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Table of Content:
2.) What is the SBI life Smart Elite Plan?
3.) Features of SBI Life Smart Elite Plan
4.) Analysis of SBI Life Smart Elite Plan (ULIP)
5.) Benefits of SBI Life Smart Elite Plan
7.) Fund Options of SBI Life Smart Elite Plan
8.) Charges of SBI Life Smart Elite Plan
- Premium Allocation Charge
- Policy Administration Charge
- Fund Management Charges
- Discontinuance Charge
- Partial Withdrawal charge
- Switching Charge
- Premium Redirection charge
- Mortality Charge
- Accidental Benefit Charge
- Medical Expenses on Revival
9.) Research Methodology of SBI Life Smart Elite Plan
10.) SBI Life Smart Elite Plan: Analysis with an illustration
11.) IRR Calculation of SBI Life Smart Elite Plan with Illustration
12.) SBI Life Smart Elite Plan vs. Risk-Free Investments + Term Insurance
13.) Advantages of SBI Life Smart Elite Plan
14.) Disadvantages of SBI Life Smart Elite Plan
15.) Discontinuance of the SBI Life Smart Elite Plan
16.) Surrendering/Cancelling SBI Life Smart Elite Plan during free look period
17.) Surrendering/Cancelling SBI Life Smart Elite Plan after the free look period
18.) Final Verdict of SBI Life Smart Elite Plan-ULIP Review
Introduction
SBI Life Smart Elite Plan is a ULIP that provides both life protection and investment option.
SBI Life Smart Elite Plan claims that this ULIP plan gives you the power to choose the options that suit your requirements.
But will SBI Life Smart Elite Plan give us the power enough to reach our financial freedom?
Let’s analyse SBI Life Smart Elite Plan and see whether you should buy it or not.
What is the SBI life Smart Elite Plan?
SBI Life Smart Elite Plan is a Unit Linked life insurance product for individuals.
It gives us the flexibility to pay the premiums for a limited period or a lump sum.
SBI Life Smart Elite Plan gives us the freedom to stay invested and life protection. It gives you market-related investment returns.
As per your life stage and requirements, you can choose your premium payment terms, policy term, premium amount, and life protection.
The death benefit in this insurance plan has two options.
- Gold Option
- Platinum Option
You can choose any one of these options while purchasing the SBI Life Smart Elite policy.
But once you choose this option then, it cannot be changed during the policy term.
Features of SBI Life Smart Elite Plan:
- Option to pay your premium for 7, 10, or 12 years premiums or lump sum.
- The investment return is market-related. So, it can give a better return in the long term.
- You don’t have to pay Premium Allocation Charge from the 6th Premium term onwards.
- You can invest in various funds and can manage them at your convenience.
- Options to choose between Gold option and Platinum option.
- The value of life coverage will be 7 times a single premium in Limited Premium Payment and 1.25 times in lumpsum.
- This policy has switching and redirecting options.
- Accidental Death and Permanently Disabled benefits are part of the plan.
- You can get a Tax benefit under this plan.
Analysis of SBI Life Smart Elite Plan (ULIP)
Benefits of SBI Life Smart Elite Plan:
Death Benefit:
If the policyholder passes away, unfortunately, then the nominee will get the death benefit.
Gold Option:
In the Gold Option of SBI Life Smart Elite Plan, the nominees will get the death benefit which is the highest of the following.
- Fund value as on the date of claim or
- Sum Assured minus any applicable partial withdrawal or
- 105% of the premium paid
Platinum Option:
In the Platinum Option of SBI Life Smart Elite Plan, the nominee will the death benefit which is the highest of the following
- Fund value as on the date of the claim plus sum assured or
- 105% of the total premium paid
In-built plan:
If in case the SBI Life Smart Elite Plan holder becomes permanently disabled, then he will get an accident benefit. But, it is valid for one time. After that, the policy will become a basic one.
Settlement Option:
The death benefit can be paid in the form of a lump sum or as per the settlement option.
Under the settlement option, the nominee can receive the amount within 2 to 5 years as a yearly, half-yearly, quarterly, or monthly payout.
Maturity Benefit:
After the end of the SBI Life Smart Elite policy term, the policyholder will get the fund value on the date of maturity as lumpsum.
