According to a giant poster on a building in Dubai Marina, there is no property bubble in Dubai, I don’t think so!!!

What are your thought?

‘Keep Calm There’s No Bubble’ – by @property_finder lol #Dubai #brilliant pic.twitter.com/e3GAdqUJGp

— Sarah Rizvi (@sarahrizvi) November 17, 2013

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Practically speaking, no one wants die prematurely, but sadly the truth of life is that people die, sooner or later.

The most important question is “What will happen to your family who are dependent on your income, if you die sooner than you were ready?”

All your dreams, all you plans and all your goals, you had for your family,  may be left unrealized…….

A simple life insurance can help you put away this serious concern, and give you the necessary peace of mind that what ever happens to you, your income is protected.

Your dreams can be still become true, your goals can still be met. You can still be contributing to your family’s welfare, in-spite of being dead.

You will always be remembered as a loving husband, a caring father, and a responsible human being…

The following are the reasons, why you should buy life insurance;

• There is life after death — your family lives on. 

Think about rent, think about fees, think about inflation, how will your family manage all this without your income? Adequate life insurance is an answer to these questions.

• No debt should last longer than the person who created it.

Think about your mortgage, think about the personal loan, think about your business loan, have you enough money to pay off these loans, if you died before these are paid off. Do you want your family pay your loans, long after you are dead.

Is it fair to leave your burdens on your wife and children?

• Life insurance is cost-effective and tax-efficient

Contrary to popular belief, Life Insurance is affordable and tax efficient, if proper advice is sought. In UAE you can start a life insurance plan for as low a AED 65.

• It is the only thing you can buy on a installment plan, on which you spouse won’t have to finish the payments after you die.

So don’t wait, don’t think too much, call your financial adviser, or contact me on +97150-2285405 or on damodhar.mata@nexusadvice.com, to ascertain how you can protect your family’s financial future.

Bear in mind, whatever excuse you may now have for not buying life insurance now will only sound ridiculous to your widow.

 suphakit73 / FreeDigitalPhotos.net”

The post Why buy Life Insurance? appeared first on Financial Planning in Dubai.

While we all look forward to establish a rewarding career at age 30, can somebody  think about retirement?

Meet Mr. Money Mustache from Canada, who has cracked the retirement code at age 30.

Mr Money Mustache and Family

Mr. Money Mustache a married Canadian citizen, has managed to retire in his early thirties and is one of the most inspiring personal finance bloggers on the internet.

His blog posts are informative, entertaining and educating on practical ideas of saving money and investment, leading to financial independence, and they can be found at www.mrmoneymustache.com.

Listen to his interview on The Mad Fientist Financial Independence podcast, where he talks about his path to financial independence. I hope you enjoy and get inspired from the discussion with him as much as I did!

To know more about Mr. Money Mustache please visit http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/about/.

In UAE there are various options available to help you save for your retirement. Leading Insurance companies like Zurich International Life, Generali, Friends Provident and Metlife Alico have different plans which can help you save for your retirement.

To know more about saving for your retirement in UAE, call me on +97150-2285405 or write to me on damodhar.mata@nexusadvice.com.

If you have a specific question about retirement saving or other aspects of Financial Planning, you can have them personally answered.

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“Consumers in the UAE are embracing the banking-on-the-go concept – and it won’t be long before cardless ATMs are introduced here”

Aref Al Ramli, head of Electronic business and innovation made this prediction in June 2012, during an interview for www.thenational.ae.

This prediction more likely to be true shortly, as  Mashreq Bank is set to introduce Card-less ATM withdrawals using a smartphone.

This innovation by Mashreq Bank, adds to its reputation of being the one of the most innovative banks in the middle east region.

This facility was lauched in Saudi by NCB in 2012, and had posted the following video on Youtube, to reach out to its users to show them how to use the cardless atm withdrawal facility.

Banks in India like Indus Ind Bank and Axis Bank are also providing  cardless ATM withdrawal facilities through leading telecom operators and mobile payment service providers.

Many mobile phone users are increasingly realizing that the instrument in their hands can do much more than just connecting them to their family and friends.

The post Cardless ATM cash withdrawal using smartphone… appeared first on Financial Planning in Dubai.

Zurich International Life (ZIL) has recently launched an updated and enhanced version of Zurich Futura, their Whole of life insurance plan with attractive living benefits in UAE, Bahrain and Qatar.

Tweet

What is new?

• The waiver of premium benefit is now available for either or both lives on joint life policies. Earlier it was available only on Life 1, even though both lives insured were employed.

• Maximum cover is extended from age 65 to age 70. For waiver of premium benefit, permanent and total disability benefit, accidental death benefit, dismemberment benefit and hospitalization benefit.

• The Terminal illness cover was earlier a part of the critical illness benefit, but now it has been added to the life cover with a maximum USD 1 Million.

• The critical illness benefit is enhanced with the addition of 16 new conditions to the existing 20, a taking the total number of conditions covered to 36; including a new children’s critical illness

  Enhanced Critical Illness Cover on Zurich Futura

  condition cover.

• The qualifying period for critical illness benefit has been reduced to 90 days, from 180 days

• The deferment period for permanent and total disability benefit claims (the period a life insured must be disabled before a claim can be admitted) has been reduced from 12 months to 180 days.

