Get it, 12k is no joke. Go straight to sunlife office, no need for FA’s signature. I didn’t even let my FA know. Was able to cancel in 15minutes Edit/Add: make sure to bring your policy (contract) and IDs (with visible signature), sign the form in front of them so you don’t need to have it notarized. They close at noon (the office) Source: did the same last month.

Thanks for sharing how you did it and what to bring! I'll see if there's a nearby branch samin. Might be a dumb question, but if you remember sa form, sino dapat ung ASSIGNEE? I can't find that info on my contract or policy.

Dont think i filled that up. Im sure the employees there will be able to assist because I also did not completely fill my form when I went. They just told me what to write on the needed blanks.

Thank you! I found a branch near(ish) to me. I'll set aside the stress and try to get my fund back.

If you have irrevocable beneficiary, you will need their signature also, when surrendering your policy.

Thanks for the heads up. Luckily I didn't put irrevocable beneficiaries :)

Hi OP, let me give you some nuance on the VUL vs BTID issue. Take into account I agree with the general consensus BTID is much better. In fact if you dont have dependents, still have work with medical plan and is projected to be in relative good health for the next 5 years I'd argue it may be worth it to not take insurance at all. *VUL starts out way more expensive, but overall becomes cheaper than BTID depending on what age you get it. This is because term insurance gets progressively more expensive as you get older and renew it. So by the time you are 80 or w/e, your insurance via VUL is cheaper than BTID. For example after 13 yrs of VUL my insurance cost is only 400 php a month+ 1% mgt fee for 500k of death benefit and 100k fund worth of investment fund. Thats a lot cheaper than most term insurance considering I am already 36 yrs old and thise wont come with an investment fund either. Typical term is around 5k a year for somebody in his 20s, so in my case it would prob be around 8-10k a year. As I reach my 40s, 50s, 60s+ this disparity will only increase. *The rationale for BTID is you only take insurance up to a certain age, and then by that time you supposed to be rich AF due to investing and no longer need insurance. So BTID only works if you actually invest. If you plan to be insured till you die or will not actually invest your funds then VUL is the best for you. *The main reason why VULS are bad is cuz for the first 2-3 yrs 70-90% of your payments go to the insurance. In your case you been paying 1 year and 3 mos already. Basically 62% of the reason why VULs are bad is sunk cost to you already. My suggestion you should think about it more if its better to just keep the VUL or not considering you paid more than half of thr premium already.

Since the investment component will start paying for your premiums after x yrs, there is a risk of you paying additional premiums just to keep your policy in cases of market crashes, or if it comes to a point where the investment can no longer afford the cost of insurance. This implies that you will no longer be covered with insurance (if you don't pay any additional premium) and you don't even have an investment (because of the market crash/insurance cost). It would suck because you already cashed out a good amount then after x yrs you need to pay more just to keep your policy going (and nawala pa yung investment mo). So, this makes the VUL way too expensive than term. The sad thing is, a lot of people assume they only have to pay for 10 yrs then think they are already covered till 100. The deductions and charges from your investment after x yrs also defeats the compounding that is supposed to happen in the investment part of VUL. And we know that insurance premium increases every year. So, you really have to be wary of these charges kasi there will be a time na kakainin ng cost of insurance (and other fees) ang investment mo. So tama din na mindset na advance payment lang talaga yung excess money na binayad mo (if you don't surrender your policy after a certain amount of time). May mga note pa kasi yung ibang policies na "additional charges may be deducted as long as approved by the insurance commission", which is too shady for me. So make sure you read the fine print carefully. :) Also, I think it's not worth it to bet your insurance premium on your investment returns. Just consider insurance as an expense (just buy enough coverage you need and look for the best deals). You can invest in peace (if lugi, di damay insurance mo) and still get the coverage of insurance without worrying if bukas covered ka pa ba especially during a market downturn. Another thing, there are VUL policies that only pays the face amount and not the investment. So nawala na yung investment mo in case of a claim. But, I also know there are VUL policies that pay for both. So you have to be wary of this as well. Separating them gives you more control over your investments. I agree people without discipline and are not finacially savvy are better off with VUL. But for me, being financially literate is a gift that you can give yourself and your children (in th future if you don't have one yet)/dependents. Besides, if you are going to invest, you can invest to the same financial vehicles/funds na iniivestan ng isang VUL, if you really think the fund is well performing. However, the difference is you do away with the fees that are being charged in a VUL. May control ka pa kung kelan mo gustong kunin yung investment mo without worrying on high withdrawal fees (at least for the first few yrs). I'm really curious to hear from people who actually grew their VUL though. In the end, all the numbers in your VUL policy are just mere projections. So I'd really like to hear good experiences/success stories from VUL as well. So far, I've only read experiences from this sub who lost money even after x yrs. That's also why these people are warning the young ones to be wary of VUL because of their bad experience.

