Kotak Premier Pension Plan: Good or Bad? An Enlightening Review

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Are you wondering how Kotak Premier Pension Plan will secure your golden years?

Can Kotak Premier Pension Plan prioritize a pension plan that provides both financial security and peace of mind?

How effective is the Kotak Premier Pension Plan in helping you build the necessary retirement corpus?

In this discussion, we will explore the features, advantages, disadvantages, and potential returns of the Kotak Premier Pension Plan through an IRR (Internal Rate of Return) analysis. This comprehensive analysis will assist you in making an informed decision.

What is the Kotak Premier Pension Plan?

Kotak Premier Pension Plan is a Traditional Participating Pension Plan. Kotak Premier Pension Plan helps you accumulate a retirement kitty for the golden years to help you lead a comfortable and worry-free retirement life. Kotak Premier Pension Plan is a participating plan with assured benefits on death and vesting.

What are the features of the Kotak Premier Pension Plan?

Kotak Premier Pension Plan provides guaranteed additions in the first five policy years
Earn bonus from 6^th policy year onwards
Assured Benefit of 105% of Total Premiums paid on Death or Vesting
Additional Protection through optional riders

Who is eligible for the Kotak Premier Pension Plan?

	Minimum	Maximum
Entry Age	30 years	55 / 60 years
Vesting Age	45 years	70 years
Policy Term	Premium paying term	Policy term
	Regular pay	10 to 30 years
	Limited Pay	10 pay: 15 to 30 years 12 pay: 17 to 30 years
	Single pay	10 and 15 years
Premium Paying Term	Regular pay	Same as the policy term
	Limited Pay	10 and 12 years
	Single pay	Single
Premium Payment Mode	Yearly, Half-yearly, Quarterly, Monthly
Premium Modal factor	Yearly-100%, Half yearly-51%, Quarterly-26%, Monthly-8.8%
Basic Sum Assure	Min: ₹ 2,00,000 Max: Subject to underwriting

What are the benefits of the Kotak Premier Pension Plan?

i.) Death benefit

In the unfortunate event of the death of the Life Insured during the term of the Kotak Premier Pension Plan , the nominee will receive the following:

Assured Benefit PLUS
Accrued Guaranteed Additions PLUS
Accrued Reversionary Bonuses and Terminal Bonus, if any

Utilisation of death benefit

The nominee can either

Purchase an Immediate or Deferred Annuity with entire proceeds or part of it at the then prevailing rate from Kotak Life Insurance or any other Insurer (up to 50% of the entire proceeds) or
Withdraw the entire proceeds of the policy

ii.) Vesting Benefit

Upon completion of the tenure of the Kotak Premier Pension Plan (maturity), the following benefits will be available:

Basic Sum Assured PLUS
Accrued Guaranteed Additions PLUS
Accrued Reversionary Bonuses and Terminal Bonus, if any

Utilisation of Vesting Benefit

The Vesting Benefit can be taken as per any one of the following options:

To utilize the entire proceeds to purchase an immediate or deferred annuity at the then prevailing annuity rate from Kotak Life Insurance or any other insurer (up to 50% of the entire proceeds); OR
Receive a lump sum of up to 60%of the vesting benefit tax-free. The remaining amount must be used to purchase an Immediate or Deferred annuity at the then prevailing annuity rates from Kotak Life Insurance or any other insurer (up to 50% of the entire proceeds); OR
Purchase a single premium deferred pension product from Kotak Life Insurance at that time; OR
Extend the accumulation period within the same policy with the same terms and conditions as the original policy, provided the Life Insured is below 55 years of age.

Assured Benefit

This is the minimum guaranteed benefit available either on death or on vesting. This benefit will be equal to 105% of the Total Premiums paid till the date of death or vesting.

Grace Period, Reduced paid-up and Revival of Kotak Premier Pension Plan

Grace period

There is a grace period of 30 days from the due date of payment of the premium for the yearly, half-yearly and quarterly modes, and 15 days for the monthly mode.

Reduced Paid-up Policies

For Regular & limited premium-paying policies, after the Kotak Premier Pension Plan policy acquires Surrender Value, if the subsequent premiums are not paid within the grace period the policy will be converted into a Reduced Paid-Up policy by default.

Revival

A lapsed or Reduced Paid-Up policy can be revived within five years of the first unpaid premium.

Free Look Period of Kotak Premier Pension Plan

If the policyholder is not agreeable with any of the terms and conditions of the Kotak Premier Pension Plan , he may choose to return the policy within 15 days for a policy sold through all channels (except for Distance Marketing Channel which will have 30 Days) from the date of receipt of the Kotak Premier Pension Plan policy.

