Saraswat Co-operative Bank, the largest multistate co-operative bank in the country, is likely to acquire financially-troubled Anyonya Co-op Bank (ACBL) soon. The merger of 118-yearold ACBL, which has 10 branches in Gujarat, is estimated to cost Rs 25 crore to Saraswat Bank. At present, Saraswat Bank has 190 branches in Maharashtra, Karnataka, Goa, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and New Delhi. The bank has done a business of Rs 21,000 crore so far in the current financial year. In the last three years, it has acquired six co-operative banks — Maratha Mandir Coop Bank, Mandvi Co-op Bank (Mumbai), Annasaheb Karale Urban Co-op Bank (Sangli), Murdha Rajendra Co-operative Bank (Meerat), South Indian Bank (Mumbai) and Nashik-based Nashik People's Co-op Bank. In the process it has acquired 700,000 depositors.
ICICI Pru LifeTime and ICICI Pru Lifestage are Unit Linked Pension Plans. Such insurance linked retirement plans are neither good investments nor do they offer sufficient insurance cover. As you can see, these have turned out to be bad deals. In the Lifetime plan, the fund value is not even equal to the total premiums that you have paid and in the Lifestage plan your return is just about 6% which is quite low. The mortality charges are as per your age which is why they have increased. Moreover, once these plans matures, you will have to compulsorily opt for annuity (regular income) and the annuity rates are generally modest. Assuming these plans mature in the next one year, it will be wise to surrender the plan now and curb your future commitments. Before you choose to buy a term plan, you have to consider a few points. You need to insure yourself, only during the time you are working and your family is financially dependent on you. At the age of 59, not all insurance companies w...
