NTUC Income Gro Retire Flex Review

NTUC Income Gro Retire Flex is a participating private annuity plan that allows you to accumulate savings over a period of time and will provide you with a regular income in the future.

Here we have a comprehensive overview of the NTUC Income Gro Retire Flex to help you choose the best savings plan. Let us get started.

Criteria

Because NTUC Income’s Gro Retire Flex is a policy that helps you plan for your retirement, you can choose the retirement period, income payout period, and guaranteed monthly income period.

Whereas the minimum entry age starts from 20 years old for policyholders, the maximum entry age is 70 years.

You can also choose regular premiums and if you have the ability, you can opt for a one-time single premium payment.

The table below illustrates the premium term as a single lump-sum payment or regular payment.

Premium Payment Term	Minimum Entry Age (Last Birthday)	Maximum Entry Age (Last Birthday)
Single Premium	20	70
5 years		65
10 years		55
15 years		50
20 years		45
25 years		40
30 years		35
35 years		30
40 years		25

Features

Premium Payment Options

Other than paying your monthly premiums in cash, you can also choose to pay with the Supplementary Retirement Scheme (SRS) in the case of a single premium.

You must pay the premiums up to 5 years before the end of the accumulation period.

For regular premiums, you have the option of paying monthly, quarterly, biannual, or yearly.

The regular payment terms are set at 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, and 40 years – whichever is a better option for you.

Payout Options

With NTUC Income’s Gro Retire Flex, you can choose between the below payout options based on your premium payment option.

Premium payment options	Accumulation period	Payout
Single premium	5 to 50 years	10, 20 years, or up to 100 years old.
Regular premiums	10 to 50 years

Once you reach your preferred retirement age, you will receive your payouts on a monthly basis. Any amounts you owe the policy will be deducted first, before the payouts begin.

However, there are some things you need to keep in mind;.

• If the policy is still in force when the accumulation period expires, you may receive the cash benefit based on the cash value of the policy.
• If the cash value of the policy after deducting loans and interest is less than S$10,000, you are entitled to this benefit. After that, the policy will lapse.
• If the cash value is S$10,000 or more, the payout period begins and you will receive monthly cash benefits for up to 100 years, depending on the payout period you choose.
• If you change the ongoing premium or payout period, the policy will adjust the new monthly cash benefit.
• The first monthly cash benefit will be paid at the end of the accumulation period on the anniversary date of the policy. Once the cash benefit begins to be paid, you cannot change the payout period.
• If the policy is still in effect, it will end after the payout is complete.

 

Premium Allocation

Notably, your monthly premiums are net of other expenses such as fees or charges meaning 100% of the premium are used in purchasing participating fund units.

Appointment Of The Secondary Insured

The NTUC Income Gro Retire Flex lets you appoint a secondary insured, as long as you meet the following requirements;

• You pay the premiums in cash
• You have not named a beneficiary on this policy
• The ownership of the policy has not changed due to bankruptcy, trust, or assignment

 

Here is a table to illustrate the secondary insured requirements

Individual	Age requirements
Policyholder	Before 65 years
Your spouse	Before 65 years
Your child	Before 18 years

Protection

NTUC Income’s Gro Retire Flex aims to provide you with a guaranteed income in retirement. The table below summarises at a glance the benefits and what you can expect from this policy.

Cash & Cash Withdrawal Benefits
Cash Value	Available
Cash Withdrawal Benefits	Available
Health and Insurance Coverage
Death Benefits	Available
Total Permanent Disability	Available
Terminal Illness	Available
Critical Illness	Not Available
Health & Insurance Coverage Multiplier	Not Available
Death/Total Permanent Disability/Terminal Illness/Critical Illness/Early Critical Illness	Not Available
Optional Riders
Cancer Premium Waiver (GIO)	Available
Dread Disease Premium Waiver	Available
Enhanced Payor Premium Waiver	Available
Other Benefits
Retrenchment Benefits	Available
Loans	Available
Non-guaranteed bonuses	Available

 

Terminal Illness and Death Benefit

If you happen to contract a terminal illness or die during the accumulation or payout period, your family is entitled to a Terminal Illness and Death Benefit. Here is a breakdown of the benefit.