Surrendering Kotak Premier Pension Plan

The Kotak Premier Pension Plan policy acquires a Guaranteed Surrender Value (GSV) depending on the premium payment term chosen and number of premiums paid.

For Regular & Limited Premium Paying policy: The Kotak Premier Pension Plan policy will acquire a GSV after payment of full premiums for two consecutive years.

For Single Premium Paying policy: The Kotak Premier Pension Plan policy will acquire a GSV any time after payment of the Single premium.

The surrender benefit can be used to purchase an annuity plan, or you can partially withdraw it and use the remaining balance to purchase an annuity plan.

What are the advantages of the Kotak Premier Pension Plan?

You can choose your premium paying term at your convenience.
Increase the protection level by selecting from a wide range of Riders.
High Sum Assured Discounts are available

What are the disadvantages of the Kotak Premier Pension Plan?

The Kotak Premier Pension Plan does not offer a maturity benefit. Instead, at the end of the policy term, the final benefit is vested and not given to you in cash.
Bonuses are not guaranteed.
If you choose to surrender the plan, the surrender benefit can only be used to purchase an annuity plan, either in full or in part.

Research Methodology of Kotak Premier Pension Plan

The Kotak Premier Pension Plan does not permit withdrawing the benefits at the end of the Kotak Premier Pension Plan policy term (partial withdrawal is allowed). Instead, the policy matures, and the vesting benefit is used to purchase an annuity plan.

To better understand this, let’s examine the benefit illustration provided in the policy brochure.

Benefit Illustration – IRR Analysis of Kotak Premier Pension Plan

Consider a 35-year-old male who buys the Kotak Premier Pension Plan with a Sum Assured of ₹10 Lakhs. Both the policy term and the premium paying term are 20 years, with an annual premium of ₹54,920.

Male	35 years
Sum Assured	₹ 10,00,000
Policy Term	20 years
Premium Paying Term	20 years
Annualised Premium	₹ 54,290

If he pays the premium regularly, the benefits vest at the end of the policy term, which includes the accrued guaranteed bonus and other bonuses.

The illustration assumes rates of return of 4% p.a. and 8% p.a., though it’s important to note that bonuses are not guaranteed and may vary as declared by the company.

		At 4% p.a.		At 8% p.a.
Age	Year	Annualised premium / Maturity benefit	Death benefit	Annualised premium / Maturity benefit	Death benefit
35	1	-54,290	10,00,000	-54,290	10,00,000
36	2	-54,290	10,00,000	-54,290	10,00,000
37	3	-54,290	10,00,000	-54,290	10,00,000
38	4	-54,290	10,00,000	-54,290	10,00,000
39	5	-54,290	10,00,000	-54,290	10,00,000
40	6	-54,290	10,00,000	-54,290	10,00,000
41	7	-54,290	10,00,000	-54,290	10,00,000
42	8	-54,290	10,00,000	-54,290	10,00,000
43	9	-54,290	10,00,000	-54,290	10,00,000
44	10	-54,290	10,00,000	-54,290	10,00,000
45	11	-54,290	10,00,000	-54,290	10,00,000
46	12	-54,290	10,00,000	-54,290	10,00,000
47	13	-54,290	10,00,000	-54,290	10,00,000
48	14	-54,290	10,00,000	-54,290	10,00,000
49	15	-54,290	10,00,000	-54,290	10,00,000
50	16	-54,290	10,00,000	-54,290	10,00,000
51	17	-54,290	10,00,000	-54,290	10,00,000
52	18	-54,290	10,00,000	-54,290	10,00,000
53	19	-54,290	10,00,000	-54,290	10,00,000
54	20	-54,290	10,00,000	-54,290	10,00,000
55		15,06,250	10,00,000	22,57,764	10,00,000

	IRR	3.02%		6.55%

Under the 4% return scenario, the vested benefit amounts to ₹15.06 Lakhs. In the 8% return scenario, the vested benefit amounts to ₹22.57 Lakhs.

These benefits are intended to be the purchase price for an immediate or deferred annuity plan offered by Kotak Life or another insurer, with the annuity rate determined at the time of purchase.

Since these benefits are not directly materialized by the policyholder, calculating the Internal Rate of Return (IRR) may not be highly relevant. However, for comparison purposes, the IRR for the 4% scenario is 3.02% as per the Kotak Premier Pension Plan maturity calculator, and for the 8% scenario, it is 6.55% as per the Kotak Premier Pension Plan maturity calculator.

These rates are notional because they are based solely on the accumulation phase and do not account for the distribution phase, which involves receiving the annuity.

Kotak Premier Pension Plan Vs. Other Investment Products

Accumulating a retirement corpus through alternative investment modes offers more flexibility in terms of utilization compared to the Kotak Premier Pension Plan.

