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Tata AIA Life guaranteed return Insurance plan is a traditional endowment policy. It claims to provide life Insurance coverage along with a savings plan for you to meet your life’s financial goals.
It ensures guaranteed regular income to meet your future financial requirements and secure the future of your loved ones.
But is it as secure of an investment as it claims to be?
Let us take a deep dive into the article to read a detailed review of this insurance plan.
Table of Contents:
1.) What is Tata AIA Life Insurance Guaranteed Return Insurance Plan?
2.) Features of Tata AIA Life Insurance Guaranteed Return Insurance Plan
3.) Eligibility Criteria of Tata AIA Life Insurance Guaranteed Return Insurance Plan
4.) Key Benefits of Tata AIA Life Insurance Guaranteed Return Insurance Plan
5.) Additional Benefits of Tata AIA Life Insurance Guaranteed Return Insurance Plan
6.) Grace Period, Lapse & Revival of Tata AIA Life Insurance Guaranteed Return Insurance Plan
7.) Free look-up period & Surrendering of Tata AIA Life Insurance Guaranteed Return Insurance Plan
8.) Advantages of Tata AIA Life Insurance Guaranteed Return Insurance Plan
9.) Disadvantages of Tata AIA Life Insurance Guaranteed Return Insurance Plan
11.) IRR of Tata AIA Life Guaranteed Return Insurance Plan
12.) Tata AIA Life Guaranteed Return Insurance Plan vs other investments
13.) Tata AIA Life Guaranteed Return Insurance Plan vs PPF/ELSS + Pure Term Insurance
14.) Final Verdict on Tata AIA Life Guaranteed Return Insurance Plan
What is Tata AIA life insurance guaranteed return insurance plan?
Tata AIA Life Insurance guaranteed return is an individual, Non-Linked, Non-Participating life Insurance Savings Plan.
Tata AIA life insurance guaranteed return claims to provide the benefits of a life insurance cover along with a guaranteed regular income to act as your investment in meeting your medium to long-term financial goals. Therefore, providing you with both life protection and savings features.
The regular guaranteed income can be received either in the form of a lump sum or regular income or whole life income.
Features of Tata AIA life insurance guaranteed return insurance plan:
-
- Flexibility to choose among three of its plan options.
- Option 1: Endowment – Maturity benefit (lump sum)
- Option 2: Regular income – Income benefit for a defined period
- Option 3: Whole life income – Income benefits throughout your life.
- Guaranteed additions boost the lump sum amount under the endowment option.
- Option to cover your spouse under the whole life income option.
- Optional riders will enhance your cover.
- Premium paying term options – Single pay, regular pay or limited pay.
- According to your requirement, a policy term can be chosen.
Eligibility criteria of Tata AIA life insurance guaranteed return insurance plan:
| Plan Options | Option 1: Endowment Option Option 2: Regular Income Option 3: Whole Life Income |
| Basic Sum Assured | Death Benefit Multiple X Annualised Premium. It will vary by Plan Option, Entry Age, and Premium Payment Term. |
| Premium Amount | Minimum: 24,000 per annum Maximum: No Limit, subject to underwriting |
| Premium Payment Mode | Single, Annual/ Half-yearly / Quarterly/ Monthly |
| Age at Maturity (Years) | Minimum – 18 Maximum – lower of Max age at entry + policy term OR 85 years |
Premium Payment Term (PPT), Policy Term (PT) & Entry Age of Tata AIA life insurance guaranteed return insurance plan:
| Option | Premium paying term | Policy term | Single / Joint life | Age at entry |
| Option 1 – Single Pay | 1 | 10 | Single life | 8 to 50 |
| Option 1 – Limited pay | 5/6/7/8/9/10/11/12 | 10/11/12/13/14/15/16/17 to 40 | Single life | 0 to 65 |
| Option 1 – Regular pay | 10 or 12 | 10 or 12 | Single life | 8 or 6 to 65 |
| Option 2 | 5/6/7/8/9/10/12 | 6/7/8/9/10/11/13 | Single life | 11/10/9/8/7/6/5 to 55 |
| Option 3 | single/5/6/7/8/9/10/11/12 | 5/5/6/7/8/9/10/11/12 | Single / Joint life | 45 to 65 |
Key benefits of Tata AIA life insurance guaranteed return insurance plan:
Maturity benefit:
Option 1 – Endowment:
Lumpsum benefit = Guaranteed Maturity Benefit (GMB) + Guaranteed Addition (GA)
Option 2 – Regular Income:
Guaranteed Annual Income (GAI) = percentage of Annualised premium.