Period	Benefit
If terminal illness or death occurs during the accumulation period	The benefit shall be 105% of the net premiums paid plus a 100% terminal bonus
If terminal illness or death occurs during the payout period	The benefit is 105% of the net premiums paid plus 100% of the final bonus less cash premiums paid and monthly cash benefits. However, this does not include the cash benefit paid under the Disability Care Benefit.

You will also receive cumulative cash bonuses and cash benefits. In addition, any policy loan, including interest, will be deducted from the final amount. Once paid, the policy terminates and no further benefits are paid.

If there is a secondary insured person, that death benefit will not be paid. However, the policy continues as the secondary insured is now the insured.

Accidental Death Benefit

Another special feature of this policy is the Accidental Death Benefit. Here, the insured person receives up to 105% of net premiums paid if the accidental death occurs before the anniversary of the retirement policy and after attaining the age of 70.

Disability Care Benefit

The Disability Care Benefit is additional coverage that goes into effect when the following conditions are diagnosed due to an accident or illness;

• Impaired speech
• Loss of sight on one eye
• Impaired hearing
• Loss of the use of one hand or leg

 

The coverage depends on the illness diagnosed and applies to policies with regular premiums.

This benefit may be considered from 2 points of view, namely, the accumulation period and the payment phase.

If the disability occurs during the payout period, you will only receive the extra amount that is equivalent to the 50% monthly cash benefit.

Retrenchment Benefit

Every day people lose their jobs due to various factors.

The NTUC Income Gro Retire Flex offers you a severance payment if you lose your job and cannot find a new one for 3 months afterwards.

During this period, your premiums will be waived for 6 months and you will continue to enjoy the same level of cover.

If your unemployment lasts longer than 5 months, you can opt for a 6-month deferral of your premiums. Note that this benefit only applies to regular premiums.

Loan Benefit

You can take up a loan facility during the accumulation period. You will be notified of the term and interest rate before you take out the loan. Notably, it is not possible to take out a loan during the payout period.

Bonuses

When you buy the policy, it becomes a part of the Life Participating Fund. Because of this, you will receive a share of any gains or losses from the funds. There are 2 bonus options available under this policy.

These include;

• Final bonus which is paid during the accumulation and payout period when you submit a claim or cash in the policy.
• The monthly bonus is paid during the payout period along with the monthly cash benefit.

 

Bonuses are not guaranteed payments and will only be paid upon approval by the Board.

Optional Riders

With the NTUC Income Gro Retire Flex, you can increase your protection by choosing the optional riders.

Cancer Premium Waiver (GIO)

One of the key riders of NTUC Income’s Gro Retire Flex is the Cancer Premium Waiver or GIO, where your future premiums are waived in the event of a major cancer diagnosis during the term of the rider.

Enhanced Payor Premium Waiver

The Enhanced Payor Premium Waiver is applicable when the insured person is not the policyholder.

Under this rider, you will be exempt from future payments on your dependent’s policy in the event of death, total or permanent disability before age 70, or diagnosis of a dread disease.

However, this excludes angioplasty and invasive coronary artery treatments.

Dread Disease Premium Waiver

The Dread Disease Premium Waiver exempts you from paying future premiums in the event of a diagnosis of a dread disease, except for angioplasty and invasive coronary artery treatments.

Illustrations

Below is an example to help you understand the NTUC Income Gro Retire Flex policy.

Suppose John chooses the Gro Retire Flex plan and opts for a monthly cash benefit of S$1,000 for a maximum period of 20 years. The benefit starts at a retirement age of 55. In this case, the annual premium is S$17,487 for 10 years.

Thus, the total premium paid over the ten years is S$170,487.

Scenario 1

John retires at age 55 and receives monthly cash payments of S$2,411, comprising a guaranteed cash benefit of S$1,000 plus a non-guaranteed cash bonus of S$1,411, assuming the participating fund earns 4.25% per annum.

