Life can throw situations at you and either you can prepare for it in advance, or panic when it hits you.
What got me thinking like this was a recent financial crisis in my family.
My family is into real estate and so uncertainty about the business always lurks over our heads. Given how the property rates have crashed with demonetisation, and cash crunch in the market, the demand for builder floors reduced tremendously. The situation had taken a toll over my entire family business with it running into great losses.
And thus in order to protect existing wealth, my uncle had to go for sound financial instruments that protect him not just from business vagaries but also continually multiply it, while also building a regular income for him.
Apart from the concern, he has three kids; out of them two are unmarried and one whose further education is in process. Since business and family can never take a backseat even after retirement, he had tons of things to take care of.
He had an added concern of creating a strong backup of funds to be able to facilitate such needs of his family, not to forget any additional funds that might be required for setting up a business for his son after his further education. So there arose a need for not just financial protection, but also accumulating wealth for current & future use and enhancing it for a brighter future.
Most importantly, he also had to plan for himself, his wife and their personal, future needs. A glorious old age comes at a cost and therefore, planning to be financially flush, so as to not only take care of their needs, but also enjoy their years together with travel, shopping, friends etc. becomes of utmost importance.
Though it was tough for us to handle everything, such circumstances seemed common and in abundance around us. My uncle started talking to friends, relatives, trusted companies for sound advice, and even researched online.
He realized for him there arose a need for something more than just a regular fixed deposit or stock market investment. What would be more befitting would be a plan with a different approach, some plan that is customizable as per his needs and requirements. He needed wealth accumulation, preservation as well as utilisation, and if all three could come in one plan, then nothing better.
While researching, he was so impressed with the revolution the insurance industry has gone through to help make insurance more valuable to their customers. How easily he was able to choose a suitable plan for himself in a hassle free manner, being a recent digital migrant!
He came across Edelweiss’ various financial products.
Their Wealth Ultima ULIP or unit linked insurance plan fit his needs perfectly. It is designed for accumulating wealth by having an option to pay systematically through monthly or other modes, growing wealth by capitalizing on multiple choices of Systematic Transfer Plans and/or funds and utilizing wealth by opting for Systematic Withdrawal Plan.
This was undoubtedly one of the best and most flexible ULIPs my uncle came across while checking up other available options, serving exactly his particular financial requirements. Their Systematic Withdrawal Plan (SWP) allowed him to withdraw money systematically which could work as a regular source of income during his retirement. This feature nailed the deal for him!
He also appreciated how Edelweiss functioned true to their philosophy of customer needs coming first: “Insurance se badhkar aapki zaroorat”.
For them problem solving was key, and Wealth Ultima turned out to be more solution oriented than product oriented. Flexibility, optionality and power was given to my uncle, which gave him even more ease in transacting and buying this financial instrument for himself and his family.
On reading up more about the policy, he found out that Edelweiss has won the ‘Best Insurer’ Award 2016 given by Outlook Money Awards, thereby lending more credibility to their products.
With financial security, comes mental security that is much needed in order to live a happy, healthy and stress free life. I am writing this piece to share a common circumstance many of us can find us in, at some or the other point in our lives.
It was so comforting to see how our family was able to come out of the financial slump, given the right investments and planning. I am sure, all of us would want the same for our families too.
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