A Conversation with Insurance Agent

Long-time back I got call from XYZ Insurance agent and the conversion was like this.

Agent :- Sir we have very good Insurance plan with guaranteed return.

Me :- How much? 

Agent :- 5.5% + life cover worth of 20 times of Premium.

Me :- But cover is very less. I have another Idea. I will take term insurance which will provide me 10 times cover than your policy and remaining amount I will invest in PPF or Mutual Fund. So in this way I will get more cover and return.

Agent :- But sir, PPF returns are not tax free at the time of withdrawn after maturity.

Me :- Are you serious, as per my knowledge PPF returns are tax free.

Agent :- From where you got this information. You should be educated properly on financially matters. People like you spreading wrong information about financial product.

Me :- Sorry Sir, thanks for opening my eyes. I will try to educate myself correctly.

When I had discussion with my colleagues about this conversation, all were laughing like anything.

But why I provoked this conversation?

What I wanted to see whether the agent will be interested in selling the term Insurance or not.

He could have responded like “Ok, I will provide you the term insurance and invest remaining money in PPF or Mutual Fund or anything else which you find good for you”.

Here I am not accusing Insurance agent but requesting to my friends to learn why our agent selling you particular policy. You can start with the following questions:-

1. Do I really need this product?

2. Who is the real beneficiary from the product? 

3. What actual benefit I am going to get from this product?

Ask as many as questions you can.

Last but not least try to understand the product before purchasing it.