• The hospitalization benefit maximum has been increased to USD 4,000 each week from USD 2,800

• The minimum age for lives insured has been increased from 17 to 18.

• Long term care benefit is no longer available

• Zurich has also added a new joint life last death option, for the benefit of individuals who want to delay the payment of Death and estate taxes.

What about existing Futura customers? Existing Futura customers are not affected by the changes and their policies will continue to operate in line with the terms and conditions provided at the time of policy issue. To know more, please contact: Damodhar Mata +97155-7701792 or +97150-2285405 Damodhar.mata@nexusadvice.com www.financialplanningindubai.com

The post Zurich Futura With Enhanced Living Benefits appeared first on Financial Planning in Dubai.

Zurich International Life has recently launched the enhanced Futura, and this post provides the updated Zurich Futura Critical Illness List.

What is Critical illness Benefit?

Zurich Futura Critical Illness Benefit pays a lump sum if the insured is diagnosed with one of the defined illnesses or disabilities covered in the Futura policy.

What is does?

The Critical Illness Benefit pays a cash sum if you are diagnosed with one of the defined illness or disabilities or you undergo a medical procedure covered by your policy (including cancer, heart attack and stroke). The claim payment is made as a single lump sum.

Entry Age : The Entry age for this benefit is between 18 and 59, while the maximum age of protection is age 95 or till the policy is in force.

Deferment Period : Zurich Futura Critical illness benefit has a deferment period of 90 days – which means that this benefit does not start until 90 days from the date of risk commencement. or the policy start date.

Maximum Amount : The maximum amount of critical illness benefit available on Futura is the lower of $1,250,000 or the life cover selected.

Inclusive Benefit : The Critical Illness Benefit on Zurich Futura is an inclusive benefit, which means that, the amount of critical illness claim paid, reduces the life cover to that extent.

For Eg : If a UAE resident has a Zurich Futura with $500,000 life cover and $400,000 critical illness cover, and he is paid a claim of $400,000 on diagnosis of a critical illness, his life cover will come down to $100,000, after deducting the critical illness claim.

In the event of his death, his beneficiary will receive $100,000 as death claim.

Full list of critical illnesses

1. Aorta graft surgery – for disease and trauma

2. Aplastic anaemia – resulting in permanent symptoms

3. Bacterial meningitis – resulting in permanent symptoms

4. Benign brain tumour – resulting in permanent symptoms

5. Blindness – permanent and irreversible

6. Cancer – excluding less advanced cases

7. Cardiomyopathy

8. Coma – with permanent symptoms

9. Coronary artery bypass grafts – with surgery to divide the breastbone

10. Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease – requiring continuous assistance

11. Deafness – permanent and irreversible

12. Dementia (including Alzheimer’s disease) before age 65 – resulting in permanent symptoms

13. Ductal carcinoma in situ of the breast – with specific treatment (partial payment)

14. Encephalitis

15. Liver failure – end stage

16. Lung disease – end stage/respiratory failure – of specified severity

17. Heart attack – of specified severity

18. Heart failure

19. Heart valve replacement or repair – with surgery to divide the breastbone

20. HIV infection – caught in a specified country from a blood transfusion, a physical assault or work in an eligible occupation

21. Kidney failure – requiring dialysis

22. Loss of independent existence – resulting in permanent symptoms

23. Loss of hands or feet – permanent physical severance

24. Loss of speech – total, permanent and irreversible

25. Major organ transplant

26. Motor neurone disease

27. Multiple sclerosis – with persisting symptoms

28. Open heart surgery – with surgery to divide the breastbone

29. Paralysis of limbs – total, permanent and irreversible

30. Parkinson’s disease before age 65 – resulting in permanent symptoms

31. Primary pulmonary arterial hypertension – resulting in permanent symptoms

32. Stroke – with permanent symptoms

33. Systemic lupus erythematosus – of specified severity

34. Third-degree burns – covering 20% of the body’s surface area or 50% of the face’s surface area

35. Traumatic head injury – with permanent symptoms

36. Children’s critical illness

To know more about Zurich Futura Critical illness benefit, please call me on +97155-7701792 or write to me on damodhar,mata@nexusadvice.com.

Click here, to download the detailed Zurich Futura Critical Illness Benefit Guide.

The post Zurich Futura Critical Illness Benefit With Complete List And Details. appeared first on Financial Planning in Dubai.

A.M. Best Company is a global credit rating agency with a unique focus on the insurance industry. It has rated World’s Largest Insurance companies based on 2 important parameters;

1. Total Non Banking Assets held by an insurance company in 2012

2. Total Net premiums written by the company in the year 2012.

For the benefit of the residents in UAE, I would like to highlight the presence of the following companies on the lists;

• Generali International – Operating as Generali UAE and providing regular and lump-sum savings plan in the UAE
• Zurich International Life Ltd – Providing life insurance and savings products in UAE
• Metlife Inc – Offering both savings and investments in UAE
• AXA S.A – Operating as AXA Gulf, and offering General Insurance in UAE
• Life Insurance Corporation – operating as LIC international, offering Life Insurance and investment in UAE

The post World’s Largest Insurance Companies – A.M. Best Rankings appeared first on Financial Planning in Dubai.

