Skip to main content

Types of bonuses in insurance plans

Invest In Tax Saving Mutual Funds Online

Call 0 94 8300 8300 (India)

 

IN THE most common understanding of the word, bonus is a reward or any extra amount that one may receive over and above the base amount. A similar concept is also applicable to your life insurance policy. In this context, a bonus is an additional sum that gets accrued to the policy on a yearly basis. This amount is paid out by the insurance company upon maturity of the plan, or in case of unfortunate death.


Understanding how bonus is determined: The premiums paid by policyholders are pooled within the insurance company's life fund. The company uses these pooled assets to pay out claims. A large part of the life fund is invested in government-secured debt instruments, with a small portion invested in equity to achieve a desired return. Based on the earnings from the investments made by the company and its claims experience, the company aims to distribute a part of its surplus to the with profits policyholders in the form of bonus.

The bonus rate is decided after considering a variety of factors such as the return on the underlying assets, the level of bonuses declared in previous years and other actuarial assumptions.

Bonus is offered on traditional plans that are built in to the plan structure. To avail of the bonus, it is important that the type of plan you have purchased is a `withprofits' one, often known as a participating policy as well.


Types of bonuses: The common types of bonus offered by insurers are simple reversionary bonus, compound reversionary bonus, terminal bonus, interim bonus, and cash bonus.

Simple reversionary bonus (SRB): This type of bonus is calculated on the sum assured only. This bonus is declared annually and is accrued to be paid out at the time of a claim or maturity.

Compound reversionary bonus (CRB): CRB is calculated as a percentage of the sum assured and all previously accrued bonuses. The bonus of each year is added to the sum assured and the next year's bonus is calculated on the enhanced amount.

Let's take an example to understand which type of bonus is beneficial for you.


Take for instance, Rahul Khanna owns two participating policies of Rs 5,00,000 each. Let's assume that on the first policy he gets a bonus using the simple revisionary method and on the second policy he gets a bonus using the compound revisionary method. The SRB declared on the policy is Rs 25 per `000 of sum assured, while CRB declared is 3 per cent throughout the policy term.

As seen from the table above, the CRB to be accrued at the end of the 10th year is much higher, compared with the SRB of the same year.

Terminal bonus: The terminal bonus, also known as a persistency bonus, is a bonus paid to indicate an overall performance of a participating policy. The terminal bonus is paid at the time of maturity or death of the life assured.

Interim bonus: Interim bonus is payable for those policies that mature or result in a death claim in between two bonus declaration dates. While the policy has already accrued the bonus declared at the end of the last financial year, there may be a short period in between the bonus declaration date and the maturity/claim date for which the policy has not received bonus. In such instances, bonus is added on a pro-rata basis using the interim bonus rates declared by the company. An interim bonus ensures that policyholders who claim benefits in midst of a year will receive credit for keeping the policy in force for that part of the year.

Cash bonus: The insurance company may decide to give the bonus in cash, that is, bonus accruing in a year will be paid to the policyholder at the end of the year.


This gives the policyholder an opportunity to receive the bonus year on year.


Things you should consider: Type of bonus offered: While evaluating a traditional policy, it is a good idea to consider beforehand the type of bonus that your plan offers. This would be mentioned in the brochure of the plan, or you could also check with your agent/intermediary.

Check bonus rates: While choosing your traditional plan, make sure to check the bonus rates offered by them over the years.


These rates are usually published on the insurer's website and will give you an idea of the kind of benefits you stand to gain from the particular policy. Additionally, it is recommended that you check the company's website as few insurers publish the declared bonus rate on their official website.

Happy Investing!!

We can help. Call 0 94 8300 8300 (India)

Leave your comment with mail ID and we will answer them

OR

You can write back to us at PrajnaCapital [at] Gmail [dot] Com

---------------------------------------------

Invest in Tax Saving Mutual Funds ( ELSS Mutual Funds ) to upto Rs 1 lakh and Save tax under Section 80C.

Invest Tax Saving Mutual Funds Online

Tax Saving Mutual Funds Online

These links can be used to Purchase Mutual Funds Online that are regular also (Investment, non-tax saving)

Download Tax Saving Mutual Fund Application Forms from all AMCs

Download Tax Saving Mutual Fund Applications

These Application Forms can be used for buying regular mutual funds also

Some of the best Tax Saving Mutual Funds available ( ELSS Mutual Funds )

  1. ICICI Prudential Tax PlanInvest Online
  2. HDFC TaxSaverInvest Online
  3. DSP BlackRock Tax Saver FundInvest Online
  4. Reliance Tax Saver (ELSS) FundInvest Online
  5. Birla Sun Life Tax Relief '96 Invest Online
  6. IDFC Tax Advantage (ELSS) FundInvest Online
  7. SBI Magnum Tax Gain Scheme 1993Invest Online
  8. Sundaram Tax SaverInvest Online
  9. Edelweiss ELSS Invest Online