Payment commences from the end of the year following the maturity for a defined period.
Ex: For 6-year policy term – Regular income starts at the end of the 7th year & ends at the end of the 11th year.
Option 3 – Whole life income:
Guaranteed Annual Income (GAI) = percentage of Annualised premium.
Payment commences from the end of the year following the maturity and continues till the death of the policyholder for single life or until the second death in joint life.
The policyholder can receive the GAI on monthly basis provided the option is chosen at inception.
After the policy term, the policyholder or legal heir has the option to commute.
Death benefit:
In case of death of the life assured during the policy term:
For Option 1 – Endowment & Option 2 – Regular Income:
The ‘Sum Assured on Death’ shall be the highest of the following
- 10 times the Annualised Premium for age less than 45 years or 7 times the Annualised Premium for age 45 and above
- 105% of the Total Premiums Paid up to date of Death
- Guaranteed Maturity Benefit
- Basic Sum Assured
Additionally, accrued Guaranteed Addition as on the date of Death shall be payable along with Sum Assured on Death under option 1.
For Option 3 – Whole life income:
The ‘Sum Assured on Death’ shall be the highest of the following
- 1.25 times the Annualised Premium in case of Single Pay and 7 times the Annualised Premium in case of premium paying term of 5/10 years
- 105% of the Total Premiums Paid up to date of death
- Guaranteed Maturity Benefit
- Basic Sum Assured
In case of death of the life assured after the policy term:
For option 2 – Regular income:
The nominee continues to receive the regular income or can commute the same.
For option 3 – Whole life income:
For single life: Total premiums paid shall be payable. No other benefit is payable & the policy terminates on the death of the policyholder.
For joint life: Total premiums paid shall be payable & policy terminates only on the death of the second policyholder. The policy will continue even after the death of the primary holder.
Additional benefits of Tata AIA life guaranteed return insurance plan:
Flexible premium payment mode:
Tata AIA life guaranteed return insurance plan gives you the flexibility to choose between the options of Annually, Half-yearly, Quarterly and Monthly modes to pay your premium.
Riders:
Flexibility to enhance your cover by adding the following optional riders, by paying an additional rider premium over and above your base policy premium.
- Tata AIA Life Insurance Accidental Death and Dismemberment (Long Scale) (ADDL) Rider (UIN: 110B028V03)
- Tata AIA Life Insurance Waiver of Premium Plus (WOPP) Rider (UIN: 110B029V02)
- Tata AIA Life Insurance Non-Linked Comprehensive Protection Rider (UIN:110B033V02 or any other later version)
- Tata AIA Life Insurance Non-Linked Comprehensive Health Rider (UIN: 110B031V02 or any other later version)
Policy loan:
Once the policy has acquired a Surrender Value, you can take a loan against the policy.
The maximum loan amount is 80% of the surrender value, which can be used to apply for a loan against the policy.
Auto Vesting:
If the Tata AIA life guaranteed return insurance policy is issued while the policyholder was a minor, the policy shall automatically vest in the life insured on his/her attaining age of majority.
A grace period, Lapse & Revival of Tata AIA life guaranteed return insurance plan:
Grace period:
A grace period of 30 days for annual, semi-annual & quarterly frequency payments & 15 days for monthly frequency premium payments is allowed.
Lapse:
If you haven’t paid full premiums for at least two years within the grace period, then the Tata AIA life guaranteed return insurance policy shall lapse from the due date of the first unpaid premium and no benefits shall be payable.
In case, you have paid full premiums for at least two years and only your subsequent premium remains unpaid within the grace period, then your policy will be converted into a reduced paid-up policy.
Revival:
You can revive the policy within five years from the due date of the first unpaid premium.
By paying all outstanding premiums together with interest and/or late fees, the policy can be revived.
Once the policy has been revived, all benefits will be restored to their full value.
Free look-up period & Surrendering of Tata AIA life guaranteed return insurance plan:
Free look-up period:
If the policyholder is not satisfied with the terms & conditions of the Tata AIA life guaranteed return insurance plan, then it can be returned/cancelled.
The policyholder will get a refund of the premium after the charges get deducted.
The free look period is 15 days if the policy is purchased directly. It will be extended up to 30 days in case it was purchased in distance mode.
