NTUC Income WealthLink Review

The NTUC Income WealthLink is a single premium investment-linked plan (ILP).

It offers an ideal combination of investment opportunities and comprehensive protection against unfortunate events such as accidental death and death before age 75.

We’ve reviewed the NTUC Income WealthLink to help you decide if it is the best option for you to meet your financial goals.

Read on;

Criteria

The eligibility and payment frequency for the WealthLink plan is shown in the table below:

You can only take up the NTUC Income WealthLink for your children if they are below 18 years old.

Additionally, you are minimally required to make a single premium of $10,000.

General Features

Premium Payments and Regular/Adhoc Top-Ups

With the NTUC Income WealthLink, you can make investments in cash or through your Supplementary Retirement Scheme (SRS) savings.

The policy allows ad hoc and regular top-ups, which means adding additional funds to your sub-fund.

You can invest the premium amounts starting with the following limits:

If you choose to invest in more than 1 sub-fund, the following amounts apply for each sub-fund:

Protection

Death and Accidental Death Benefit

In the unfortunate event of your passing during your policy term, your loved ones can take some solace in knowing that the policy value will be paid out at the time of claim.

If accidental death occurs before 75 years of age during the policy term, this policy will pay either 105% of all net premiums or the policy value at the time of the claim, whichever amount is higher.

It is important to note that the plan only pays the Death Benefit or the Accidental Death Benefit.

If death is within a year of an unfortunate accident, the Accidental Death Benefit will be paid to your loved ones.

However, the Death Benefit still provides a safety net if the loss occurs outside of that timeframe.

Any fees, charges, and debt owed to the policy will first be deducted before payment, and once payment is made, the policy ends.

Key Features

Full Surrender & Partial Withdrawals

Currently, you will not incur any fees for partial withdrawals or full surrender. This might change at NTUC Income’s discretion, and any changes will be made known to you.

The minimum amount for a partial withdrawal is $500 per transaction, but there is no limit to the number of withdrawals you can make.

You must maintain a minimum value of at least $1,750 for each selected sub-fund or $3,500 across all sub-funds under your policy.

The protection benefits and sub-fund value may decrease when you partially withdraw from your policy.

Fund Switching

The ILP allows you to switch funds to different ILP sub-funds within the same policy.

Currently, a minimum of S$1,000 is required for each transfer.

NTUC Income WealthLink Fees and Charges

The following fees and charges apply to the NTUC Income WealthLink:

Premium Charge

A 3.5% premium charge will be deducted from your initial single premium payment and any additional investments made to your policy.

Take note that the premium charge may change, but you will be notified beforehand.

If you were to pay a single premium of S$1,000, the units would be invested based on the following formula:

As you can see, the number of units is based on the bid price and premium charge.

Policy Fees

Currently, no policy fee is charged by this plan, but this may change. Any changes will be made known to you.

Insurance Cover Charge

You can enjoy the full benefits of your policy without incurring any additional charges for insurance coverage.

Fund Switching Fee

Currently, the policy does not charge for fund switches or transfers.

Surrender Charge

There are currently no surrender charges or partial withdrawal fees imposed, but if you do choose to surrender your policy, partially or fully, the cash-in value will be paid out to you from the policy value.

However, note that any fees and charges associated with the policy will be deducted before the cash-in value is paid.

Fund-Related Fees

The annual management fee for ILP sub-funds differs across all funds and ranges between 1% – 1.5% and will not exceed 2.0% p.a.

Each sub-fund has a unique percentage deducted at the sub-fund level based on the value of your chosen sub-fund(s).

Take note that this fee is deducted at the fund level.

However, the returns from the funds do not include the fund management fee, so check if the returns on your policy have already considered this.

NTUC Income WealthLink Summary

My review of the NTUC Income WealthLink

For individuals who are looking to invest a lump sum for the short- and long-term, the NTUC Income WealthLink is an ideal option.

It’s also one of the few investment-linked policies that let you invest your SRS funds, potentially offering higher returns than endowment and annuity plans.

Nonetheless, it’s important to note that this policy may have potential investment risks and market volatility.

Additionally, it may not be a good fit if you are looking for guaranteed financial returns or guarantees on your capital.

Oh, and I feel that the 3.5% premium charge (also called a sales charge in other policies) is way too high.

However, the NTUC Income WealthLink is an attractive option since there are no minimum investment periods or surrender charges – something that many investment-linked policies (even the best ones) lack.

As a result, you will not have to pay surrender charges if you wish to withdraw your entire policy value or even part of it!

Also, there are no top-up charges – so feel free to make ad-hoc or regular top-ups without incurring hefty fees like similar ILPs in the market.

I must say, if you don’t plan to make top-ups, then the AIA Invest Easy might be better due to a lower premium charge of 3% (but a hefty 3% top-up charge).

In my opinion, if you’re going to pay a 3%/3.5% sales charge, have no surrender value, and can withdraw the full amount at any time, investing through iFAST through a financial advisor might be better.

With a large investment amount, you may be able to negotiate with your financial advisor to reduce your asset under management (AUM) charges to as low as 0.5% (or 0% if you are besties) and pay a lower premium charge of 1-2% (depending on the company).

Hey, isn’t an AUM fee more expensive in the long run?

Yes, but in most cases, your financial advisor will have direct access to sub-funds via iFAST, so Fund Management Fees are included in the calculation of returns.

For insurer sub-funds, Fund Management Fees on the funds offered by WealthLink are usually not included in returns calculations and can range between 0.5% to 2% per annum, as mentioned earlier.

Oh, and there are not many funds offered by the WealthLink ILP (only 12), while you have a vast selection of funds on iFAST.

The NTUC Income WealthLink is a great option if you want to invest your SRS funds, as you can only use your CPF and cash to invest through iFAST.

You should always consider different options so that you pay the least amount of fees.

Therefore, you must read and understand the different investment options and seek advice from a financial advisor before investing your money.

If your advisor is worth their salt, they will be able to share with you how they can help you invest.

Need a financial advisor you can trust?

We partner with MAS-licensed financial advisors to help you with this.

Reference

• https://www.comparefirst.sg/wap/prodSummaryPdf/202135698W/GL2_Summary.pdf