Zurich Term Life Insurance provides a cost-effective worldwide protection for individuals and businesses in UAE. 

It is designed to  pay an agreed cash lump- sum, if you die during the fixed term of the policy.In addition to the life cover, Zurich Term Life Insurance also provides the following optional benefits;

Term of Cover : You can avail Zurich Term Life Insurance between 5 years to 35 years term.

Age of Cover : Minimum age at entry at entry should is 18 and the maximum age at entry is 74. The maximum age at maturity, should be less than or equal to 79.

For additional benefits life Critical illness or PTD, the maximum age at entry is 59.

No Cash Surrender Value : There is no cash surrender value or maturity value on this plan, because this is a simple term insurance, offering affordable life cover with additional benefits.

Benefits of Zurich Term Life Insurance

How is this plan useful?

Zurich life term insurance can be used for the following;

1. To protect a personal liability like an mortgage
2. As key man insurance to protect business liabilities and business continuity
3. To ensure children’s education and financial well being
4. To protect marriage expenses of unmarried children
5. To secure living expenses of an elderly dependent

The Critical Illness Benefit and the Permanent total disability benefit can be used for the following;

• To ensure adequate funds are available, enabling a family member to give up work to care for you or to fund other home care expenses
• To repay debts in part or whole, while you are recuperating from a dreaded disease
• To pay for making major renovations to your home For E.g. Renovating your house to enable wheel chair access
• To ensure an adequate income for you to pay for ongoing living expenses
• To protect your business continuity in the event of a key person or principal being critically ill.

For more information on Zurich Term Life Insurance, please call me on +97155-7701792 or write to me on damodhar.mata@nexusadvice.com

The post Zurich Term Life Insurance appeared first on Financial Planning in Dubai.

I stumbled upon this beautiful poem by Randy Vining on Wealth and I am sharing it for the benefit of my readers…

Wealth poem by Randy Vining

Wealth…is like a leaky bucket beneath a water spout.
The running water is the income, expense, is the leakage out.

And the measure of your wealth is,
How long could you hold out if some sadness fortune turned off the water spout?

Most folks focus on the spigot seeking increase of the flow…
I focus my attention on the leaky stand below.

I have sought to plug my bucket. Reducing my expenses,
holding in my savings like a cowboy mending fences.

With patience I waited for bargains, didn’t count on Lady Luck.
Lived well below my means, getting bang for every buck.

And when the water rising in my bucket reached that calculated mark,
I left behind all drudgery and flew off like a lark…

So I think my wealth is great because my needs are small,
and I won’t have to work again with any luck at all.

Money…

can purchase freedom, if you have the guts to buy it.
I know folks with beaucoup bucks too afraid to try it.

But I purchased freedom with the savings in my pail,
and across highway seas of adventure…

in my land yacht, I will sail.

The post Wealth defined in a poem appeared first on Financial Planning in Dubai.

Forbes has released the Top American Colleges 2014 ranking list yesterday.

Williams College is this years’s leading higher education institution in the U.S., closely followed by Stanford University and Swarthmore College. Find below the detailed list….

The detailed list of rankings, with cost per year for the current year was released by Forbes yesterday. For the convenience of readers I have also projected the cost of education with each college in 5,10 and 15 years time from now at an inflation rate of 5.00 %.

 Depending on your child’s age, and when he or she is likely to go to college, you can refer that particular column to ascertain the cost of education when he or she is ready to go to college.

Enter the appropriate input values for a specific savings scenario.

In UAE there are many savings plans with leading insurance companies like Generali UAE, Zurich International Life, Friends Provident International, Salama, Metlife Alico and Noor Takaful, which can help you save for your child’s education.

To know more about Savings plans in UAE, please call me on +97155-7701792 or Email to me

The post Top American Colleges 2014 – Forbes Ranking appeared first on Financial Planning in Dubai.

“Every financial worry you want to banish and financial dream you want to achieve comes from taking tiny steps today that put you on a path toward your goals.”

Suze Orman

Suze Orman

This wonderful quote from Suze Orman, sums up the whole financial planning process of a person leading to financial independence and peace.

Small but consecutive steps towards a certain goal, will eventually lead to success.

If small steps is all it takes to achieve our goals, then why are people suffering financially, why is the majority of world’s population is poor? why do we fail? why do we quit?

Without a doubt small steps do certainly lead us to our goals, but how many of us, take the most important first step at the right time, and keep following it with consecutive steps? Very few I would guess….

The first step towards achieving a goal is usually difficult, the more we brood over it, the more difficult it looks….

As human beings our actions or inaction is motivated either by fear of loosing what he already have or from  the pleasure of having what we desire.

When the perceived fear of losing what we have is stronger than the happiness we aim to achieve from a certain action, it leads to indecision which further leads to procrastination.

Indecision is the biggest contributor to procrastination and procrastination  is the biggest reason why many are still poor….

What is indecision?

Indecision

As discussed above, when the perceived fear of losing what we have is stronger than the pleasure of having or achieving what we desire, then we are in fix, unable to more forward or backward, letting the opportunity pass-by. This state of being in a fix is called indecision.