Eligibility:
Fund Options of SBI Life Smart Elite Plan:
You can invest in any of the funds or the combination of the following funds in the SBI Life Smart Elite Plan.
Charges of SBI Life Smart Elite Plan:
Premium Allocation Charge:
This charge will be deducted from your SBI Life Smart Elite Plan premiums.
Policy Administration Charge:
This charge will cost Rs. 60 per month for LPPT, and Rs. 50 for a single premium. This shall be deducted during the cancellation of the units.
The SBI Life Smart Elite policy Administration fee will be subjected to a cap of Rs. 500.
Fund Management Charges:
A percent proportion of the asset value of the relevant fund will be levied before computing the NAV on a daily basis, as shown below:
Discontinuance Charge:
This shall be deducted as a percentage of your annual premium term or fund value during the year of discontinuance.
Partial Withdrawal charge:
There is one free partial withdrawal available per year. After that, you need to pay Rs. 100 for every partial withdrawal.
The partial withdrawal charge is subject to a cap of Rs. 500 per withdrawal.
Switching Charge:
You have the freedom to switch your policy only 2 times per year without any cost. But, after that, you have to pay Rs. 100 for every switch. This Switching charge is subject to a cap of Rs. 500 per switch.
Premium Redirection charge:
There is one free redirection available per year. After that, you have to pay Rs. 100 for every redirection.
These fees can be recovered by canceling units at the current unit price on the date of the redirection request. Redirection charge is subject to a cap of Rs. 500 per transaction.
Mortality Charge:
It is deducted from the fund value on the first day of each month through unit cancellation. It is depended on your age and the sum at risk during the time of charge deduction.
Accidental Benefit Charge:
The Accidental Benefit Charge will be deducted Rs. 0.50 p.a per 1000 sum assured on monthly basis through the cancellation of units. This charge will not be deducted if the SBI Life Smart Elite policy status is mentioned as “paid.”
Medical Expenses on Revival:
This charge will be paid by the policyholder through the cancellation of units that are subject to an utmost of Rs. 3000.
Research Methodology of SBI Life Smart Elite Plan:
Hope you have understood by now, what is the overall benefits, SBI Life Smart Elite Plan offers you.
Let us further analyse, by creating different investment combinations which would give us similar investment and insurance benefits.
So that we can evaluate SBI Life Smart Elite Plan by comparing and contrasting it with similar benefit-giving investments.
First, let us calculate the Internal Rate of Return provided by this SBI Life Smart Elite Plan and then compare the same with PPF and ELSS and mutual fund investments along with term insurance combination.
SBI Life Smart Elite Plan: Analysis with an illustration:
IRR Calculation of SBI Life Smart Elite Plan with an Illustration:
Now, let’s calculate the IRR of the SBI Life Smart Elite Plan by using the online calculator provided by SBI Life.
Annual contribution: Rs. 5, 00, 000
Premium Term: 10 years
Policy Term: 20 years
Now, let’s see the IRR (Internal Rate of Return) for the worst-case scenario with an illustration. Here let’s take the assumed gross return as 4% in the worst-case scenario.
As you can see in the above illustration, in the worst-case scenario, it gives us an IRR of 2.26%. It gives us the Maturity benefit is Rs. 70, 84, 547 and the Death benefit is Rs. 55, 73, 115.
Now, let’s take the best-case scenario. Here let’s take the assumed gross return is 8%.
As you can see in the above illustration, the best-case scenario gives us an IRR of 6.20%. At the end of the policy term, it gives us the Maturity benefit of Rs. 1, 28, 87, 865 and the Death benefit is Rs. 69, 40, 724.
SBI Life Smart Elite Plan vs. Risk-Free Investments + Term Insurance:
This insurance policy may give you the impression of long-term wealth. But in reality, accompany with risk level it is not enough to beat the long-term inflation.
You can simply yield a better return on risk-free investment products. Such as FDs, PPF, Post office schemes, NPS, etc.
Here, let’s see the IRR of risk-free investment products compared to SBI Life Smart Elite Plan.
Let’s take the annual contribution as Rs. 5, 00, 000
Term Insurance:
Sum Assured: Rs. 1, 00, 00, 000
Annual Premium: Rs. 13, 500
Tenure: 20 years
Investment Contribution: Rs. 4, 86, 500
Tenure: 7 years with contribution + 13 years without the contribution
As you can see in the above illustration, even risk-free investment gives you a better return compared to SBI Life Smart Elite Plan.