------------------

Best Performing Mutual Funds

    1. Largecap Funds Invest Online
      1. DSP BlackRock Top 100 Fund
      2. ICICI Prudential Focused Blue Chip Fund
      3. Birla Sun Life Front Line Equity Fund
    2. Large and Midcap Funds Invest Online
      1. ICICI Prudential Dynamic Plan
      2. HDFC Top 200 Fund
      3. UTI Dividend Yield Fund
    1. Mid and SmallCap Funds Invest Online
      1. Reliance Equity Opportunities Fund
      2. DSP BlackRock Small & Midcap Fund
      3. Sundaram Select Midcap
      4. IDFC Premier Equity Fund
    1. Small and MicroCap Funds Invest Online
      1. DSP BlackRock MicroCap Fund
    1. Sector Funds Invest Online
      1. Reliance Banking Fund
      2. Reliance Banking Fund
    1. Tax Saver MutualFundsInvest Online
      1. ICICI Prudential Tax Plan
      2. HDFC Taxsaver
      3. DSP BlackRock Tax Saver Fund
      4. Reliance Tax Saver (ELSS) Fund
    2. Gold Mutual Funds Invest Online
      1. Relaince Gold Savings Fund
      2. ICICI Prudential Regular Gold Savings Fund
      3. HDFC Gold Fund

Popular posts from this blog

Surrender ULPPs

  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...
Read more

ICICI Pru Constant Maturity Gilt dividend

Invest ICICI Prudential Constant Maturity Gilt Fund Online ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund   has announced dividend under the following schemes: Scheme Dividend ( R /unit) ICICI Pru Constant Maturity Gilt-DQ 0.26543239 ICICI Pru Constant Maturity Gilt Direct-DQ 0.27171609 ICICI Pru Q Interval Plan I-D 0.10617296 ICICI Pru Q Interval Plan I Direct-D 0.10703967 ICICI Pru Q Interval Plan I Ret-D 0.10617296             The record date has been fixed as June 13, 2016.   ----------------------------------------------- Invest Rs 1,50,000 and Save Tax under Section 80C. Get Great Returns by Investing in Best Performing ELSS Mutual Funds Top 10 Tax Saver Mutual Funds to invest in India for 2016 Best 10 ELSS Mutual Funds in india for 2016 1. BNP Paribas Long Term Equity Fund 2. Axis Tax Saver Fund 3. Franklin India TaxShield 4. ICICI Prudential Long Term Equity Fund 5. IDFC Tax Advantage (ELSS) Fund 6. Birla Sun Life Tax Relief 96 7. DSP BlackRock Tax Saver Fund 8. Reliance Tax Saver (ELSS) ...
Read more

SBI MAGNUM MIDCAP ONLINE

Invest SBI MAGNUM MIDCAP ONLINE   SBI MAGNUM MIDCAP fund didn't fare well in its initial years but, in recent years, has steadily improved its performance under the capable hands of its current fund manager. Although investing predominantly in mid-cap stocks, the average market capitalisation of its portfolio is lower than other category peers.   Although the stock selection approach is mostly bottom-up , the fund manager doesn't shy away from taking bold sector bets , as is reflected in its large exposure to the healthcare sector. She is equally adept at handling performance across market cycles--the fund has captured more of the upside during market upticks and contained the downside during downturns in a better manner than its peers.   Given its superior risk-reward equation, the fund is a worthy pick in its category.     ----------------------------------------------- Invest Rs 1,50,000 and Save Tax under Section 80C. Get Great Returns by Investing in Best Performing EL...
Read more

Sundaram Mutual Fund new plan Sundaram Fixed Term Plan CJ

Sundaram Mutual Fund has announced the launch of a new fund named as Sundaram Fixed Term Plan CJ. The new issue will be closed for subscription on January 30. --------------------------------------------- Invest in Tax Saving Mutual Funds ( ELSS Mutual Funds ) to upto Rs 1 lakh and Save tax under Section 80C.   Invest Tax Saving Mutual Funds Online Tax Saving Mutual Funds Online These links can be used to Purchase Mutual Funds Online that are regular also (Investment, non-tax saving)   Download Tax Saving Mutual Fund Application Forms from all AMCs Download Tax Saving Mutual Fund Applications   These Application Forms can be used for buying regular mutual funds also   Some of the best Tax Saving Mutual Funds available are: 1. HDFC TaxSaver 2. ICICI Prudential Tax Plan 3. DSP BlackRock Tax Saver Fund 4. Birla Sun Life Tax Relief '96 5. Reliance Tax Saver (ELSS) Fund 6. IDFC Tax Advantage (ELSS) Fund 7. SBI Magnum Tax Gain Scheme 1993 8. Sundaram Tax Saver   -...
Read more

Group Health Insurance

Buy Group Health Insurance Online   For Human Resources, the biggest challenge today is to decide whether medical benefits should be offered to employees or not, what type of plans should be offered, what will be the cost and how will the cost be split between employees and employer. Well, most of these are subjective and would depend on a lot of factors including company size, average employee salary, etc. However, this article will give you a fair idea on how you should go about deciding these factors: 1. Why offer group health insurance benefit to employees : Studies have proved that retention rates among employers offering GHI are much higher than the ones who are not offering. Moreover, the cost of providing this benefit as a percentage of salary is very low as compared to the perceived value. As an example, say if average salary of an employee in your organization is 4 LPA. If you decide to offer a health insurance benefit to him for a Sum insured of ...
Read more
Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...
Invest in Tax Saving Mutual Funds Download Any Applications
Transact Mutual Funds Online Invest Online
Buy Gold Mutual Funds Invest Now