Retirement plans
Converts a lump sum into a fixed income, for life or for a set period.
Who does this suit?
Typically people at or near retirement, converting a corpus into income.
It removes longevity risk — the risk of outliving your money.
What is the catch?
It is largely irreversible.
Every category on this site has its catch stated next to what it does, not further down some other page. If a product appears to have no downside, it has not been explained properly.
How does underwriting work for this?
No medical questions at all. Nothing about your health. An annuity pays while you are alive, so poor health does not increase the insurer's risk the way it does on a death benefit — and the proposal form carries no health questionnaire.
This is worth knowing before you start, because it decides how long the application takes and what you will be asked to disclose. It is also the thing most people are surprised by — the depth of questioning varies far more between categories than between insurers.
Which plans are in this category?
These are the plans available through this practice in this category. Names only — no plan's premium, return or benefit amount appears anywhere on this site, because those are set by the insurer at underwriting rather than by us.
- Kotak Assured Pension
- Kotak Lifetime Income Plan
- Kotak Confident Retirement Builder
- Kotak Confident Retirement Savings Plan
Which of these fits depends on the term you want, how long you want to pay for, and what the underwriter comes back with. That is a conversation, not a dropdown.
What documents will you need?
Not at the start — nothing here is needed to begin an application. These come after you have seen what the insurer is offering.
| Document | Why |
|---|---|
| Identity | PAN, or Form 60 where you do not hold one. |
| Address | Aadhaar or another accepted address proof. |
| Age | A document confirming date of birth. |
| Photograph | A recent passport-style photograph. |
| Income proof | Form 16, an income tax return, or recent salary slips. Required once the total premium across your policies passes a threshold the insurer sets, and always where the cover asked for is large relative to income. |
| Bank details | For premium collection and, more importantly, for claim settlement — claims are paid only to the account recorded on the policy. |
Questions people ask
Why are there no health questions?
Because an annuity pays while you are alive. Poor health does not increase the insurer's risk the way it does on a death benefit — if anything it works the other way — so the proposal form carries no health questionnaire at all. This is the only category where that is true.
What does irreversible mean here?
Once a lump sum has been converted into an income stream, you generally cannot convert it back. That is the trade for removing longevity risk — the risk of outliving your money — and it is the thing to be most certain about before committing.
What is longevity risk?
The risk of living longer than your savings last. An annuity transfers that risk to the insurer: it pays for as long as you are alive, however long that turns out to be. That is the core of what this category is for.
Can my spouse continue receiving the income?
Joint-life options exist, where payments continue to a surviving spouse. The specific structures available, and what each does to the income, are set out in the plan documents and confirmed by the insurer.
Should I buy an annuity or manage the money myself?
A real question, and not one this site answers for you. The honest framing is that an annuity buys certainty and gives up flexibility, and managing it yourself does the opposite. Which matters more depends on your other income, your health and your dependants — a licensed adviser can work through that with you.
Not sure this is the right category?
Then do not start here. The four categories solve genuinely different problems, and they are not ranked against each other anywhere on this site.
- Term insurance — Cheapest cover — pays your family if you die during the term, nothing back if you don't.
- Savings plans — Costs more, but returns money at maturity whether or not anything happens.
- ULIPs — Market-linked — your returns depend on fund performance.
Starting an application
The application asks what an underwriter needs and nothing else. You will not be shown a premium at the end — that comes from the insurer once it has assessed the case, and any figure quoted before then would be a guess.
You can stop at any point and come back. Nothing is submitted until you confirm a summary of every answer.
Last reviewed: 31 August 2026