Tata AIA Life Guaranteed Return Insurance Plan: Review (2024) – Is It Good Or Bad?

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?

What are the advantages and disadvantages of this Tata AIA Life Guaranteed Return Insurance Plan?

Are the guaranteed returns promised by them in the Tata AIA Life Guaranteed Return brochure good or bad after dissection & calculation?

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 Analysis
3.) Eligibility Criteria of Tata AIA Life Insurance Guaranteed Return Insurance Plan Analysis
4.) Review of Key Benefits – Tata AIA Life Insurance Guaranteed Return Insurance Plan
5.) Review of Additional Benefits – Tata AIA Life Insurance Guaranteed Return Insurance Plan
6.) Grace Period, Lapse & Revival of Tata AIA Life Insurance Guaranteed Return Insurance Plan Review
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 Analysis
9.) Disadvantages of Tata AIA Life Insurance Guaranteed Return Insurance Plan Analysis
10.) Research Methodology of Tata AIA Life Insurance Guaranteed Return Insurance Plan Analysis
11.) IRR(Internal Rate of Return i.e Interest Rate) of Tata AIA Life Guaranteed Return Insurance Plan Analysis with Illustration
12.) Tata AIA Life Guaranteed Return Insurance Plan vs other investments

•  Tata AIA Life Guaranteed Return Insurance Plan vs PPF/ELSS + Pure Term Insurance- Review
• Tata AIA life guaranteed return insurance plan vs Tata AIA Fortune Guarantee Supreme Plan
• Tata AIA life guaranteed return insurance plan vs Tata AIA Life Insurance Wealth Pro Plan
• Tata AIA life guaranteed return insurance plan vs other investment products – Review Conclusion

13.) Final Verdict on Tata AIA Life Guaranteed Return Insurance Plan- Good or Bad

1.)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.

2.)Features of Tata AIA life insurance guaranteed return insurance plan: Analysis

• 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.

3.)Eligibility criteria of Tata AIA life insurance guaranteed return insurance plan: Analysis

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

4.)Review of Key benefits – Tata AIA life insurance guaranteed return insurance plan:

Maturity Benefit Review:

Option 1 – Endowment: Analysis

Lumpsum benefit = Guaranteed Maturity Benefit (GMB) + Guaranteed Addition (GA)

Option 2 – Regular Income: Analysis

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: Analysis

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 a 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 Review:

In case of death of the life assured during the policy term:

For Option 1 – Endowment & Option 2 – Regular Income: Analysis

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: Analysis

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: Analysis

The nominee continues to receive the regular income or can commute the same.

For option 3 – Whole life income: Analysis

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.

5.)Review of Additional benefits – Tata AIA life guaranteed return insurance plan:

Flexible premium payment mode: Analysis

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: Analysis

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: Analysis

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: Analysis

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.

6.)A grace period, Lapse & Revival of Tata AIA life guaranteed return insurance plan: Review

Grace period: analysis

A grace period of 30 days for annual, semi-annual & quarterly frequency payments & 15 days for monthly frequency premium payments is allowed.

Lapse: analysis

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: analysis

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.

7.)Free look-up period & Surrendering of Tata AIA life guaranteed return insurance plan: Analysis

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)

8.)Advantages of Tata AIA life guaranteed return insurance plan: Analysis

• 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.
• The rider option with an additional cost will enhance your coverage.
• The loan can be availed on the policy after it acquires a surrender value.
• Tax benefit as per the prevailing is applicable.

9.)Disadvantages of Tata AIA life guaranteed return insurance plan: Analysis

• 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(pdf).

10.)Research Methodology of Tata AIA Life guaranteed return insurance plan: Analysis

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.

11.)IRR(Internal Rate of Return i.e Interest Rate) of Tata AIA life guaranteed return insurance plan: Analysis with Illustration

To provide us with better insight into the Internal Rate of Return (IRR) of the Tata AIA life guaranteed return insurance plan, let us look at the plan options below along with its IRR.

Option 1 – Endowment – Analysis with illustration

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 – Analysis with illustration

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 calculate the IRR for both the plan options of Tata AIA life guaranteed return insurance plan :

		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 above illustration, the IRR of Tata AIA life guaranteed return insurance plan Option 1 – Endowment is calculated at 5.86% and the IRR Of Option 2 Regular income is calculated at 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%.

It 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 calculate 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%

In the above illustration, the IRR(Internal Rate of Return i.e Interest Rate) of the Whole income option of the Tata AIA life guaranteed return insurance plan is calculated at 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.

12.)Tata AIA life guaranteed return insurance plan vs other investments: Review

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: Review

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:

As we have already calculated the IRR of Option1 Endowment of Tata AIA life guaranteed return insurance plan, lets calculate the IRR of Term Insurance + PPF & ELSS.

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%	–

In the above illustration, we have compared the IRR calculation of three plan options of Tata AIA life guaranteed return insurance plan with the IRR calculation of Term Insurance + PPF & ELSS.

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.

You can also refer to other TATA AIA policy details below for a better perspective.

Official Capital Guarantee Solution Brochure details with TATA AIA Premium Calculator.

Tata AIA Life Insurance Secure 7 Plan Official Brochure.

• Tata AIA life guaranteed return insurance plan vs Tata AIA Fortune Guarantee Supreme Plan

Both ‘life guaranteed return’ and ‘Fortune Guarantee Supreme’ are individual, Non-Linked, Non-Participating life Insurance Savings Plans.

There are two possible plans in the ‘Fortune Guarantee Supreme’ plan: Immediate Income Option 1 and My Income Option 2.

Tata AIA Fortune Guarantee Supreme Plan Review: Is It Good or Bad?

Tata AIA Fortune Guarantee Supreme Plan| Holistic Investment

• Tata AIA life guaranteed return insurance plan vs Tata AIA Life Insurance Wealth Pro Plan

‘Guaranteed return insurance’ is an individual, Non-Linked, Non-Participating life Insurance Savings Plan whereas ‘Wealth Pro Plan’ is a Unit Linked, Individual, Life Insurance Savings plan.

Tata AIA Life Insurance Wealth Pro Plan Review: Good or Bad?

Tata AIA Life Insurance Wealth Pro Plan Review Good or Bad |Holistic Investment

• Tata AIA life guaranteed return insurance plan vs other investment products – Review Conclusion

After a brief and thorough analysis of all other alternative investment products, we have concluded that the investor will not benefit from any of the Tata AIA life insurance plan options.

A superior return on investment is provided by investments in Pure Term Insurance in combination with PPF or ELSS.

13.)Final Verdict on Tata AIA life guaranteed return insurance plan: Good or Bad?

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.

Please beware of insurance agents who try to force you into buying this plan for their high agent commission.

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.

Are you searching for alternate investment options on social media platforms like Quora, Facebook, Twitter etc?

To understand better and explore more such alternatives, you can discuss with your financial advisor who as a professional would better come up with investment choices that would fit your financial goals.