TM FlexiCover; An Alternative to TM FlexiAssurance ILP

TM FlexiCover is another ILP or investment linked policy launched by Tokio Marine Group to
remain competitive in the unit linked arena and for clients who prefer ILPs to be a "Front End Load" policy.

To know more about TM FlexiAssurance or ILP, please see our previous post here. So we will not dwell too much about what TM FlexiCover is but list out the features of this plan and you can decide for yourself whether TM FlexiAssurance or this new TM FlexiCover is for you.

Features of TM FlexiCover:

• TM FlexiCover now has unit & premium deducting riders which can be added into the policy. They are : Unit deducting (Critical Illness, Term riders), and Premium paying (waiver of premiums, payer benefit, spouse riders).
• Has LRO (Life Replacement Option), which can benefit companies for using the policy as a Keyman Insurance or for parents who might want to transfer the policy to their new born kids. (please refer to the terms and conditions)
• Dial-up Option which allows the basic sum assured to be reduced to zero to maximise returns, however the life assured has to be 55 years old next birthday and above and premiums must have been paid for at least 10 years' from policy commencement date. (Many other insurers' ILPs require the policy to have some coverage remaining, so this feature benefits the more senior clients when protection charges are rather high)
• Quit Smoking Discount allows smokers to enjoy non smokers monthly protection charges if he/she drops the habit within the 1st two years and can continue after that as long as the cessation is permanent. (take note; if smoker quits only after the 2nd year, then this feature will not apply. The whole reason for this is to encourage and to support the Quit Smoking movement in Singapore.)
• Increase/Decrease in Sum Assured and premiums are allowed, except that reduction of premiums are only permitted after the first 2 years premiums have been made.
• Unlike the TM FlexAssurance, partial withdrawal is allowed at any time as long as the policy is in force and it incurs no charges.
•  As with all Investment Linked Policies, premium holiday can be taken after 2 full years of payment. However, do bear in mind that the policy must have sufficient units to maintain the unit deducting riders (if any) and policy values must be enough to finance the premium paying riders, else the policy will just lapse. In reality, please DO NOT take a premium holiday immediately after 2 years as the units and policy value will definitely not be enough to sustain the riders. 

OK, you now have the details of TM FlexiCover and TM FlexiAssurance to make an intelligent and informed decision. If you are interested in the plan or want to know more about it, please write to us here .

 

TM FlexiAssurance - The Answer To Your Investment Linked Policy (ILP) Woes?

When TM FlexiAssurance was first launched; it seemed to be another run off the mill ILP product; until you attempt to dissect it and then the policy's benefits will thus slowly surface.

In fact, we will not even attempt to call it an investment linked plan but to use the alternative name of a unit linked policy seems more appropriate, as the focus is not so much on making massive returns from the product but rather to have respectable coverage with the mortality charges being level unlike other unit linked policies in the market which only sell plans with increasing mortality charges (this serves as a BIG benefit for the more matured audience!) In a nutshell, here are the pros and cons of TM FlexiAssurance (please refer to policy wordings for actual details) :

• Level Mortality Charge (benefiting the matured clients).
• No premium holidays allowed during first 2 years.
• No surrendering of policy or partial withdrawal of units during first 8 years, else it will incur surrender charges .
• Free Fund Switching.
• Loyalty bonus units given for keeping the policy in forced every 5 years.
• Both optional premium paying or Unit deducting riders are available. (with the latter, it does not cause policy to lapse in bad times).
• Low minimum entry premium of $125 per month.
• Available in 2 coverage options  (till age 70 or 99).
• Invests 100% of your premiums (some companies only start investing the full amount many years after policy is in force)...read up more on front end load and back end load ILP
• Flexibility like Top-ups, partial withdrawals and premium holidays are also available as with all ILP products. 
• Riders like the accelerated Dread Disease is unit deducting and will not lapse when you are taking a "premium holiday" (as long as there are sufficient units in the policy); unlike many other companies which will automatically terminate ALL riders the minute "premium holiday" is activated!

For those who are not certain about the features of such policies and are often mislead by the majority who coin the term "risky" on investment linked policies; maybe the following illustration (courtesy of TMLS TM FlexiAssurance brochure) can show you the benefits of  ILP or Unit Linked Policies:

If you want to know more about this fantastic policy and how it can serve your need, contact us!