At age 75, the policy matures and Mr. John will receive a cumulative payout of S$578,712 over the life of the policy. Of this total amount, S$240,000 is the total cash benefit and S$338,712 is the total non-guaranteed cash bonus.

Scenario 2

In the second scenario, suppose that John is involved in an accident after paying premiums for 8 years and loses his right arm. In this case, he is entitled to Disability Benefit and the next 2 years of premiums are waived. In this case, he will receive a lump sum of S$6,000.

Just as in the first scenario, John retires at age 55 and receives monthly cash payments of S$2,411, comprising a cash benefit plus a non-guaranteed cash bonus of S$1,411. In addition, Mr. Job will receive S$500 each month as part of the Disability Care Benefit.

At age 75, the policy matures and the total payout amount is S$704,712 over the whole policy.

Here is a breakdown of the payouts.

Benefit	Total Payout
Cash benefit	S$240,000
Non-guaranteed bonus	S$338,712
Disability Care Benefit	S$6,000
Additional Disability Care Benefit	$120,000
Total	S$704,712

Premium calculations for 10 years

Total premiums paid for 8 years	S$139,896
Total waived amount for two years	S$34,974

Therefore, the total benefit received is $704,712 while the premiums paid by John is $139,896.

Take note that this number will differ for everyone based on your premium amount and the circumstances you face.

The non-guaranteed bonus is also, well, non-guaranteed. So you might want to consider removing that from the equation for a more conservative calculation.

Surrendering the NTUC Income Gro Retire Flex

You can cash out part or all of your policy before it ends. If you cash it completely, the policy ends.

For single premium policies, you cannot cash in until you have paid the entire net premiums.

When it comes to regular premiums, you can cash in the policy after you have paid the premiums regularly for 2 years.

If you have not received disability benefits during the accumulation period, you can partially cash in the policy and retain the benefits that you didn’t cash in.

Key Highlights of the NTUC Income Gro Retire Flex

Some of the key highlights of the NTUC Income Gro Retire Flex include;

• It’s a flexible policy where you can select your premium terms as a single premium or 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, or 40.
• Death & Terminal Illness Benefit and Accidental Death Benefit of 105%, 100%, and 105% respectively.

• You can choose your payout term as 10 and 20 years, or up to when you become 100 years old.
• It has the highest yield
• It offers flexible retirement age
• Has an attractive Disability Benefit.
• Retrenchment Benefit
• Offers Guaranteed Acceptance for the main policy
• Single premium payment
• Cash benefits
• Payment by SRS
• Secondary life assured

 

My Opinion on the NTUC Income Gro Retire Flex

Overall, NTUC Income Gro Retire Flex is the best retirement plan with guaranteed payouts in your golden years.

It ensures you live well in retirement by offering a flexible savings plan.

You end up enjoying a sustainable income stream during retirement and can choose the amounts you prefer as well as the duration of the payouts.

Comparison of NTUC Income Gro Retire Flex and other retirements policies in Singapore

Subject to;

• Entry Age, premium payment term and accumulation period less than or equal to 80 ANB

• Additional payout plus basic monthly payout

• All policies payable in cash

 

In comparison, NTUC Income’s Gro Retire Flex does particularly well when it comes to the payout period, where you can choose between 10 or 20 years, or up to age 100.

The only other policies that offer a lifetime payout period are NTUC Gro Annuity and Great Eastern Great Lifetime Payout. On the flip side, these 2 do not allow SRS payment.

Comparing Yields

As you can see from the table above, the NTUC Income Gro Retire Flex has one of the highest yields among the permutations – especially if you’re looking at guaranteed payouts

However, the accumulation period is the longest amongst other annuities in our comparison above.

With all the bonus features, NTUC Income Gro Retire Flex remains an annuity plan for many Singaporeans.

It has also been listed as one of the best retirement annuity plans in Singapore twice in our in-depth comparison.

Of course, private annuities differ depending on the specific needs of the user.

Hence, you should consult a financial advisor who will recommend the best policy based on your needs.

References

Product Brochure

https://www.income.com.sg/savings-and-investments/gro-retire-flex

source https://singaporefinancialplanners.com/blog/ntuc-income-gro-retire-flex-review/