You have the right to cancel the Policy by providing written notice within 15 days for the normal mode or 30 days for distance mode. The premium paid will be refunded.
Surrender:
The policy shall acquire a surrender value as defined below
| Premium Paying Term | Surrender Value |
| Single Pay | Payable at any point during the policy term |
| Other than Single Pay | Payable provided at least 2 full years’ premiums have been paid |
The surrender value payable is higher than the Guaranteed Surrender Value (GSV) or Special Surrender Value (SSV)
Advantages of Tata AIA life guaranteed return insurance plan:
-
- Flexibility in choosing your premium payment – Single, limited or regular. It also offers various modes of payment – Annual, half-yearly, quarterly or monthly.
- It gives the option to receive the benefits either in a lump sum, regular income or whole income.
- If you keep paying all your premiums, you will get a guaranteed regular income in the future.
- Option to cover your spouse – Joint life, under whole life income option.
- Rider option with an additional cost will enhance your cover.
- Loan can be availed on the policy after it acquires a surrender value.
- Tax benefit as per the prevailing is applicable.
Disadvantages of Tata AIA life guaranteed return insurance plan:
- The policy has a lock-in period of 2 years for loan & surrendering the policy.
- The income benefit is fixed throughout the benefit pay-out period & not adjusted to inflation.
- This plan neither covers the life coverage adequately nor helps you to build a corpus.
For further details, you can read the Tata AIA life guaranteed return insurance plan brochure.
Research Methodology:
Now, we have seen all the necessary details that we need to know about the Tata AIA life guaranteed return insurance Plan.
Let us do an in-depth analysis to gauge whether this plan can act as a long-term sustainable investment or not by calculating the IRR of the Tata AIA life guaranteed return insurance Plan.
Then let us compare Tata AIA life guaranteed return insurance Plan with other alternate investments to see which gives us a better return in the long term.
IRR of Tata AIA life guaranteed return insurance plan:
To provide us with better insight on the Internal Rate of Return (IRR) of Tata AIA life guaranteed return insurance plan, let us look at the plan options below along with its IRR.
Option 1 – Endowment
| Plan Option | Endowment | Policy Term | 20 | Premium Payment Term | 10 |
| Entry Age | 35 Year | Premium Frequency | Annual | Basic Sum Assured | Rs 14,75,000 |
| Policy Year | Annual Premium | Cumulative Premium | Accrued Guaranteed Additions | Guaranteed Benefit | |
| Maturity Benefit | Death Benefit | ||||
| 1 | 1,00,000 | 1,00,000 | 61,225 | 14,75,000 | |
| 10 | 1,00,000 | 10,00,000 | 6,12,250 | 20,26,025 | |
| 20 | 12,24,500 | 12,24,500 | 26,38,275 | ||
| Total Premium Paid 10,00,000 | Total Guaranteed Benefit | 24,49,000 | |||
Option 2 – Regular Income
| Plan Option | Regular Income | Policy Term | 11 | Premium Payment Term | 10 |
| Entry Age | 35 Year | Premium Frequency | Annual | Basic Sum Assured | Rs 14,75,000 |
| Age | Policy Year | Annual Premium | Cumulative Premium | Guaranteed Benefit | |
| Guaranteed Annual Income | Death Benefit | ||||
| 35 | 1 | 1,00,000 | 1,00,000 | – | 14,75,000 |
| 36 to 44 | 2 to 10 | 10,00,000 | 10,00,000 | – | 14,75,000 |
| 45 | 11 | – | 14,75,000 | ||
| 46 to 55 | 12 to 21 | 1,95,250 | |||
| Total Premium Paid 10,00,000 | Total Guaranteed Benefit | 19,52,500 | |||
Let us look at the IRR for both the plan options:
| Option 1 Endowment | Option 2 Regular income | ||||
| Age | Years | Annual premium / Maturity benefit | Death benefit | Annual premium / Income benefit | Death benefit |
| 35 | 1 | -1,00,000 | 14,75,000 | -1,00,000 | 14,75,000 |
| 36 | 2 | -1,00,000 | 14,75,000 | -1,00,000 | 14,75,000 |
| 37 | 3 | -1,00,000 | 14,75,000 | -1,00,000 | 14,75,000 |
