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Is the SUD Life Century Star Plan truly the key to long-term wealth creation, or does it fall short of expectations?
Will the SUD Life Century Star Plan secure your financial future, or are smarter options available in the market?
Is investing in the SUD Life Century Star Plan a wise choice, or just another overhyped insurance product?
But can the SUD Life Century Star truly provide this protection while helping you reach your goals? Let’s take a closer look at its features, benefits, and drawbacks to find out.
Table of Contents
What is the SUD Life Century Star?
What are the features of the SUD Life Century Star?
Who is eligible for the SUD Life Century Star?
What are the benefits of the SUD Life Century Star?
Grace Period, Discontinuance and Revival of the SUD Life Century Star
Free Look Period for the SUD Life Century Star
Surrendering the SUD Life Century Star
What are the advantages of the SUD Life Century Star?
What are the disadvantages of the SUD Life Century Star?
Research Methodology of SUD Life Century Star
Benefit Illustration – IRR Analysis of SUD Life Century Star
SUD Life Century Star Vs. Other Investments
SUD Life Century Star Vs. Pure-term + Equity Mutual Fund
Final Verdict on SUD Life Century Star
What is the SUD Life Century Star?
SUD Life Century Star is a Limited Premium Non-Linked Non-Participating Savings Life Insurance Plan. It offers protection for your family in case of an unfortunate death.
The plan offers Guaranteed Maturity Benefit as a multiple of Annualised Premium calculated basis the SUD Life Century Star Plan policy term chosen by you and your age at entry.
What are the features of the SUD Life Century Star?
- Life cover along with guaranteed maturity benefits
- Fixed premium payment period of 7 years
- Option to withdraw from the 13th year onwards, with attractive surrender benefits
- Eligible for tax benefits under Sections 80C and 10(10D)
- Policy term available between 12 to 16 years
- Premiums payable annually
Who is eligible for the SUD Life Century Star?
| Parameters | Minimum | Maximum |
| Entry Age (Age last birthday) | 8 Years | 55 Years |
| Maturity Age (Age last birthday) | 20 Years | 71 Years |
| Policy Term | 12 Years | 16 Years |
| Sum Assured on Death | ₹ 5,00,000 | ₹ 20,00,00,000 |
| Annualized Premium | ₹ 50,000 | ₹ 2,00,00,000 |
| Premium Payment Term | 7 Years | |
| Premium Payment Modes | Yearly | |
What are the benefits of the SUD Life Century Star?
Death Benefit
In case of the death of the life assured, the Death Benefit is immediately payable, and the SUD Life Century Star Plan policy will be terminated, and no further benefits will be paid. Sum Assured on Death is defined as the highest of:
- 10 times of Annualised Premium OR
- 105% of total premiums paid as on the date of death
Maturity Benefit
On survival of the Life Assured to the end of the SUD Life Century Star Plan Policy Term, provided the policy is in force, the Guaranteed Maturity Benefit shall be payable. The Guaranteed Maturity Benefit is determined basis the age and policy term as chosen by the policyholder.
Grace Period, Discontinuance and Revival of the SUD Life Century Star
Grace Period
A grace period of 30 days is available to pay the due premium. This period starts from the due date of each premium payment.
Discontinuance
Lapse: If the due premiums for the first full policy year have not been paid within the grace period, the policy will lapse. Life cover ceases, and no benefits will be paid under the lapsed policy till the policy is revived.
Reduced Paid-Up: If the premiums have been paid for the first full policy year and subsequent premiums are not paid, then the SUD Life Century Star Plan policy will acquire Reduced Paid-Up status.
The reduced paid-up policy will continue with the reduced benefits (reduced proportionately).
Revival
You can revive your Lapsed/Reduced Paid-Up policy within five years from the due date of the first unpaid premium.
Free Look Period for the SUD Life Century Star
If you disagree with any of those terms or conditions in the SUD Life Century Star Plan policy, you have the option to return the policy within 30 days from the date of receipt of the policy document.
Surrendering the SUD Life Century Star
The Surrender Value payable would be the higher of Guaranteed Surrender Value (GSV) and Special Surrender Value (SSV).
Special Surrender Value will be acquired after the receipt of one full policy year’s premiums, whereas the Guaranteed Surrender Value will be acquired after the receipt of the first two consecutive full policy year premiums.
What are the advantages of the SUD Life Century Star?
- Option to enhance coverage with Riders
- Loan facility available up to 70% of the surrender value
- For annualised premiums of ₹1.5 lakh or more, the Guaranteed Maturity Benefit is enhanced by 2%
- All plan benefits come with a guarantee
What are the disadvantages of the SUD Life Century Star?
- The premium payment term is locked at 7 years, which may not align with every investor’s needs.
- Premiums are payable only on an annual basis, leaving no flexibility in choosing other payment frequencies.
- The plan does not offer loyalty additions for long-term policyholders.
- While the benefits are guaranteed, the overall returns are modest and fall short compared to other investment options.
Research Methodology of SUD Life Century Star
The SUD Life Century Star Plan promotes the discipline of saving. However, as an investor, it’s equally important to ensure that your savings are generating returns that beat inflation and contribute meaningfully to wealth creation.
