நெருங்கிய நண்பர் அல்லது உறவினர் காப்பீட்டு முகவரா இருக்காரு, அவர் இந்த ப்ளான் நல்ல ப்ளான்னு சொல்லி தலையில் கட்டப்பார்க்கறார், வேண்டாம்னு சொல்ல நினைக்கறேன், ஆனா எப்படி சொல்றதுன்னு தெரியலேன்னு நிறைய பேர் சொல்றாங்க. அவர்கள் முகவர்களை எப்படி எதிர்கொள்வதுன்னு சில டிப்ஸ்

1. Agent Proposes and EXCELLENT Investment option.

2. Ask him as what would be the Sum Assured, most likely it would be few lakhs or few times of your annual income

3. Ask him as how your family could survive with that amount in case of eventuality (agent’s terminology for death)

4. while he blabbers, Ask him as what would be the maturity amount

5. Using MS Excel, calculate the return and it would be approx 5-6 %

6. Ask him about his opinion on Investing in Mutual Funds

7. Invariably, The Answer would be “Share Market” is like gambling, Too Much Risk, NO Guarantee on Return, Principle will become Zero etc. Upon hearing this Rhetoric

8. Ask him if Returns on the proposed Policy is 100% Guaranteed – He will beat around the bush, ask him firmly if a Regional Manager sign on a letter head mentioning the maturity amount before signing on and if it would be guaranteed in the Policy Document

9. At this point the agent would switch over to LIC’s Bonus History and make verbal promises that it will continue

10. Ask him if Bonus Declared in the past is a reflection of future bonuses, why can’t be the past performance of a mutual fund can be considered for future returns too?

11. While he scurries for answer, change the topic and ask him what does LIC do with your premium and how it is able to pay such high bonuses

12. While, Some of them know the answer for this, most of them do not.

13. If he knows that LIC invests the money in Equity and in Government bonds – tell him that LIC has a portfolio of whopping 4 Lakhs crores, made close to 30,000 crores profit from the portfolio last year and that you are surprised to know that the beloved LIC is GAMBLING (what he used for Equity Investing) public money. LIC has a lot of pressures from Government (like IDFC Investment) and yet able to produce such income from a very conservative portfolio (% between Equity and Bonds) – ask him as why can’t you can invest in much better managed fund and get better returns?

14. If he doesn’t know how LIC pays bonuses – Educate him about LIC’s investments and then ask the same question

At this point, you would have gotten rid of him. When leaves, quietly log into LIC’s portal and buy eTerm Policy to the tune of 10 to 20 times of your Annual Income and start investing in a balanced MF portfolio. Amen