LIC SIIP Plan: The LIC of India has various offers for an earning individual. Its offer ranges from purely insurance plans to investment-oriented ULIP plans as well. Recently on 2nd March 2020, it launched LIC SIIP Plan that is a ULIP plan and according to the experts, an earning individual can invest in this plan for 10 to 25 years. In this plan, one can opt for four fund options on offer — Bond Fund, Secured Fund, Balanced Fund and Growth Fund. The least annual premium that an investor can pay in this LIC policy is Rs 40,000 per annum – means, if a person saves around Rs 110 (40,000/365 = 109.58) per day for this policy, he or she can buy this Life Insurance policy with ease.
Speaking on the features of the LIC SIIP Plan; SEBI registered tax and investment expert Jitendra Solanki said, “It is an investment cum insurance plan where an investor has to pay at least Rs 40,000 annual premium but there is no cap on the maximum premium. It offers an investor to choose his tenure of investment from 10 years to 25 years but the tenure of investment must complete before the investor completes 85 years of age.” Solanki said that the LIC SIIP plan offers four types of fund options — Bond Fund, Secured Fund, Balanced Fund and Growth Fund adding, “One can buy this LIC of India plan both offline and online.”
On which fund option is better for whom Solanki said, “Growth Fund has 40 per cent to 80 per cent equity exposure, Balance Funds have 30 to 70 per cent equity exposure, Secure Funds have 15-55 per cent equity exposure while Bond Funds have complete debt exposure. So, those going for long-term say 25 years term of investment, their maximum exposure should be in the Growth Funds but if the investment is for 10 years, then more thrust should be on the balanced funds and secured funds.”
Highlighting upon the income tax angle involved in this LIC SIIP Plan, another SEBI registered tax and investment expert Manikaran Singhal said, “In this plan, there are two types of sum assured available for an investor — 10 times and 7 times. If the sum assured is 7 times, then the investor won’t be eligible for income tax exemption on maturity in this plan. So, if the investment is for both insurance and return purpose, one should buy it with 10 times sum assured benefit.”
