Should you consider an insurance endowment aka savings plan? 

Investing in Endowments

What is an endowment?

An endowment is a financial pool where the capital is preserved and the returns are reinvested and/or used for various causes depending on the endowment’s purpose (i.e. university endowment fund for providing scholarships or fellowships).

In the Malaysian context, the most common endowment seen is an insurance investment plan or often known in layman terms as a savings plan. The function works similarly whereby you invest a fixed amount of funds over a period of years and will receive returns on schedule up to the maturity date whereby you receive a lump sum typically higher than your original capital.

 

Pros

  • A secure low-risk investment where most of the returns are contractually guaranteed.
  • Good endowments can provide higher returns than other low-risk investments i.e. fixed deposits.
  • Good endowments provide high returns if the returns are reinvested with compounding instead of being withdrawn.
  • Flexibility with your investment amount which does not need to be lump sum but divided up over X number of years OR can be placed all in up-front.
  • Useful for those who want a largely automated/systematic way to save/invest at a better rate of return.
  • Tax benefits as qualifies for life insurance tax deduction (if you have yet to max out).

 

Cons

  • A long maturity period to receive the full returns of the endowment which are often 20/25 years or until your age reaches 70. There are some “shorter” endowments of 5/10/15 years.
  • If you end your endowment early, you will lose money in the first 10 years for most endowments.
  • Lack of control over what the endowment invests in as you don’t directly manage the endowment.
  • Some endowment plans offer poor returns or over-promise and under deliver on returns.
  • Be wary of overpromising or unauthorized returns illustrations which are not official from the insurer.

 

Types of Endowments

  • Traditional with profit: Returns are based on bonus profits from the basic sum assured and a maturity/terminal bonus.
  • Traditional non-profit: A lump sum payment payable only upon death, total permanent disability.
  • Unit-linked: Endowment premiums are invested in a unit trust and returns are based on the UT performance.

 

Endowment Pay Outs

Paid out upon maturity or claim

  • Guaranteed sum assured
  • Annual reversionary bonus
  • Maturity or terminal bonus

 

How to invest intelligently in an endowment.

While in most scenarios we would advise to keep insurance separate from investments (and an insurance is not an investment), endowments can be considered in certain scenarios.

  • Only invest in endowments if you need to increase your asset allocation in lower-risk investments and even then only as a small part of your entire portfolio.
  • Know your reason for the endowment investment as the investment horizon is long.
  • Good objectives may be for retirement-related purposes, a fixed sum for travel/holidays annually or towards paying off for your long-term property loan.
  • Your focus for the endowment would be returns thus to select an endowment with as little cost as possible goes into coverage (basic sum assured).
  • Confirm the actual rate of return % of your endowment. Endowments typically state returns as % of basic sum assured which is NOT your rate of return.
  • Check the history of the endowment including whether the endowment has ever returned below expected returns.
  • Be wary of committing for very long years paying endowment premiums as a 10-year or longer payment term can psychologically feel very long.