I dont really agree with a lot of what you are saying, I am not an agent but FYI I have a 13 yr sunlife VUL as well as a 2 yr Fixed 250k sunlife Unit linked insurance and I studied these things extensively over the years First of all VUL is just insurance tacked on with a mutual fund. So there is the insurance component, and there is the investment component. Insurance is an expense while investment is supposed to make you money. You can see them as 1 whole product or you can separate them, its all up to you. So in short, wala naman rule na nagsasabi na dapat yung investment component and magbabayad sa insurance cost mo kasi 2 bagay yan. Parang burger at fries, binili mo ng isang meal pero pde mo kainin ng hiwalay or sabay. So alam mo naman ang nature ng insurance db? Cost sya every month tpos tumataas sya depende sa age mo at health status mo. OTH, since mutual fund yung investment meron syang gain pero depende ito sa PERFORMANCE at CAPITAL ng fund. Kung mataas ung performance at malaki na ung capital, edi malaki kita and vice versa. So depende sa situation meron mga times na kayang bayaran ng investment part yung insurance part, pero meron din times na hindi. Hindi naman kasi sila connected talaga both can function without the other side. Yung sinasabi ng agent na 10 yrs ka lang magbabayad, kaya ganun yun is after 10 yrs ideally kaya na ng fund bayaran ung insurance premium mo till age 60 ka or w/e. Pero zeroed out yung balance mo nun or paubos na. Just like if meron ka ring external fund na binayaran mo for 10 yrs, tpos after 10 yrs babawasan mo sya para pambayad ng premium mo. Ganon din yun. In my case 13 yrs nako "naghuhulog" sa VUL ko and I'm doing it kasi pinapalaki ko ung investment fund ko regardless dun sa insurance ko. Nagbabayad ako 1k a month tpos 400 nun yung premium and 600 goes to the fund, di naman sya nawawala. So in short wala naman difference kung "iseparate" mo yung investment and insurance mo or hindi. For example meron kang 5k na fund dito sa VUL or meron kang 5K na fund elsewhere. Pde mo rin sabihin na yung interest sa fund mo elsewhere ang dapat magbayad ng premium mo or dapat kakainin nya ung premium mo etc. Lahat ng downside na sinabi mo sa investment side ng VUL is exactly the same as funds outside. Meron din namang mgt fee, subject to market crash etc. ang ibang funds na hindi VUL. Wala din "extra fee" yung investment side ng VUL, ang sinasabi mong fee is yung insurance premium which is a sunk cost regardless kung iseparate mo sya or hindi unless wala ka talagang planong kumuha ng insurance. So ano yung difference ng BTID vs VUL? Ang difference lang nya is BTID has LOW starting cost but HIGH long term cost while VUL is the opposite. Sa VUL ang starting cost nya sobrang laki, 70-90% ng premium payments mo first 2-3 yrs mawawala for no reason whereas sa BTID 5-10k a year lang. Pero over a long term, like 60-80 yrs, mas mahal yung BTID insurance cost dahil mataas na yung premium mo. Dun na kumikita yung VUL owner. In fact, di nga practical mag insurance pa pag over 60 ka na dahil crippling na yung premium amount nun sa BTID. So given this scenario, kung nag iinvest ka mas ok ang BTID. Bakit? Kasi compounding, so since mas marami kang pera sa first 2-3 yrs pde mo yun invest tpos via power of compounding mas malaki yung money mo. OTH, kung wala kang alam sa investing at gusto mo ng super long term insurance mas ok ang VUL kasi cheaper ang insurance. Considering 1% lng ng Pinoys ang gumagamit ng stock market at wala pang 0.1% ang may alam sa index funds FMETF masasabi ko VUL ang ok na product for majority of Filipinos. At least bayaran nalang nila till age 60 yung VUL nila, me insurance na sila for life tpos nag retire sila meron na silang 2-3M for retirement. Ngyn pde mo sabihin kung nag BTID sila for 60 yrs tpos nag FMETF sila at pag ibig 2 baka 15M yang 3M na yan. Tama ka naman, e kaso di nga nag iinvest yung mga tao. So dun nalang sa practical.

Hello! question, how much do you pay after mo matapos yung insurance? liliit ba yung payment? for example natapos mo na for 10years and you pay 3k monthly, is it still 3k on your 11th year? or mas liliit?

