ABSLI Smart Wealth Pension Plan Launch: You will earn every month even after retirement, Aditya Birla Sun Life launches new pension plan; Women will get special benefits

Aditya Birla Sun Life Insurance (ABSLI), a subsidiary of Aditya Birla Capital, has officially launched a new retirement product ‘ABSLI Smart Wealth Pension Plan’ for the working people and senior citizens of the country. It is a non-linked, non-participating, individual pension plan, specifically designed keeping in mind those who want to create a secure fund for their retirement without any market risk and ensure lifelong regular income after retirement.

Amidst increase in life expectancy and rising inflation, retirement planning has become a basic need of every person today. This plan offers a strong combination of disciplined savings, wealth boosters and customized pension options to ensure that there is no decline in the quality of life even after retirement from job or business.

This new pension plan offers a number of unique benefits to give financial security and flexibility to policyholders:

1. Guaranteed Additions: Regular guaranteed additions are added to the fund during the policy term. The longer the policy lasts, the greater will be this additional benefit on fund value, thereby creating a larger corpus at maturity.

2. Guaranteed Annuity (Life Pension Option): Policyholders can choose an annuity plan to receive a lifetime guaranteed pension from their accumulated funds on completion of vesting age/retirement age. In this, options like single life and joint life (pension for both husband and wife) are available.

3. Flexibility in premium payment: Customers can choose the premium payment term as per their convenience and income. In this, options of Single Pay (lump sum payment), Limited Pay (payment for 5, 7, 10 or 12 years) and Regular Pay are provided.

4. Freedom to choose vesting age: Policyholders can choose to start their pension any time between the age of 40 years to a maximum of 80 years.

ABSLI has made special provisions in this plan to promote financial empowerment of women and their retirement security. According to statistics, women live longer than men and their retirement funds are often limited due to career breaks.

Under this scheme, the following special benefits are being given to women policyholders:

• Additional discount on premium: Women will be given special discounts in base premium rates, due to which their corpus will grow faster on the same investment.

• Higher Guaranteed Additions: The Guaranteed Additions added to the accounts of women customers have been designed to offer attractive rates so that they can lead a self-reliant and financially independent retirement life.

• Easy onboarding for housewives and working women: KYC and medical formalities have been kept quite simple for housewives and self-employed women.

This scheme is not limited to just savings and pension, but also provides financial shield to the family in case of untoward incident. If unfortunately the policyholder dies during the policy term (deferment period), the nominee will get Death Benefit is paid.

The amount received by the nominee is given as fixed interest on the total premium deposited or the accumulated fund value till the date of death, whichever is higher. If the nominee wishes, he can receive this entire amount in lump sum or can convert it into annuity and create a source of regular income for himself.

Investing in this pension scheme offers dual benefits of tax savings under income tax rules:

• Rebate on investment: Tax exemption can be availed as per the legal provisions on the premium paid for the policy under the Income Tax Act.

• Lump sum tax-free fund (Commutation): On completion of the vesting age, policyholders can withdraw a maximum of one-third of their total accumulated fund as a lump sum tax-free (33.33% or up to 60% as per norms), which can be used for other essential expenses.

• Pension from residual funds: The remaining amount is essentially used to purchase an annuity, whereby the policyholder continues to receive a fixed pension on a monthly, quarterly, half-yearly or yearly basis throughout his life.

According to financial planners, ABSLI Smart Wealth Pension Plan is a solid option for those who want fixed and guaranteed returns for retirement while staying away from the risks and fluctuations of the stock market.

Especially salaried employees in the age group of 30 to 45 years, private sector professionals, women and businessmen who want to live a respectable life in future without any financial dependency can make this scheme a part of their long-term portfolio.