Now, let us compare the SBI Life Smart Elite Plan value with the investment value which involves risk.
SBI Life Smart Elite Plan vs. ELSS + Term Insurance:
So, here I am taking ELSS for a comparison.
Let’s take the same value as above.
Let’s take the annual contribution as Rs. 5, 00, 000
Term Insurance:
Sum Assured: Rs. 1, 00, 00, 000
Annual Premium: Rs. 13, 500
Tenure: 20 years
Investment Contribution: Rs. 4, 86, 500
Tenure: 7 years with contribution + 13 years without the contribution
Then,
As you can see in the above illustration, the ELSS gives us an IRR of 11.69% after taking the risk. At the end of the 20 years, we will get Rs. 2, 94, 32, 643 as investment return.
So, after taking risks ELSS gives us the best return compare to SBI Life Smart Elite Plan.
Advantages of SBI Life Smart Elite Plan:
- There are two types of protection available: Gold Option and Platinum Option.
- There is no Premium Allocation Charge after the 6th policy year onwards. It can help you to increase the value of your fund.
- You can invest in any funds among the 8 suggested funds that suit your requirements. Min switch amount is Rs. 5000 after that you have to pay Rs. 100 for every switch. It is allowed during the settlement period.
- From the 2nd policy term onwards, premium redirection is available to the policyholder. One Premium redirection is free, after that, you have to pay Rs. 100 for every transaction.
- Partial withdrawal is allowed from the 6th policy term onwards. One partial withdrawal is free after that you have to pay Rs. 100 for every withdrawal.
Disadvantages of SBI Life Smart Elite Plan:
- The policyholder bears the investment risk in the investment portfolio during the settlement term.
- The Lock-in period is 5 years.
- During the first 5 years of the policy term, the SBI Life Smart Elite Insurance plan will provide no liquidity. Policyholders will not be able to totally or partially surrender or withdraw funds until the conclusion of the 5th policy term.
- There is no option of availing of a loan under this SBI Life Smart Elite insurance plan.
- Despite the fact that it is a combination of insurance and investment products, neither insurance nor investment satisfies the goal.
Discontinuance of the SBI Life Smart Elite Plan:
If you didn’t pay the premium term, then you will be given a grace period to pay the premium. After the grace period, it will be considered a Discontinuance of the policy.
The grace period will be 30 days in yearly, half-yearly, and quarterly mode and 15 days in monthly mode.
Discontinuance during the lock-in period:
If you didn’t pay the premium during the grace period, then you will have the following options,
- Option to revive the policy within 3 years
- Option to surrender the policy.
Discontinuance after lock-in period:
The policy will be converted into a reduced paid-up policy if the policyholder decides to discontinue the policy after the lock-in period. According to the policy, you have the following discontinuance options.
- Revive the policy within 3 years
- Surrender the policy
The Paid-up sum assured will be the sum assured multiplied by the total number of premiums paid. All charges will be applied according to the terms and conditions.
For more details, you can read the SBI Life Smart Elite plan brochure here.
So, now let’s see what you should do if you are thinking about canceling/surrendering the insurance policy.
Surrendering/Cancelling SBI Life Smart Elite Plan during free look period:
If you are not satisfied with the SBI Life Smart Elite Plan, then you can return the policy by stating your reason during the free look period.
The free look period will be 15 days for any channel mode and 30 days for electronic mode.
Surrendering/Cancelling SBI Life Smart Elite Plan after the free look period:
During the lock-in period:
- The surrendering policy is applicable.
- You have to pay the discontinuance charge.
- You will earn min interest of 4% in the fund value.
- Life cover and In-Built Accident Benefit will become invalid
- The fund value is payable on the 1st day of the 6th policy term.
After the lock-in period:
The fund value will be paid as soon as possible.
Final Verdict of SBI Life Smart Elite Plan-ULIP Review:
Compare to separate investment and insurance plans, this SBI Life Smart Elite Plan doesn’t fulfill the conditions of an investment and insurance.
Even the money accumulated during the policy term, cannot help you to beat the inflation.
After analysing all the factors, for long-term wealth creation, this SBI Life Smart Elite Plan is not worth the money and time of the investor.
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