HDFC Bank has revised the average quarterly balance (AQB) requirements of various deposit accounts. In case of regular savings account, the minimum AQB to be maintained will be Rs 10,000 and Rs 5,000 for urban and rural branches, respectively. For kid’s advantage accounts and senior citizen accounts, this figure stands at Rs 5,000 across branches. These changes will come into effect from April 1, 2010, for its existing accountholders. Earlier, the bank had revised rates for its new customers as well.
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...