As we continue to let opportunities pass by our confidence takes a heavy beating, and we tend to accept financial disasters as inevitable part of our lives and start living a compromised life.

Brian Tracy explains the impact of decisiveness the opposite of Indecision, aptly through his quote “Decisiveness is a characteristic of high-performing men and women. Almost any decision is better than no decision at all.”

How to get rid of Indecision?

The following factors can largely contribute to the riddance of indecision;

Belief : Positive belief on its own can change the way we look and do things, and eliminating the fear of failure and helping us take the most important first step towards our goal. The following poem from Napoleon Hill’s Think and Grow Rich highlights the importance of belief;

If you think you are beaten….                        

 “If you think you are beaten, you are, If you think you dare not, you don’t.

If you like to win, but you think you can’t, It is almost certain you won’t.

“If you think you’ll lose, you’re lost!!

For out of the world we find, Success begins with a fellow’s will— It’s all in the state of mind.

“If you think you are outclassed, you are, You’ve got to think high to rise,

You’ve got to be sure of yourself before You can ever win a prize.

“Life’s battles don’t always go, To the stronger or faster man,

But soon or late the man who wins Is the man WHO THINKS HE CAN!”

Have Coach or Mentor : Having a coach can make a significant difference in our lives. A good coach knows when to push and when to let loose, he knows how to motivate and channel our inner strength towards the achievement of our goals..

He sees things from a different perspective, and also sees things we do not notice.  A good coach improves our confidence levels by eliminating the perceived fears lingering in our minds therefore eliminating the indecision…

While many factors can be added to this list, I reckon the  above discussed are the most important in eliminating indecision, improving our focus towards banishing our fears and achieving our goals..

Readers comments on this article are most welcome. If you enjoyed reading this article please share it with your online network by using the links below.

Image courtesy of [Stuart Miles] at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

The post Every financial worry you want to banish…. appeared first on Financial Planning in Dubai.

Cardiovascular disease gained the dubious reputation of being the world’s leading cause of death in 2012, by claiming 17.50 million deaths out of a total of 56 million deaths globally. 

Although alarming, statistics like this may not always communicate the gravity of the situation. That is why we seldom take any action in-spite of reading such alarming statistics.

This blog post is an endeavor to highlight the risks the residents of UAE face due to cardiovascular diseases and encourage prompt action to prevent it.

The following charts show The 10 leading causes of death by country income group in 2012;

The 10 leading causes of death by country income group

From the above chart, it is quite evident, that we the residents of UAE, an upper middle income country are extremely prone to cardiovascular diseases, thanks to the rich food we eat and the sedentary lifestyle we lead.

What is cardiovascular disease?

The World Heart Federation defines Cardiovascular disease (CVD) as a broad term for a range of diseases affecting the heart and blood vessels. A heart attack or stroke may be the first warning of an underlying disease.

What causes cardiovascular disease?

Dr Mohammed Al Raqabani, a cardiologist at Rashid Hospital states that the global average age of first heart attack is 65, but in UAE the average first hear attack age is 45, highlighting the magnitude of the predicament we are facing.

850 heart attack patients were admitted to Rashid hospital in 2013. These 850 heart attack patients were much younger than patients elsewhere in the world.

Out of those 850 patients, 40% were diabetic, 40% were hypertensive , while 25 per cent had high levels of bad cholesterol.

In UAE, Diabetes is a major risk factor for heart attacks, because more than 20 per cent of UAE’s population is diabetic. Similarly,  the percentage of people with obesity, hypertension, and high cholesterol is also very high in UAE.

Tobacco consumption is another significant cause for cardiovascular diseases in UAE, evidenced by the fact that more than 50% of the heart attack patients admitted in Rashid Hospital in 2013 were smokers.

The high risk of heart disease in the region can also be attributed to a poor diet and the high consumption of fat and carbohydrates, says Dr Al Raqabani.

Some of the other factors causing CVD are

• Being physically inactive
• Being overweight or obese
• Family history of heart disease
• Ethnic background
• Sex – men are more likely to develop CVD at an earlier age than women.
• Age – the older you are, the more likely you are to develop CVD.

How to prevent Cardiovascular Disease?

Quit Smoking : One of the most efective ways to reduce your risk of Cardiovascular Disease is to avoid tobacco consumption. Don’t ever start smoking. If you already smoke, quit. No matter how much or how long you’ve smoked, quitting will benefit you.

According to NIH(National Institutes of Health) Quitting smoking will benefit your heart and blood vessels. For example:

• Heart disease risk associated with smoking begins to decrease soon after you quit. It continues to decrease over time. Your risk is cut in half, 1 year after quitting. If you have not developed heart disease within 15 years of quitting, your risk is nearly the same as the risk in someone who has never smoked.
• Deaths from heart disease are reduced by one-third in people who quit smoking compared with people who continue smoking. Repeat heart attacks are reduced by about the same amount.
• People who smoke and already have heart disease lower their risk of sudden cardiac death, second heart attacks, and death from other chronic diseases by as much as half if they quit smoking.
• Your risk of atherosclerosis and blood clots declines over time after you quit smoking.

