Tips for buying insurance policies

Buying a life insurance policy is an important exercise for all individuals. Life insurance is a financial resource for your loved ones in the event of your death. You enter into a contract with an insurance company that promises to provide your beneficiaries a certain amount of money upon your death.

In return, you make periodic payments, known as premiums. The size of the premiums is generally based on factors such as your age, gender, medical history and the amount of life insurance you select.

There are so many companies offering life insurance policies. It’s all on you to choose the right company and the right policy. In this article, I present 3 steps for selecting a life insurance policy.

1. Focus on your needs and your risk profile

It is important to focus on your needs before buying any insurance policy. The policy should be in line with your financial planning goals and your portfolio.

Since life insurance's primary objective is to cover a financial loss in case of an eventuality, a term plan becomes a 'must' in any portfolio, irrespective of your profile. This plan provides a high sum assured at a low cost (i.e. premium).

2. Compare policies of different companies

Conduct a good research before buying policies because different companies offer different policies. They vary in terms of expenses, fund management style, minimum premium amount and the equity and debt allocations.

Term plans too offer variants in the minimum sum assured, the premium amount and maximum tenure. You would do well to study such factors before zeroing in on a particular plan.

3. Experienced advisor

Always go in for an experienced advisor as he is the one who plays the major role in designing your life insurance portfolio. He is the one who assesses your needs and suggests the appropriate policy for you.

He helps you decide on various aspects like the amount of cover you need, when you need additional insurance cover and other such matters. Therefore, select an advisor with care. He needs to be well versed with the products on offer as well as financial planning.

These 3 simple steps can go a long way in providing you with a trouble-free life insurance experience.