When is the right time to start planning for your family? Grow your wealth, preserve your legacy and start planning ahead for your needs with this indexed universal life insurance policy by Manulife Singapore

The world is currently experiencing one of the worst health crises that will inadvertently have an impact on the economy. Understandably, it is now more important than ever to safeguard your wealth and protect your family, including your children and the generations ahead. 

If preserving and growing your accumulated wealth for future generations is important to you, Manulife’s Signature Indexed Universal Life Select policy could be suitable for your needs. It is designed for those who are seeking greater control over their legacy, with the advantage of potentially higher returns via an index account while limiting your exposure to market risks. The plan also allows you the flexibility of five different options to allocate premiums according to your preference.

The policy helps you plan ahead according to these three main aspects of your needs: legacy planning, business continuity and estate liquidity. To put it simply, you will get to distribute your wealth according to your wishes; protect the most valuable employee within your business, and divide your estate equally.

What is legacy planning?

Fundamentally, legacy planning involves distributing your assets and money accumulated over the years, according to your wishes. It's meant to support your family and future generations, so if done properly, your loved ones will be well taken care of should something unfortunate and unexpected happen to you.

(Related: 5 Ways To Successfully Manage A Generational Transfer Of Wealth)

How it works

An indexed universal life insurance policy allows you, the policyholder, to deposit your premiums into a fixed account and an index account, according to your preference. For an index account, the crediting rate is based on the performance of underlying indices and is subject to floor and cap rate predetermined by Manulife Singapore. You will also get to enjoy a guaranteed loyalty bonus crediting rate of 0.35 per cent per annum from year 11 onwards, up to age 100. For a fixed account, the crediting rate is declared by Manulife Singapore and is subject to a minimum guaranteed crediting rate of 2 per cent per annum. Both fixed and index accounts will get to enjoy a guaranteed loyalty bonus crediting rate of 0.35 per cent per annum from year 11 onwards, up to age 100. 

If you have opted in for automatic premium spread, the premium allocated into the index account will be spread to create index segments over 12 months.

To illustrate this, consider a 50-year-old father who has US$34 million in savings and wants to pass his wealth on fairly to his two children while ensuring he has adequate retirement funds. One possible way of doing this is for him to divide US$20 million between his two children by will, so each child receives US$10 million. He will then have US$14 million as his retirement funds.

However, with Manulife’s Signature Indexed Universal Life Select, in which he pays a single premium of US$6 million for US$20 million of death cover, the value of his estate increases to US$48 million. The US$20 million payout from the policy can be used to provide each child with US$10 million each, plus his own retirement fund has doubled from US$14 million to US$28 million. He also has the liberty of leaving more to his children or intended beneficiaries if not spent. With the policy, the father is able to maintain his legacy while having more funds for his own retirement.

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Why should you get it? Here are 6 key benefits to take note of:

  1. Whole life coverage
    - You will get to leave behind a valuable legacy for your family, children and the generations ahead
  2. Protecting your policy
    - Regardless of market conditions, the minimum surrender value will be payable at the time of full surrender if it is higher than the policy value less surrender charge
  3. Opportunity for higher returns
    - You will stand to earn potentially higher returns from the index account that is tied to internationally recognised indices
  4. Further protection from market volatility
    - The automatic premium spread option allows you to earn a more stable return by spreading the premium allocated into the index account, to create index segments over 12 months.
  5. Premium allocation options customised for you
    - You have five available choices to allocate premiums between fixed and index accounts based on your preference
  6. Adapt to life’s changes and market fluctuation
    - Be assured of a flexible premium payment as well as the options to change life insured in the future and rebalance the values between fixed and index accounts in the future 

Overall, a universal life policy like Manulife’s Signature Indexed Universal Life Select can expand your wealth and allow you to take control of your legacy at the same time. So if you’ve spent most of your life growing your assets after years of sheer hard work, don’t let it all go to waste—take some time to strategise legacy planning for your loved ones.


We recommend that you seek advice from a Manulife Financial Consultant or its Appointed Distributors, or visit any DBS/POSB Branch, before making a commitment to purchase. Signature Indexed Universal Life Select is underwritten by Manulife (Singapore) Pte. Ltd. (Reg. No. 198002116D). More information is available on its website. This advertisement has not been reviewed by the Monetary Authority of Singapore. Buying a life insurance policy is a long-term commitment. There may be high costs involved if you terminate the policy early, and your policy’s surrender value (if any) may be zero or less than the total premiums paid.

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