Life Insurance can be termed as an agreement between the policy owner and the insurer, where the insurer for a consideration agrees to pay a sum of money upon the occurrence of the insured individual’s or individuals’ death or other event, such as terminal illness, critical illness or maturity of the policy.

Life insurance plans, unlike mutual funds, are beneficial when you look at them as a long term avenue of investment which also offers protection through life cover. Life insurance policies are broadly categorized into 2 types; Traditional Plans and Unit Linked Insurance Plans (ULIPs).

Traditional policies offer in-built guarantees and define maturity benefits through variety of products such as guaranteed maturity value. The investment risk in traditional life insurance policies is borne by life insurance companies. Additionally, the investment decisions are regulated to a large extent by IRDAI rules and regulations, ensuring stable returns with minimal risk. Investment income is distributed amongst the policy holders through annual bonus. These policies are ideal for policy holders who are not market savvy and do not wish to take investment risks.

ULIPs, on the other hand provide a combination of risk cover and investment. More importantly they offer a flexibility to decide your risk taking profile.