Exercise : Dr Al Raqabani says “Exercise is vital for prevention of coronary heart disease, This applies to healthy as well as unhealthy individuals.”

“Exercise is both a primary and secondary form of prevention. This means that exercise is important for healthy individuals as well as those who have had a heart attack.

“It helps to control a host of lifestyle diseases including diabetes, obesity, high blood pressure – all of which are factors that can lead to heart diseases.”

He recommends a bare minimum of  30 minutes of brisk walking, five times a week for prevention of Cardiovascular disease.

Leading Mobile phone brands like Iphone, Samsung and multiple sports wear companies are promoting the importance of regular exercise through mobile phone applications, which can calculate and track the amount of calories we  have spent during a workout session or during the day.

Using these applications is a fun way of challenging ourselves and our friends on the social network, which can not only improve our health, but also our social status.

Healthy Diet : We tend to relate a Healthy diet to bland and tasteless food, strict dietary limitations, staying unrealistically thin, or depriving ourselves of the foods we love.

But the fact is that Healthy diet is more about eating the right kind of food at the right time, and in adequate quantity. In all essence, it means eating a wholesome meal, only as much as your body needs. After a meal one should feel satisfied, but not stuffed.

The Healthy Eating Plate provides detailed guidance, in a simple format, to help people make the best eating choices.

Copyright © 2011, Harvard University. For more information about The Healthy Eating Plate, please see The Nutrition Source, Department of Nutrition, Harvard School of Public Health, www.thenutritionsource.org, and Harvard Health Publications, www.health.harvard.edu

Click here to download the Harvard Healthy Eating Pyramid

Eliminate Stress : In this fast paced life we often go through stress at work and at home, Our blood pressure tends to go up, when we are are stressed, which can lead to a heart attack or stroke, hence effective stress management is key to healthy living.

Maintaining a work / life  balance can help us manage stress to a certain extent. Managing expectations of people around us well, can also lead to lesser stress both for us and for the people around us.

Adequate sleep and relaxation are key to a stress free life.

Yoga, Meditation, laughter therapy, social work and clubbing can also help in eliminating stress from our lives.

In a nutshell Regular Exercise, No Smoking, lesser stress and eating a healthy diet can help us reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease to a large extent.

In addition to the above it is also important to avail adequate life and Critical illness insurance, which can protect us and our families from loss of income due to death, disability and critical illness.

To know more about Life and Critical illness insurance, feel free to call me on +97150-2285405 or write to me on damodhar.mata@nexusadvice.com

The post Cardiovascular Disease in UAE. appeared first on Financial Planning in Dubai.

Zurich Term Insurance provides a Comprehensive protection against loss of income due to Death, Disability and Critical Illness.

This blog post endeavors to explain the scope and limitations of the Critical illness benefit and provide the complete list of critical illness covered under this plan;

Did you know that 9 out of 10 people know someone or have family member with Critical Illness

Critical illness benefit on Zurich Term Insurance allows the insured to “Focus On Recovery Instead Of Finances”, by paying out a cash lump sum  if the insured is diagnosed with one of the defined illnesses listed below;

1. Aorta graft surgery – for disease and trauma
2. Aplastic anaemia – resulting in permanent symptoms
3. Bacterial meningitis – resulting in permanent symptoms
4. Benign brain tumour – resulting in permanent symptoms
5. Blindness – permanent and irreversible
6. Cancer – excluding less advanced cases
7. Coma – with permanent symptoms
8. Coronary artery bypass grafts – with surgery to divide the breastbone*
9. Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease – requiring continuous assistance
10. Deafness – permanent and irreversible
11. Dementia (including Alzheimer’s disease) before age 65 – resulting in permanent symptoms
12. Encephalitis
13. Liver failure – end stage
14. Lung disease – end stage/respiratory failure – of specified severity
15. Heart attack – of specified severity
16. Heart valve replacement or repair – with surgery to divide the breastbone
17. HIV infection – caught in a specified country* from a blood transfusion, a physical assault or work in an eligible occupation
18. Kidney failure – requiring dialysis
19. Loss of independent existence – resulting in permanent symptoms
20. Loss of hands or feet – permanent physical severance
21. Loss of speech – total, permanent and irreversible
22. Major organ transplant*
23. Motor neurone disease – resulting in permanent symptoms
24. Multiple sclerosis – with persisting symptoms
25. Open heart surgery – with surgery to divide the breastbone
26. Paralysis of limbs – total, permanent and irreversible
27. Parkinson’s disease before age 65 – resulting in permanent symptoms
28. Primary pulmonary arterial hypertension – resulting in permanent symptoms
29. Stroke – with permanent symptoms
30. Systemic lupus erythematosus – of specified severity
31. Terminal illness
32. Third-degree burns – covering 20% of the body’s surface area or 50% of the face’s surface area
33. Traumatic head injury – with permanent symptoms

Critical illness benefit has a waiting period of 90 days from the start of the policy. This means that any claim made within the first 90 days will not be paid out.