| 38 | 4 | -1,00,000 | 14,75,000 | -1,00,000 | 14,75,000 |
| 39 | 5 | -1,00,000 | 14,75,000 | -1,00,000 | 14,75,000 |
| 40 | 6 | -1,00,000 | 14,75,000 | -1,00,000 | 14,75,000 |
| 41 | 7 | -1,00,000 | 14,75,000 | -1,00,000 | 14,75,000 |
| 42 | 8 | -1,00,000 | 14,75,000 | -1,00,000 | 14,75,000 |
| 43 | 9 | -1,00,000 | 14,75,000 | -1,00,000 | 14,75,000 |
| 44 | 10 | -1,00,000 | 14,75,000 | -1,00,000 | 14,75,000 |
| 45 | 11 | 0 | 20,26,025 | 0 | 0 |
| 46 | 12 | 0 | 20,26,025 | 0 | 0 |
| 47 | 13 | 0 | 20,26,025 | 1,95,250 | 0 |
| 48 | 14 | 0 | 20,26,025 | 1,95,250 | 0 |
| 49 | 15 | 0 | 20,26,025 | 1,95,250 | 0 |
| 50 | 16 | 0 | 20,26,025 | 1,95,250 | 0 |
| 51 | 17 | 0 | 20,26,025 | 1,95,250 | 0 |
| 52 | 18 | 0 | 20,26,025 | 1,95,250 | 0 |
| 53 | 19 | 0 | 20,26,025 | 1,95,250 | 0 |
| 54 | 20 | 0 | 20,26,025 | 1,95,250 | 0 |
| 55 | 21 | 24,49,000 | 26,38,225 | 1,95,250 | 0 |
| 56 | 22 | 1,95,250 | |||
| 57 | 23 | ||||
| IRR | 5.86% | 5.73% | |||
In the case of the Endowment plan option,
If the policyholder pays the premium for the entire policy term of 20 years & survives through the Policy Term and receives the maturity Benefits, then the IRR works out to be 5.86%, which makes the return on this investment, not an inflation-beating return.
The Real Rate of Return (RRR) after adjusting the inflation (6-7%) would result in a negative return on investment.
In the case of the Regular income plan option:
If the policyholder pays the premium for the entire policy term of 11 years & survives through the Policy Term and receives Income Benefits throughout the Benefit Pay-out Period.
Then the IRR works out to be 5.73%
In conclusion, we can see that the IRR of both plan options does not provide you with an inflation-beating return.
Option 3 – Whole life income
| Plan Option | Whole Life Income | Policy Term | 5 | Premium Payment Term | Single Pay |
| Entry Age | 50 Year | Single Life/Joint Life | Joint Life | Basic Sum Assured (First Death) | Rs 12,50,000 |
| Basic Sum Assured(Second Death) | Rs 1,00,00,000 |
| Age | Policy Year | Single Premium | Guaranteed Benefit | ||
| Whole Life Income(Annual Mode) | Benefits on First Death | Benefits on Second Death | |||
| 50 | 1 to 5 | 10,00,000 | – | 12,50,000 | 1,00,00,000 |
| 55 | 6 | – | 70,535 | 0 | 10,00,000 |
| 100 | 51 | – | 70,535 | 0 | 10,00,000 |
| Total Premium Paid | 10,00,000 | Total Guaranteed Benefit | 32,44,610 | ||
Now let us look at the IRR of the Whole income option of the Tata AIA life guaranteed return insurance plan:
| Age | Years | Annual premium / Income benefit | |
| 50 | 1 | -10,00,000 | 12,50,000 |
| 51 | 2 | 0 | 12,50,000 |
| 52 | 3 | 0 | 12,50,000 |
| 53 | 4 | 0 | 12,50,000 |
| 54 | 5 | 0 | 12,50,000 |
| 55 | 6 | 70,535 | 10,00,000 |
| 56 | 7 | 70,535 | 10,00,000 |
| 57 | 8 | 70,535 | 10,00,000 |
| 58 | 9 | 70,535 | 10,00,000 |
| 59 | 10 | 70,535 | 10,00,000 |
| 60 | 11 | 70,535 | 10,00,000 |
| 61 | 12 | 70,535 | 10,00,000 |
| 62 | 13 | 70,535 | 10,00,000 |
| 63 | 14 | 70,535 | 10,00,000 |
| 64 | 15 | 70,535 | 10,00,000 |
| 65 | 16 | 70,535 | 10,00,000 |
| 66 | 17 | 70,535 | 10,00,000 |
| 67 | 18 | 70,535 | 10,00,000 |
| 68 | 19 | 70,535 | 10,00,000 |
| 69 | 20 | 70,535 | 10,00,000 |
| 70 | 21 | 70,535 | 10,00,000 |
| 71 | 22 | 70,535 | 10,00,000 |
| 72 | 23 | 70,535 | 10,00,000 |
| 73 | 24 | 70,535 | 10,00,000 |
| 74 | 25 | 70,535 | 10,00,000 |
| 75 | 26 | 70,535 | 10,00,000 |
| 76 | 27 | 70,535 | 10,00,000 |
| 77 | 28 | 70,535 | 10,00,000 |
| 78 | 29 | 70,535 | 10,00,000 |
| 79 | 30 | 70,535 | 10,00,000 |
| 80 | 31 | 70,535 | 10,00,000 |
| 81 | 32 | 70,535 | 10,00,000 |
| 82 | 33 | 70,535 | 10,00,000 |
| 83 | 34 | 70,535 | 10,00,000 |
| 84 | 35 | 70,535 | 10,00,000 |
| 85 | 36 | 10,00,000 | |
| IRR | 5.39% | ||
If the policyholder pays the premium for the entire policy term of 5 years & survives through the Policy Term and receives Income Benefits throughout the Benefit Pay-out Period.