This section explores other investment options where you can secure life coverage while simultaneously building your retirement corpus. This approach involves splitting rather than combining the two components.

Kotak Premier Pension Plan Vs. Pure Term + PPF / ELSS

For instance, a pure term life insurance policy with a sum assured of ₹10 Lakhs is available at an affordable premium of ₹5,500 per year, with a premium payment term of 20 years and a policy term of 20 years.

In contrast, the annual premium for the same coverage under the Kotak Premier Pension Plan is ₹54,920.

By choosing a term plan, you can save ₹48,790 annually, which can be invested according to your personal risk tolerance.

Pure Term Life Insurance Policy
Sum Assured	₹ 10,00,000
Policy Term	20 years
Premium Paying Term	20 years
Annualised Premium	₹ 5,500
Investment	₹ 48,790

		Term Insurance + PPF		Term insurance + ELSS
Age	Year	Term Insurance premium + PPF	Death benefit	Term Insurance premium + ELSS	Death benefit
35	1	-54,290	10,00,000	-54,290	10,00,000
36	2	-54,290	10,00,000	-54,290	10,00,000
37	3	-54,290	10,00,000	-54,290	10,00,000
38	4	-54,290	10,00,000	-54,290	10,00,000
39	5	-54,290	10,00,000	-54,290	10,00,000
40	6	-54,290	10,00,000	-54,290	10,00,000
41	7	-54,290	10,00,000	-54,290	10,00,000
42	8	-54,290	10,00,000	-54,290	10,00,000
43	9	-54,290	10,00,000	-54,290	10,00,000
44	10	-54,290	10,00,000	-54,290	10,00,000
45	11	-54,290	10,00,000	-54,290	10,00,000
46	12	-54,290	10,00,000	-54,290	10,00,000
47	13	-54,290	10,00,000	-54,290	10,00,000
48	14	-54,290	10,00,000	-54,290	10,00,000
49	15	-54,290	10,00,000	-54,290	10,00,000
50	16	-54,290	10,00,000	-54,290	10,00,000
51	17	-54,290	10,00,000	-54,290	10,00,000
52	18	-54,290	10,00,000	-54,290	10,00,000
53	19	-54,290	10,00,000	-54,290	10,00,000
54	20	-54,290	10,00,000	-54,290	10,00,000
55		21,65,719	10,00,000	36,51,142	10,00,000

	IRR	6.19%		10.53%

For this illustration, we consider investing in a PPF account and an ELSS fund. The corpus accumulated at the end of the policy term is readily available without any restrictions.

– The final maturity value in the PPF account is ₹21.65 Lakhs, with an IRR of 6.19%. Although the IRR under the Kotak Premier Pension Plan’s 8% scenario is higher by 36 basis points, it is notional. In this alternative strategy, the IRR represents the actual rate of return.

– The final maturity value in the ELSS fund is ₹39.37 Lakhs before taxes. After accounting for capital gains, the post-tax value is ₹36.51 Lakhs, with an IRR of 10.53% (post-tax return).

ELSS Tax Calculation
Maturity value after 20 years	39,37,291
Purchase price	9,75,800
Long-Term Capital Gains	29,61,491
Exemption limit	1,00,000
Taxable LTCG	28,61,491
Tax paid on LTCG	2,86,149
Maturity value after tax	36,51,142

This strategy simplifies the accumulation of the retirement corpus and offers the significant advantage of providing inflation-adjusted income during retirement. Such flexibility and direct access to funds are not available with the Kotak Premier Pension Plan.

Final Verdict on Kotak Premier Pension Plan

The Kotak Premier Pension Plan assists in accumulating a retirement fund for your golden years (accumulation phase). However, this fund is not available at your discretion. After paying the premiums, you can only receive the annuity, which is not part of the Kotak Premier Pension Plan.

The annuity plan can be purchased only at the time of vesting at the prevailing annuity rates (distribution phase).

The vesting benefit in the Kotak Premier Pension Plan is not guaranteed, as it depends on year-on-year bonus declarations. Additionally, annuity rates are also not guaranteed. These uncertainties can create mistrust in the Kotak Premier Pension Plan and it also has a high agent commission

Retirement planning is a critical aspect of financial planning and requires a well-crafted strategy based on individual preferences. A generic pension plan may not help you achieve your post-retirement goals and could derail your plans.

When it comes to financial advice, do Quora, Facebook, and Twitter have the last word?

For personalized retirement planning, consult a Certified Financial Planner who can develop a robust retirement plan encompassing both the accumulation and distribution phases.

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Kotak Premier Pension Plan: Good or Bad? An Enlightening Review

Table of Contents:

What is the Kotak Premier Pension Plan?

What are the features of the Kotak Premier Pension Plan?

Who is eligible for the Kotak Premier Pension Plan?