Critical illness benefit is typically used for the following;

• To pay living expenses, while the insured is recuperating from the ailment, without worrying about bills
• To enable a working spouse to give up work to take care of the ailing insured
• To enable earlier repayment of an outstanding mortgage, personal loan or any other type of liability, ensuring peace of mind
• To protect savings towards Children’s education and Retirement
• To pay for any major renovations required to your home (e.g. to permit wheelchair access);
• In case of a business owner, to provide necessary liquidity to keep the business running inspite of losses arising due the absence of the key business person.

Critical illness claims are paid as an advance payment of the life cover amount. This means that when a critical illness claim is paid, the life cover amount is reduced by the amount of the critical illness claim. If the claim is equal to the life cover amount, then the policy ends.

Premiums on term insurance plans with critical illness benefit will be reviewed every five years, adjusting to inflation.

To know more about Zurich Insurance call me on +97150-2285405, Write to me by clicking this link or visit Zurich Term Life Insurance.

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International Advisers – Gulf Expert Investor Forum was held at Conrad Dubai Hotel yesterday.

Speakers from EmiratesNBD, Amundi, Brooks Macdonald, Castel Fund, Investec Asset Management, Mashreq, Montello and Shroders shared their insights on various funds and strategies they felt were relevant to the volatile market conditions currently prevelent.

Khatija Haque of EmiratesNBD made the Keynote speech, touching upon the Macro economic aspects like Monetary policies, growth expectations of major economies,  and its impact on the MENA region, and the implications of Oil prices on financial markets.

I including a fairly large group were placed in Ball Room A  The first presentation was by Henrietta Lance, Senior Portfolio Manager – Global Resources at Amundi Asset Management.

She spoke about the Amundi Islamic Global resources Fund, which invests in Equities of companies like Royal Dutch Shell, Exxon Mobil etc, which operate in industries like Precious and Industrial Metals, Energy, Chemicals, and agriculture companies.

To know more about this fund please visit http://www.trustnetmiddleeast.com/Factsheets/Factsheet.aspx?fundCode=I8FP9&univ=GS&pagetype=performance

The second speaker was Atul Shinh, of Investec Asset Management who presented his views on Multi-Asset Investing, with specific reference to Investec GSF Global Strategic Managed Fund.

His presentation was short and crisp concentrating on why advisers should recommend this fund to investors.

To know more about this fund please visit http://www.morningstar.co.uk/uk/funds/snapshot/snapshot.aspx?id=F000000INF

The highlight of Atul’s presentation was a quote by Deng Xioping” Whether a cat is black or white makes no difference as long as it catches mice”

In the session 3, Joseph Samuel of Montello provided his insights on Real Estate Opportunities in the UK

Session 4 was about a unique investment theme, presented by John Greenwood of Creechurch Capital. He spoke about Castel Residential Property Fund, that invests in the assisted living property sector, providing investors a inflation protected income and long term capital appreciation opportunity.

After the Coffee break,  Ashwin Patni of Axis Asset Management representing Schroders highlighted the growth prospects in India, which is going through an economic revival led by the new BJP government.

He shared his optimistic views on the Indian Economy  and predicted that the Indian economy will grow to 2 trillion shortly…

He also spoke about the huge impact of small and mid cap companies on in Indian investment arena, and saw more opportunities in the small cap and mid cap companies in India.

To knore more about Shroders ISF Indian Opportunities Fund please visit : http://www.trustnetoffshore.com/Factsheets/Factsheet.aspx?fundCode=FBFAN&univ=DC

In session 5, Kevin Boscher of Brooks Macdonald presented on the importance of actove asset allocation and prudent stock selection in a recovering but diverging global economy…

Germin Benyamin and Zeina Rizk of Mashreq presented their views on the exciting opportunities in MENA Equities Fixed Income Funds following the upgrade of UAE and Qatar to Emerging Markets Status

The sessions were followed by a CEO Roundatable, hosted by Simon Danaher. At the roundtable were Sam Instone from AES International, Tarun Khanna of Nexus Insurance Brokers, Ashok Sardana of Continental, Sean Kelleher of Mondial, Sarah Lord of Killick & Co and Tim Searle of Globaleye.

Various topics including the latest regulations by the insurance authority regulating the intermediaries were discussed at the Roundtable, which was followed by Lunch and end of the event.

The post International Adviser – Gulf Expert Investor Forum appeared first on Financial Planning in Dubai.

International Decreasing Term Assurance is the latest addition to Zurich International Life’s protection suite in UAE.

It is officially available to the residents of UAE from  yesterday and will be launched in Bahrain and Qatar shortly. As we all know that life insurance is mandatory to protect a mortgage in UAE, The Decreasing Term Insurance well equipped to address this area of protection.

What is Decreasing Term Assurance / Insurance?

Decreasing term insurance is also known as Mortgage Insurance. As the name suggests it is typically used to protect a mortgage liability.

At the time of availing the mortgage, an individual also has to obtain life insurance protecting his liability to the lender(Usually a Bank), and assign the policy to favoring the lender. In the event of his death before the maturity of the mortgage, the life insurance company will pay the lender the outstanding on the mortgage.

How is it different from a regular term assurance / insurance?

The life insurance cover amount remains same throughout the term of a regular term assurance plan, whereas the lie insurance cover amount decreases every year in case of a decreasing term insurance.

The rate by which the cover amount decreases every year is determined by the interest rate of the mortgage.

