Why you should pay your insurance premium in the shortest period possible

This article is for those looking to maximise the financial returns on their insurance policies by understanding how a shorter premium term affect insurance policy payout.

The premium term on your insurance policies matters (More than you think)

The number of years you have to pay premium greatly affects the financial returns on your insurance plans. This is by no means valid only for endowment policies and saving plans, but all insurance policies in general.

For the purpose of comparison, we look into 2 regular premium savings and endowment policies. The primary differentiating factor being one of the insurance policy requiring only 10 years of premium, while the other requires premium payment until maturity.

How can InterestGuru.sg do a fair comparison when no 2 policies are the same?

Skip to the next section if knowing how we get to do a fair comparison does not interest you (Not recommended if you are here to understand how insurance premium works).

Even among insurance policies from the same insurance company, the following affects the final returns of your insurance policies:

• Premium amount – Cash amount you have to pay for the insurance policy on a yearly basis
• Premium Term – Number of years you have to pay the premium amount
• Policy Term – Number of years to the maturity of the insurance policy
• Insurance riders – Premium on riders for insurance does not get added to your policy cash value
• Guaranteed Cash Value – The Guaranteed cash amount at the end of your insurance policy
• Non Guaranteed cash value – The Non Guaranteed cash amount based on projected investment returns generated by the insurance company
• Partial withdrawal/ cash benefit features – Option for withdrawal affect your final return (regardless if you use it or not)
  
  

For the purpose of this comparison, we have selected 2 endowment plans with the primary differences being the Premium Tenor.

The selected products for this comparison are:

Singlife – Aviva

• Premium Term: 10 years (Limited premium term)
• Policy Term: 25 years
• Premium amount: S$ 4,992
• Total Premium for policy: S$ 49,993
• Insurance riders included for the comparison of this policy: No
• Partial withdrawal/ cash benefit features: No
  

Read about: Aviva MyWealthPlan Review

Aviva – Aviva MySavingPlan

• Premium Term: 25 years (Regular premium term)
• Policy Term: 25 years
• Premium Amount of S$ 2,495
• Total Premium for Policy: S$ 62,360
• Insurance riders included for the comparison of this policy: No
• Partial withdrawal/ cash benefit features: No

Read about: Aviva MySavingPlan Review

Additional note: Aviva MySavingPlan is part of our 3 Best Regular Premium Endowment Saving plans for Wealth Accumulation

Care to guess which policy offers the highest returns after 25 years?

With both insurance policies having the same number of years to maturity, care to guess which offers the best value for your money?

Results in 3,2,1.

Here we go.

 The winner: Aviva MyWealthPlan (In case it is not clear to you)

Aviva MyWealthPlan with 10 years limited payment term, beats Aviva MySavingPlan with a regular premium term of 25 years. Both policy maturity on the 25th years, with Aviva MyWealthPlan having a lower total premium and higher Guaranteed and Non-Guaranteed cash value. 

Fyi, Aviva MySavingPlan is ranked #1 on CompareFirst.sg based on a regular premium to maturity for saving plans and endowment policies.

Did the final result surprise you?

It should be clear from the illustration that a short premium term allows for better compounding returns on your insurance policy. This applies to all insurance plans and policies such as whole life policies, investment-linked policies as well as retirement plans and annuities policies.

Read about: Missing out on compounding returns?

The difference in cash values differs depending on the type and category of insurance policy itself. To compare individually policies base on your age, insurance and financial needs will take us a decade for all possible combination for all ages, insurance coverage, riders, policy benefits, multiplier effects and other features.

However, you can always use our CompareNOW to let our partnered licensed financial advisers work on your financial and insurance needs.

But why was a longer premium term recommended by my financial adviser for my insurance policies?

It could be a budget issue on your end, it could be a higher sales commission for signing up a longer premium term, it could also be the stars did not align properly or a thousand other reason or motives.

Read about: No budget for financial planning?

InterestGuru.sg is not here to judge, we are here to be your one-stop financial comparison portal.

And finally, for the naysayers that will claim that spreading out the premium over a longer period allows you to invest part of your money where else. We end this by saying by paying off the premium earlier and paying a lower amount, you can invest a higher overall balance towards your other financial goals as well.

Read about: How can I accumulate a million dollar (Realistically)

So please,  don’t try to troll us on that.

For a proper guide on what insurance policies are important and what can wait, read where do I start with financial planning?

Compare before you commit

Before committing to an insurance policy, it certainly pays to make an effort to compare. Why regret only years later, when you find out that you are not getting the best insurance policy available for the premium paid?