AIA Achiever - Good or Bad?

In my previous article, I compared an endowment plan with an ILP. Many might think that an ILP is a silly way to save for my child's education. After all, there are much superior ways like "Buy Term Invest the Rest".

Today, I will share with you my personal experience with one ILP that led me to be a little more accomodating towards ILP amidst the anti-insurance stance taken by most people.

AIA Achiever

I bought the above mentioned plan some years back. I believe that it is no longer in the market. Some insurance agent sold it to me as an investment plan and conveniently left out some important details about the "downside" of this policy.

Anyway, for the first few years, I hated the plan. I thought that it was the worst plan that I could have gotten. Afterall, I had to pay premiums for 7 years before I could withdraw the amount out. (When I bought the plan, I thought that I could withdraw the money out once the policy has been incepted for 7 years)

I was really thinking of surrendering the plan very early on as I felt that the 7 year waiting period was simply too long and I could put my money to better use elsewhere. However, the high surrender charges before 7 years made me think twice.

In the end, I continued servicing the plan and recently, I just crossed 7 years of premium payment.

What I Like About Achiever


Now that the 7 year waiting period is over, I have discovered that I actually do LIKE this ILP. When I look at the amount of money inside, I am amazed that 7 years of consistent saving have actually yielded me with results that I am quite pleased. I took up this plan as a means to fund my retirement. It has served me well thus far and the actual cash value is much higher than that shown on the benefit illustration for 9% compounded annual returns.

In addition, I get to log into AIA eCare easily to check on my monthly statements and can do my fund switches easily too.

What I Don't Like

It is of course obvious that there are aspects I do not like about the plan. Here are a few:

1. Policy charges every month.
2. Supplementary benefit charge based on face value of policy. This is payable for 10 years.

However, when I consider this to any endowment plan or whole life plan, I find that it suits my overall portfolio very well. It gives me the necessary protection and savings.

Would I have done things differently now?

I am still torn between the "Buy Term Invest the Rest" strategy and the other whole life approach.

If I had bought term insurance and invested the rest using something like the Share Builder's Plan by Philips Capital, I might have gotten higher returns. I might also have gotten worst returns.

If I could turn back the hands of time, I seriously do not know whether I would have bought this plan.

I know many people have complained about the bad returns or low surrender values from their ILPs. I am perhaps the minority that have actually sticked through with my ILP instead of surrendering it. As such, I now see the "fruits" of my labour. It gave me a disciplined way to save for my retirement and gives me protection as well.