Star-Union Dai-ichi Life Insurance has kick-started its campaign to attract such individuals this season by introducing Dhan Suraksha Platinum, a close-ended, single premium traditional endowment plan. It is primarily targeted at high-net-worth individuals and also those looking to invest say their bonuses or other windfall gains. The policy can be bought till March 31, 2012.

It is a simple endowment plan, albeit with only a single premium payment option. The minimum premium payable under the product is . 1 lakh. The life cover, which will remain constant throughout the 10-year tenure, will be five times the premium chosen by you. The maximum premium one can pay under the plan is . 1 crore, which means the maximum cover on offer is . 5 crore. It is a non-participating plan and the maturity benefit is known to the policyholder at the time of buying it. For a healthy 25 year old male paying a premium of . 1 lakh, the maturity proceeds at the end of 10th year will be . 1,94,000. The minimum age at entry is 8 years, with 55 years being the upper limit. Policyholders can also avail a loan of up to 75% of the surrender value — against the policy. The loan will be extended by the insurer at the rate of 12% per annum.



A simple-to-understand plan, it can be considered if you are convinced about the merits of a traditional endowment product and the insurance cum-investment concept. If you have had a windfall gain, you can look at buying a cover for yourself by directing that money to this product.


The key drawback of endowment plans is the lack of transparency in their charge structure. At a time when interest rates are high, the returns offered by this plan may not seem exciting to some, particularly those who already have adequate life cover. If the idea is solely tax saving, you could evaluate other instruments like public provident fund, tax-saver fixed deposits etc before taking a decision.