.
• Accident cover: Additional cover against the risk of accidental death.
• Riders: Waiver of premium plus rider: Waiver of future premiums in case of disability or critical illness. Critical illness & Disability Rider: Comprehensive coverage against the risk of critical illness & Disability.

Eligibility Criteria of Max Life Smart Secure Plus Plan:

Let us look at the Plan’s eligibility criteria, its benefits and premium payment type at a glance: 

Minimum & Maximum age at entry (years)	Minimum age: 18
	Maximum age: Regular pay – 60, Pay till 60 – 44
Maximum age at Maturity (years)	Base Death Benefit: 85 years
	Accelerated Critical Illness (ACI) Benefit: 75 years
	Accident Cover: 85 years
Minimum annualised premium	Subject to Minimum Sum assured & Applicable premium rate
Maximum annualised premium	No limit

Benefit Type	Minimum policy term	Maximum policy term	Minimum Sum Assured	Maximum Sum Assured
Base Cover	10 years	67 years	Rs. 20 lakhs (For secondary life in Joint life – Rs. 10 Lakhs)	No limit (For secondary life in Joint life – Rs. 50 lakhs)
Accelerated Critical Illness (ACI)	10 years	50 years	Rs. 5 lakhs	50% of Base cover (Cap – Rs. 50 lakhs)
Accident Cover	5 years	67 years	Rs. 50,000	Rs. 1 crore

Premium paying term	Base cover policy term	Accelerated Critical Illness (ACI) policy term policy term	Accident Cover
Single pay	10 years to 67 years	NA	NA
Regular Pay	10 years to 67 years	10 years to 50 years	5 years to 67 years
5 Pay	10 years to 67 years	NA	10 years to 67 years
10 Pay	15 years to 67 years	10 years	10 years to 67 years
12 Pay	17 years to 67 years	10 years to 12 years	10 years to 67 years
15 Pay	20 years to 67 years	10 years to 15 years	10 years to 67 years
Pay till 60 (PPT = 60 – Age at entry)	Should be greater than PPT (Cap – 67 years)	10 years to [60 less Entry Age]	6 years to 67 years

Advantages of Max Life Smart Secure Plus Plan:

• It is a fully customisable Term Insurance Plan
• Some of the add-ons are no-cost features & some even accelerate the pay-out and some of its features are available at an extra premium.
• It is a non-linked & non-participating insurance plan. So, all the benefits and in-built benefits are guaranteed to the policyholder.
• You have the flexibility in your premium paying frequency & also an option to take one year break in your premium payment.
• Return of premium at the end of the policy term or special exit value (return of premium at a specified point) option can be chosen by the policyholder.

Disadvantages of Max Life Smart Secure Plus Plan:

• Some of the add-in features are available at an extra premium.
• Policy loan facility is not available to the policyholder.
• Some of the add-on features are only available for a high sum assured & for a longer period of the term policy.

You can read the further details of the Max Life Smart Secure Plus Plan in its brochure.

Analysis of Max Life Smart Secure Plus Plan Benefits:

Let us look at the figures for various options under the Max Life Smart Secure Plus plan. 

Some of the add-ons are free & some may increase the premium amount. 

Let us analyse each option by using the premium calculator available in the Max life portal. 

The illustration figures given below are for a 30-year-old non-smoking male.

	Option 1	Option 2	Option 3	Option 4	Option 5	Option 6
Male	30 years	30 years	30 years	30 years	30 years	30 years
Base Cover	1 crore	1 crore	1 crore	1 crore	1 crore	1 crore
Policy term	35 years (65 years of age)	50 years (80 years of age)	35 years (65 years of age)	35 years (65 years of age)	35 years (65 years of age)	35 years (65 years of age)
Premium paying term	35 years	50 years	35 years	35 years	35 years	35 years
Add-ons	NA	Special exit vale (at the age of 65 years) – Rs. 6.66 lakhs	Critical illness cover – 10 lakhs	Accident cover – 25 lakhs	Return of premium at the end of policy term – 10.77 lakhs	Waiver of premium
Annual premium	19,555	29,932	30,175	21,325	45,032	20,737

Option 1: It is a simple plain Vanilla Insurance product without any add-ons.
If the cover were increased then the premium would be slightly higher.

Option 2: Special exit value of Rs. 6.66 lakhs will be paid back to you at the age of 65 years. But the policy will continue till the policyholder is of the age of 80 years. 

You would still have to pay the premium until the age of 80 years. This option is available only at for cover age equal to or more than 80 years. 

Option 3: Critical illness coverage of Rs. 10 lakhs. 

Option 4: Accident cover of Rs. 25 lakhs. 

Option 6: Waiver of premium 

Both options 3, 4 & 6 are riders that are available under any pure term policy with the payment of an extra premium.

Option 5: The premium is returned at the end of the policy term, which is similar to any maturity benefit in any endowment policy. 

But for this add-on feature, the premium outgo is very high which is also similar to any other endowment policy.

Final Verdict: 

Max Life Smart Secure Plus Term Insurance Plan can be customisable. 

But these customisation feature makes this policy a duplication of just any other traditional life insurance policy out there. 

The extra premium paid for the return of premium at the end of the policy term or special exit value at a specified point is too high. This lump sum payment at a later stage of the policy will be very low. Working out the IRR for these two options will result in a negative.

Pure term insurance with no fancy frills is the best choice for life cover. 

Any superficial addition to the pure term policy is purely a marketing ploy to lure consumers in. 

There is no real value addition in any of the add-on options. 

To know and understand better options, you can consult with your financial advisor to see which investment choice will be the right fit for you.

To get started, you can book a complimentary financial consultation with one of our certified financial planners using the link below.