0, 7, 9 and 11 are the 4 interest rate options provided on  Zurich’s International Term Assurance, to choose from; to determine by how much the cover amount reduces every year.

Interest rates in UAE are currently less than 5.00%, but it is prudent to choose a higher interest rate, to avoid coverage shortfall at a future date, when interest rates increase in UAE.

How it works?

A decreasing term insurance policy is typically used to cover the outstanding balance of a mortgage or a business related term loan. As the outstanding loan amount of the mortgage / loan decreases every year, the amount of cover also decreases every year based on the interest rate selected.

Decreasing term life insurance aims to cater for this, and so the total amount of cover decreases over time, roughly in line with your mortgage:

For Eg: If an individual avails a decreasing term cover of USD 400,000 for a term of 25 years at 7.00 % interest rate; his cover amount will decrease as follows;

Chart showing how cover amount decreases at 7.00 % interest rate

Why Decreasing Term Assurance? 

Because the cover amount of the policy reduces every year, the premiums are always lower than regular term insurance. This type of policy is well suited to protect a mortgage or a business liability at a very affordable cost.

Other Features

Zurich’s International Decreasing Term Assurance can also be used for the following;

1. To protect Savings for Education for College
2. To protect Savings for children’s marriage
3. To protect business liabilities
4. To protect retirement savings

On the whole this plan provides a comprehensive cover to protect a mortgage or a liability, at lower premiums and is highly recommended.

The post Zurich launches International Decreasing Term Assurance in UAE appeared first on Financial Planning in Dubai.

AXA Gulf is a leading health insurance provider in UAE, offering a wide range of Health Insurance Plans to suit the diverse needs of UAE residents.

The post Top 7 Reasons to Choose AXA Medical Insurance in UAE appeared first on Financial Planning in Dubai.

Hyat Plus is a Whole of Life Takaful Plan from Salama.

Before we review the Hyat Plus plan, let us understand some basics of Islamic Takaful Plan.

What is Takaful?

Takaful, is an Arabic word meaning “Guaranteeing Each Other”, it is;

• a form of mutual assurance that strictly observes the rules and regulations of Shari’a (Islamic law)
• system based on mutual co-operation and responsibility providing assurance and protection among a  group of participants upholding the principle of “bear ye one another’s burden”
• in practice in Arabia from the 6th century

About Salama

Islamic Arab Insurance Company (SALAMA) is the world’s largest and oldest Takaful Company. It was established in 1979, and has presence in UAE, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Senegal, Jordan, Beirut, Algeria, Malaysia, China and Mauritius.

Salama offers Family Takaful, General Takaful and Health Takaful solutions in over 60 countries

It is listed on the Dubai Financial Market, and is rated as A-(Stable) by S&P and A-(excellent) by AM Best Rating.

About Hyat Plus

Salama Hyat Plus is a Unit Linked Whole of Life Family Takaful plan, aimed to provide a life cover up to age 100.

It is robust plan, through which you can invest in Sharia approved Islamic Funds and also protect your family from loss of income due to death, disability and Critical Illness.

The aim of this plan is to provide a life long cover with a minimum premium payment,  over a certain period(usually between 7-20 years). A part of the premium paid is invested in Islamic Mutual funds, to cover the future premium costs, and the balance is used to cover the cost of insurance for the current period and for other charges.

For Eg : Abdul is 30 Years old, married with 2 children. He is considering Salama Hyat Plus because it can provide his a whole of life cover with riders like Critical Illness Benefit till age 100.

Because he is an expat, he is not sure if he will be able to pay premiums till age 100, so he chooses a premium payment term of 7 years for a cover amount of USD 100,000 with a monthly premium of USD 270 for 84 months.

So if Abdul pays USD 270 per month for 84 months, amounting to USD $30,240/- he will be covered for $100,000 for both life and Critical illness till age 100.

Abdul can also ch0ose a 10, 12, 15 or a 20 years or more premium payment period, depending on his affordability.

You have to bear in mind, that if you choose a premium payment period in excess of 20 years, you might end up paying more overall.

Hyat Plus, Product Specifications

HYAT Plus – Rider Benefits 

1. Critical Illness Benefit: provides a cash lump sum if the takaful member is diagnosed with one of the 36 Critical illnesses covered. The Maximum Critical Illness benefit can be up to USD 1.25 Million

2. Waiver of Contribution Benefit: waives regular contributions where member is totally and permanently disabled for a continuous period of at least 180 days.

3. Accidental Death Benefit: provides a cash lump sum in addition to the cover amount, where death of the takaful member is directly and solely because of an accident.

4. Total Permanent Disability Benefit: pays a lump sum if the member is totally and permanently disabled for a continuous period of at least 180 days.

5. Family Income Benefit: provides annuity payments to the Covered Member’s family upon his death for a period chosen by him between 1 and 40 years. The monthly amount required as annuity payments is chosen by the Covered Member at inception. The annuity payments are payable for the balance period of the selected term.

6. Hospital Cash Benefit: pays a fixed amount chosen by the Client either USD 150 or USD 300 for each day that is spent in hospital by the Covered Member subject to a maximum of 30 days. There is a deferment period of 3 days.

