The Great Eastern GREAT Retire Income is a participating annuity plan that lets you enjoy your retirement years the way you like and with a stable monthly income.
As a participating policy, the plan allows you to accumulate cash in the form of guaranteed and non-guaranteed bonuses.
You will enjoy multiple benefits such as the Loss of Independence (LOI) Income benefit, Presumptive Total and Permanent Disability (TPD), Death, and Terminal Illness.
Here, we have a comprehensive review of the Great Eastern Great Retire Income to determine if it’s the best policy to suit your needs.
Let’s jump straight in.
Criteria
With this plan, you can choose your preferred retirement age, premium term, and how many months you’d want to receive the cash payouts.
- Retirement ages available: 56, 61, 66, or 71 years old
- Premium payment terms: 5, 10, 15, or 20 years
- Payout options: 10 to 20 years
Features
Great Eastern’s GREAT Retire Income has multiple features that you can enjoy when you sign up.
Premium Payment Options
You can select your prefered premium term ranging from 5, 10, 15, or 20 years whichever appeals to you.
SRS payment options are also available meaning you can also pay with your Supplementary Retirement Scheme account.
Like other policies, in the case of regular premiums, you can opt to pay monthly, quarterly, biannually, or yearly.
Payout Options
The monthly payouts start from when you’re 56, 61, 66, or 71 years old, depending on your choice, with payout options between 10 to 20 years.
In addition, you can change your payout period at least 6 months prior to your first payout.
Monthly Cash Payouts And Non-Guaranteed Payouts
As earlier mentioned, you can choose when to retire and receive the guaranteed monthly cash payouts.
In addition, you can receive potential bonuses at your desired retirement age.
However, this is non-guaranteed as it depends on the illustrated investment rate of return (IIRR) and the actual fund performances.
Therefore, the bonus benefits may vary depending on the performance of the participating fund.
Loss of Independence (LOI) Income Benefit
Whenever you cannot perform 2 or more ADLs, you’ll receive 50% extra payouts of your monthly guaranteed income.
This amount is capped at S$2,500 monthly.
If you can’t perform at least 3 ADLs, you can get an LOI Income Benefit of up to 100% of the guaranteed monthly cash payouts.
However, the amount payable should not exceed S$5,000 per month.
ADLs are Activities of Daily Living including washing, dressing, feeding, toileting, mobility, and transferring.
Capital Guarantee
The policy offers a capital guarantee as long as there are no alterations midway.
Protection
The Great Eastern GREAT Retire Income guarantees non-guaranteed and regular income in your golden years. The table below is a summary of the type of benefits to expect with this policy.
Summary
| Cash and Cash Withdrawal Benefits | |
| Cash value | Available |
| Cash withdrawal benefits: | Available |
| Health and Insurance Coverage | |
| Death | Available |
| Total Permanent Disability | Available |
| Terminal Illness | Available |
| Critical Illness: | Not available |
| Early Critical Illness: | Not available |
| Health and Insurance Coverage Multiplier | |
| Death | Not available |
| Total Permanent Disability | Not available |
| Terminal Illness | Not available |
| Critical Illness | Not available |
| Early Critical Illness: | Not available |
| Optional Add-on Riders | Not available |
| Additional Features and Benefits | LOI Income Benefit
Monthly cash payouts Non-guaranteed benefits Capital guarantee |
Presumptive Total and Permanent Disability (TPD)
Coverage for TPD is only available under any of the following circumstances whichever comes first.
- Up to the plan’s anniversary when you reach your desired retirement age or,
- If there’s coverage for other TPDs up to the anniversary date when you celebrate your 65th birthday or,
- If you reach your desired retirement date.
For this benefit to be considered, there must be proof that;
- You can’t see with both eyes
- Can’t use both limbs
- Can’t use one eye or use one limb.
Death and Terminal Illness
The policy offers coverage against Death and Terminal Illness. Like other plans, the policy automatically ends when a claim is made.
There is no medical underwriting required for this plan.
Illustration
To understand how the policy works, we shall look at an illustration.
Peter, is a 35-year-old employed male who intends to retire at 66 years old. He chooses the Great Retire Income policy and pays S$400 per month.
He then chooses a 5 years premium term. Subsequently, the premium ends at 40 years.
Here we explore two scenarios where he chooses a 10 or 20 years income period.
Example 1 (10 year income period)
If Peter chooses an income period of 10 years, he will start receiving guaranteed and non-guaranteed retirement income of S$731 each month when he retires at 66 years.
At 76 years, the policy will end and by then, he’ll have received retirement benefits totaling S$87,770.
In this case, the total payouts received against total annual premiums paid are 3.65X.
Example 2 (20 year income period)
If Peter chooses an income period of 20 years, he will start receiving guaranteed and non-guaranteed retirement income of S$438 every month upon retirement at 66 years.
Subsequently, the policy will end when he is 86 years old.
At this time, he’ll have received total retirement benefits totaling S$105,200 which is equivalent to 4.38X total payments received against total annual premiums paid.
If Peter loses the ability to perform at least 2 ADLs during the income period, he will be paid an extra LOI Income benefit. The amount payable is 50% of the guaranteed monthly cash payout.
Notable the calculations are based on an Illustration Rate of Return (IIRR) of 4.25 p.a for the participating fund.
Likewise, the payouts comprise both guaranteed monthly income and non-guaranteed bonuses.
My Opinion on the Great Eastern Great Retire Income
Overall, the Great Eastern’s GREAT Retire Income is a good option, if you are looking for a retirement plan with payouts.
The policy offers capital savings, flexibility as well as a stable income stream during your retirement.
Comparison With Other Annuity Plans
To better understand and help you choose the best option for your needs, we compare the Great Eastern GREAT Retire Income plan with other plans.
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
As you can see, Great Eastern’s GREAT Retire Income has a decent choice of premium terms as well as payout periods.
It may not be the most flexible, however, it allows you to pay your premiums in cash or through SRS payment.
One unique advantage is that the policy offers an additional payout to help take care of your needs in the event you are unable to perform 2 or more ADLs.
However, its disability coverage, in my opinion, isn’t as great as NTUC Income’s Gro Retire Flex.
Furthermore, it doesn’t offer incentives in case of job loss – something that NTUC Income’s Gro Retire Flex, Manulife’s RetireReady Plus III, and even AIA’s Retirement Saver IV.
Another drawback of this policy is that it doesn’t have optional add-on riders.
Therefore, there’s no option to beef up your protection or coverage. Also, there are no premium waivers in the event you get diagnosed with major illnesses like cancer.
In addition, with an illustrated investment rate of return of 4.25%, it performs exceptionally well with the potential to earn a high payout in the future – offering the highest guaranteed payouts amongst other plans.
On the whole, because of the multiple benefits that can match different needs for individuals, I personally feel that it’s still a good plan to consider.
Furthermore, in our best retirement annuity plans comparison, the Great Eastern GREAT Retire Income was awarded as one of the best plans if you’re looking for guaranteed payouts.
Before choosing any annuity plan, it’s important to assess if there are any benefits and whether it will meet your retirement goals.
If you need any help, contact a financial advisor who will help you make an informed decision.