Benefit Illustration – IRR Analysis of SUD Life Century Star
Let’s evaluate the plan using an illustration from the SUD Life Century Star Plan policy brochure: A 40-year-old male opts for the plan with a sum assured of ₹10 lakhs. The premium payment term is 7 years, and the policy term is 16 years. The annual premium amounts to ₹1 lakh.
| Male | 40 years |
| Sum Assured | ₹ 10,00,000 |
| Policy Term | 16 years |
| Premium Paying Term | 7 years |
| Annualised Premium | ₹ 1,00,000 |
At the end of the SUD Life Century Star Plan policy term, the maturity benefit works out to ₹12.37 lakhs. This translates to an Internal Rate of Return (IRR) of just 4.45% as per the SUD Life Century Star Plan maturity calculator.
| Age | Year | Annualised premium / Maturity benefit | Death benefit |
| 40 | 1 | -1,00,000 | 10,00,000 |
| 41 | 2 | -1,00,000 | 10,00,000 |
| 42 | 3 | -1,00,000 | 10,00,000 |
| 43 | 4 | -1,00,000 | 10,00,000 |
| 44 | 5 | -1,00,000 | 10,00,000 |
| 45 | 6 | -1,00,000 | 10,00,000 |
| 46 | 7 | -1,00,000 | 10,00,000 |
| 47 | 8 | 0 | 10,00,000 |
| 48 | 9 | 0 | 10,00,000 |
| 49 | 10 | 0 | 10,00,000 |
| 50 | 11 | 0 | 10,00,000 |
| 51 | 12 | 0 | 10,00,000 |
| 52 | 13 | 0 | 10,00,000 |
| 53 | 14 | 0 | 10,00,000 |
| 54 | 15 | 0 | 10,00,000 |
| 55 | 16 | 0 | 10,00,000 |
| 56 | 12,37,930 | ||
| IRR | 4.45% |
While the guaranteed payout may appear reassuring, the actual returns are quite low—even lower than several debt instruments available in the market. Over the long run, such modest growth can hold back wealth accumulation.
As a result, the SUD Life Century Star Plan may not be sufficient to build the corpus required to meet your financial goals.
SUD Life Century Star Vs. Other Investments
As part of this analysis, let’s compare the returns from the SUD Life Century Star Plan with alternative investment options, using the same illustration discussed earlier. While the plan combines both life cover and investment, separating these two aspects provides better clarity.
SUD Life Century Star Vs. Pure-term + Equity Mutual Fund
A term insurance policy with a sum assured of ₹10 lakhs costs only ₹19,500 annually. The SUD Life Century Star Plan policy term is 16 years, with premiums payable for just 5 years.
This leaves a balance of ₹80,500 each year (out of the ₹1 lakh budget) that can be directed towards investments. From the 6th and 7th year onwards, the full ₹1 lakh annually becomes available for investment.
| Pure Term Life Insurance Policy | |
| Sum Assured | ₹ 10,00,000 |
| Policy Term | 16 years |
| Premium Paying Term | 7 years |
| Annualised Premium | ₹ 19,500 |
| Investment | ₹ 80,500 |
If the balance is invested in an equity mutual fund, the corpus at maturity grows to ₹26.50 lakhs. After accounting for capital gains tax, the post-tax maturity value stands at ₹24.10 lakhs. This translates into a post-tax IRR of 9.83% for the combined strategy (term plan + equity mutual fund).
| Age | Year | Term Insurance premium + Equity Mutual Fund | Death benefit |
| 40 | 1 | -1,00,000 | 10,00,000 |
| 41 | 2 | -1,00,000 | 10,00,000 |
| 42 | 3 | -1,00,000 | 10,00,000 |
| 43 | 4 | -1,00,000 | 10,00,000 |
| 44 | 5 | -1,00,000 | 10,00,000 |
| 45 | 6 | -1,00,000 | 10,00,000 |
| 46 | 7 | -1,00,000 | 10,00,000 |
| 47 | 8 | 0 | 10,00,000 |
| 48 | 9 | 0 | 10,00,000 |
| 49 | 10 | 0 | 10,00,000 |
| 50 | 11 | 0 | 10,00,000 |
| 51 | 12 | 0 | 10,00,000 |
| 52 | 13 | 0 | 10,00,000 |
| 53 | 14 | 0 | 10,00,000 |
| 54 | 15 | 0 | 10,00,000 |
| 55 | 16 | 0 | 10,00,000 |
| 56 | 24,10,439 | ||
| IRR | 9.83% |
| Equity Mutual Fund Tax Calculation | |
| Maturity value after 16 years | 26,50,858 |
| Purchase price | 6,02,500 |
| Long-Term Capital Gains | 20,48,358 |
| Exemption limit | 1,25,000 |
| Taxable LTCG | 19,23,358 |
| Tax paid on LTCG | 2,40,420 |
| Maturity value after tax | 24,10,439 |
Compared to this, the SUD Life Century Star Plan delivers an IRR of only 4.45%, which is significantly lower. This demonstrates that by separating insurance and investment, and aligning your investments with your risk profile and time horizon, you can achieve far better returns.
Thus, the SUD Life Century Star Plan falls short—both in terms of offering adequate life cover and in generating competitive investment returns.
Final Verdict on SUD Life Century Star
The SUD Life Century Star Plan promises guaranteed returns on savings. However, relying solely on such guarantees is not ideal for long-term wealth creation.
Our analysis shows that while the benefits are assured, the returns are insufficient to beat inflation, making it difficult to meet the rising costs of future goals.
Another limitation is that both the SUD Life Century Star Plan policy term and premium payment duration are fixed, leaving little flexibility. This rigidity often results in a mismatch between personal financial goals and the policy’s maturity timeline and it also has a high agent commission.
Combined with low returns, inadequate life cover, and a rigid cash flow structure, the plan proves unsuitable for building a strong portfolio.
The biggest drawback lies in the product’s design—mixing insurance with investment. A better approach is to secure your family with a pure-term life insurance policy, and invest separately in either debt or equity instruments aligned to your risk profile and time horizon.
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This separation ensures adequate protection while also maximising the growth of your investments. For a tailored strategy, it is advisable to consult a Certified Financial Planner (CFP), who can help channel your savings effectively and guide you toward achieving your long-term financial goals.
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