7. Accidental Dismemberment Benefit: pays a fixed amount if the Covered Member accidentally suffers from any bodily injury within 90 days of the accident. The dismemberment benefit is based on a defined are defined in a list.

Important Features

Full Encashment: A Takaful member can fully surrender and encash the plan at any time after the NIL allocation period without any encashment charge.

Partial Withdrawal: After completion of 3^rd plan year, the member can partially withdraw at any time without any withdrawal charge. It should be noted that the cover amount of the plan will reduce to the extent of the partial withdrawal. Minimum Partial Encashment is  5% of Fund Value subject to a minimum of $1,000.

Decrease of Regular Contribution: When the plan is paid for 3 years, regular contributions can be decreased at any Plan Anniversary. The reduced regular contribution cannot not be less than the prevailing minimum for new Plans.

Contribution Holiday : A takaful member can avail a Contribution Holiday for a maximum period of 1 year, provided he has paid at least 3 years of Contribution payments and the Plan has sufficient fund value to continue to be in force during the Contribution Holiday

Fund Choice: Members can choose up to 10 funds from world’s leading fund houses on Salama platform, to  access the potential of the Global financial markets with investments that can match with their individual circumstances and risk tolerance.

Fund Switching : Switching between existing Funds and strategies may be done at any time free of charge. However, SALAMA reserves the right to apply a Fund switch charge.

Re-Direction : Members can choose to re-direct their future Contributions to different Investment Funds/Strategies or change the allocation amounts at any time

Summary : As a financial adviser, I feel that I can confidently recommend Hyat Plus from Salama to my clients looking for a Shari’s approved Family Takaful Plan.

Because this plan is similar to Conventional Unit Linked Plans, investors should be aware of the market risks, and choose their investment strategy with the help of an expert financial  adviser.

If you want to know more about Hyat Plus, or any other Life Takaful Plan, feel free to call me on + 97150-2285405 or write to me by clicking here.

The post Hyat Plus – Review of Salama’s Family Takaful Plan appeared first on Financial Planning in Dubai.

Rupee fell sharply against US Dollar reaching to a 13 month low of 63.89….

Why rupee is sliding?

US Dollar Rally : Ongoing sharp US Dollar rally is affecting the markets around the world and India is no exception. Although the macro economic aspects have improved, the Rupee is still largely affected by surging US Dollar. This trend is likely to continue and Rupee is expected to tumble further…

Surge in Gold imports – India imported 146 tonnes of gold in November 2014 amounting to $5.61 billion, in comparison to $835.83 million in November 2013.

Gold imports are expected to increase further due to the easing of import restrictions by Indian government.

Widening Trade Deficit Gap – On hopes of growth and positive economic environment, imports of  machinery, transport equipment technology, commodities like Gold and Silver rose sharply leading to the widening of the trade deficit of 16.80 Billion US Dollars, highest since May 2013.

Other Macro Economic Reasons : Sliding oil prices, surging dollar, weak Asian currency and The Rubble Trouble are some of the macro economic factors which will have a sustained impact on rupee value in the near future…

While the efforts of a strong central bank, improving domestic economy, political stability with a full mandate, falling inflation, low global crude oil and commodity prices, and a comfortable fiscal situation are major positives, a weak Asian outlook and weak foreign investor confidence are potential threats to Rupee value….

As an NRI a falling rupee value is certainly good in the short run, because we get more rupees for the same amount of Dirhams, in the long run it may have a negative impact on our finances…

The post Why is Rupee Sliding? appeared first on Financial Planning in Dubai.

As an NRI you may already have life insurance in India; or if you are looking to buy a rupee denominated life insurance in the near future, please read further..

Did you know that the dollar value of such life insurance will also reduce to the extent rupee value decreases…

Although your expenses are increasing due to improvement of your standard of living in UAE, the value of your life insurance is sharply decreasing due the fall in rupee value. ( Please read my previous post Why Rupee is Sliding?)

For Eg: If you had INR 1,00,00,000 ( One Crore) value of Life insurance in 2007, which would then be equal to $250,000 approximately.

Today the same life insurance of one crore in dollar terms would be only equal to $157,500 approx. About 37 % decrease on value in the last 7 years averaging little more than 5.00 % per year.

If the same trend continues, then the value of life insurance in rupee denomination will continue to decline every year.

If in future if your family needs your life or critical illness insurance proceeds in AED or any other currency to pay for the following;

1. Medical Expenses for treatment of critical illness like Cancer, Kidney Failure Etc. in UAE or abroad.

2. Education costs of children who may be studying here or in UK, US, Australia, Canada etc…

3. For paying off liabilities like mortgages, personal loans car loan business loan in UAE

4. To manage immigration expenses to either back to India or to any other country.

The money they would get after currency exchange from an insurance policy in India would be much less, defeating the whole purpose of having an insurance in place.

Alternatively if you had a Dollar denominated life insurance, you need not worry about decreasing rupee value.

To know more about the benefits of a Dollar denominated Life and Critical Illness Insurance, please call me on +97150-2285405 or write to me by clicking here

The post Impact of Sliding Rupee on NRI Life Insurance… appeared first on Financial Planning in Dubai.