Then the IRR works out to be 5.39%
As it’s clear that the IRR of all the plan options under the Tata AIA life guaranteed return insurance is not an inflation-beating return, let us see what more options we have.
Tata AIA life guaranteed return insurance plan vs other investments:
As an alternative to the Tata AIA life guaranteed return insurance Plan, you can invest the money in other alternate investments that can give you a better investment return.
If you are planning to go for a risk-free investment, you can choose PPF for the long term. If you feel that your risk tolerance is higher, then you can choose ELSS as a long-term investment option.
There are also a lot of other options available for sustainable investments in the long run.
Let us explore the alternates and compare their IRR with Tata AIA life guaranteed return insurance plan in a detailed analysis.
Tata AIA life guaranteed return insurance plan vs. PPF/ELSS + Pure Term Insurance:
A combination of Pure Term Insurance Policy with either PPF or ELSS can be taken into comparison.
Let us assume that you invest in both ELSS and PPF with a similar cash flow as the above-mentioned plan options.
All the Rates of Returns (RRR) are post-tax rates.
For example,
Total cash outflow – Rs. 1 Lakh (6500+93500)
Term insurance sum assured – 14, 75,000
Pure term insurance Premium – 6500
The balance amount – of 93500 can be invested in either PPF or ELSS which is shown below:
Comparison of IRR
| IRR | Option 1 -Endowment | Option 2 -Regular Income | Option 3 -Whole Life |
| Tata Guaranteed Return Plan | 5.86% | 5.73% | 5.39% |
| Term insurance + PPF | 6.65% | – | – |
| Term Insurance + ELSS | 10.96% | 8.84% | – |
It is evident from the above analysis of the comparison between the other alternate investments and the plan options that none of the Tata AIA life guaranteed return insurance plan option is beneficial to the investor. Whereas investment in the combination of Pure Term Insurance with PPF or ELSS gives a better return on investment.
Among the 3 options under the Tata AIA life guaranteed return insurance plan, option 3 Whole life income claims to deliver a fixed income during your post-retirement period. But, the fixed amount of cash flow throughout your life without being adjusted to inflation makes this option unattractive and not sustainable in the long run.
Final Verdict on Tata AIA life guaranteed return insurance plan:
After our detailed analysis, we can see that ELSS and PPF along with the combination of Pure Term Insurance can give you a better return compared to the Tata AIA life guaranteed return insurance Plan.
The Tata AIA life guaranteed return insurance plan claims to assist the policyholder in meeting the significant milestones in their life. But the payout amount it gives out is fixed which will not be sufficient to meet your financial goals as the years pass due to inflation.
So, it is clear that Tata AIA life guaranteed return insurance Plan does not give us a good long-term return which neither makes it an adequate insurance cover nor makes it a good investment choice.
Depending on your risk tolerance and financial goals, you can choose either the combination of ELSS + Pure Term Insurance or the combination of PPF + Pure Term Insurance as your investment choice as it’s sustainable with better returns in the long run.
To understand better and explore more such alternates, you can discuss with your financial advisor who as a professional would better come up with investment choices that would fit your financial goals.
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