Insurance needs charged. Review on Aditya Birla Sun Life Insurance

Indians particularly tie up insurance with savings, hence it is not surprising that all companies have savings attached with insurance. Birla Sun life is no different. I had the courage and bad luck of pickiing up one of their policy 4 years ago. It is called whole Life... a just way of saying now you suffer your entire life... lets look at policy features:

1) I pay money (14000 P.a) for 25 years and get insurance for (1.5 lacs) for whole life (till I am 99)

2) I can withdraw amount after 25 years (or even before but foregoing some insurance benifit)

3) Gauranteed addition of 3% (if you choose maximizer which is risk prone but will give max returns)

Well now comes the things that they dont tell

1) they charge 65% as Premum allocation charges of your first year perimum (this is max of all companies ICICI charges only 20%)

2) Apart form the 65% for the first year they have policy adminstration charges every year 6.5%.

3) Apart from the above policy charges they charge Mortalilty charges the 1% to 5% every year

4) After all the above charges (if there is any money left in 14000) they would provide units in Enhancer ( Enhancer has 75% debt portion and 25% equity portion there is no 100% equity option).

5) The guaranteed 3% is not on the sum assured (like LIC ) but on the amount left over after all the charges

6) hey and did I tell you they have another Fund mangement charges every year 1 to 2% P.a. on the units.

7) Then they have another charge.... Astonishing how they can make up so many names (policy administration ) some 22 ruppees per month and this increases by 3% every year.

8) Am I going over board ... now comes another charge... they ran out of names.... hence it is just called annual charge... of 0.3% on the sum assured

Well guys after paying nearly 50000 for past 4 years and the being through the stock market boom, my policy value still is 50% of the my investment.... well blame it on me for not looking at all the charges. Now someone says that insurance is an added saving...

Bottom line: LOOK AT ALL CHARGES BEFORE YOU JUMP