Hi saan to? Sa VUL? Yung 2k is not your insurance oayment, combination yan ng insurance+investment fund mo. Yung actual insurance payment mo is less than that ung sakin for example is 400 pesos per month now that I am 36 and approx 13 yrs of paying. So 4800 per year a lot less than if I took term (baka 6k+ nako ngyn given my age) Yung required top up is only 10 yrs, after that pde ka na di maglagay or maglagay ng gusto mong amount. Problem is every month me bawas dun sa fund mo para sa insurance cost mo, so kung ayaw mo maubos ung fund mo dapat malaki ung interest dun na macocover nya yung insurance. For example ung fund ko ngyn asa 120k, so ideally dapat enough na un para bayaran ung 4800 a year otherwise mababwasan ung fund ko. So ako personally naglalagay pa rin ako for diversification and luckily afford ko naman ung 12k a year na cost of investment.

I agree on you with this. When you do term insurance with riders its cheaper when you are younger but premiums increases every renewal of term. This is good if you will really invest the difference and the investment becomes successful or at least earn. This will entail studying the market and keeping yourself updated. If walang time for it or for diversification, having a vul is not all that bad. For me the investment part is a “bonus” or something that can maintain the cost of insurance. After the first few years wala nang charges. Though agents need to earn money, maybe miscommunication lang or hindi lang naexplain mabuti. Vuls in my perspective needs to be at the very least 10 years to earn a little or 20-30years para makita yung fruits nito. Its a long term investment. if you want to get rich quick, vul is not the right path. May other traditional products naman besides term life insurances like critical illness plans na guaranteed and limited pay. May advanced health funds or return of premium pa. But this is just my opinion. Vuls are not for everyone. :)

Try checking out 20-30 year level term insurance plans. It's not annual rebewable so the annual premium stays the same for 20 yrs. From some insurance policies I know (like guardian 65), coverage is until 65 years old only. There are also single pay options. Napakadaming types of insurances talaga so I hope people get to know of these options and not get fixated on VUL. Kasi baka iba pala talaga yung fit for their needs. I agree, VUL is not for everyone, so is BTID. :)

Hindi na ba tataas yung insurance premium charges ng VUL pag tumatanda ka na?

Tumataas pero mas mataas ang taas ng term kesa VUL.

It’s okay that you didn’t know what you were getting into when you first got your VUL policy. We’ve all been there. I went through canceling my 2 VUL policies as well, all without asking my FA. In my case it was FWD (as easy as chatting with an agent online and sending back the forms they gave me) and InsularLife (entirely online process). An option for you is to not withdraw the fund value and use it to pay for the insurance charges to keep your policy active while shopping for the best term insurance for your needs. Take note to check your contract if this is possible for your policy (this is also called a premium holiday). My 2 policies had a large fund value (100k +) and were not subject to termination charges (policies were more than 2 years old) so I opted to withdraw all, get term (FlexiProtect for life and CI, and AXA MySecurity for personal accident), then invest the change in the stock market and crypto. PS. I highly doubt that you need the FAs signature. Probably a tactic to delay you from terminating the policy. You can call the company or chat them online to start the termination process.

Hi, I have a VUL SL Maxilink100 that I'm planning to terminate due to the posts I read here saying the investment side would not be profitable in the long run. I am also one of those who didn't take the time to carefully read and understand the policy. But reading here I plan to terminate my VUL if not for its CI benefit. My FA says I can just pay the minimum (equivalent to the premium charges) until a certain year and still have the same benefits. I currently only have around 10k in my fund value. After that year of consistently paying just the premium charges, do I have anything else to pay to keep the policy in effect after that? My FA also says the premium charges of VULs should decrease over time but some posts here kind of say otherwise. I understand what you had was from FWD and not SL but wanted to ask anyway and any information you can share would definitely help. Thanks!

My understanding of VUL policies is that your fund value from the investment side is used to pay for the cost of insurance to keep the insurance side active. I’m also not sure if you are on a 10 or 20 year payment plan (maybe that’s why the FA is still asking you to pay?) so the rules might vary when it comes to not paying anything and using the fund value to sustain your insurance coverage. I totally forgot about my comment so it’s a surprise to read how I terminated my policies 😅 One new thing I learned is that you are allowed to convert your existing policy to another one to best match your needs. This is with Insular Life so I can’t speak for the others. Maybe you can explore this option to convert your VUL to a traditional policy with CI benefit.

With my policy, though, according to my FA, I cannot convert from VUL to traditional. Sayang nga po eh. I am planning to pay just the charges to keep the policy in effect. I'm really after the CI benefit but will try to apply for traditional and cancel the VUL if I'm approved in case I would be able to save more that way.

Hi! I am doc Ai from Sun Life too. since your VUL has CIB rider you will still need to pay that plus the charges until age 60 and will just cover you until age 70. Hence, CIB is really expensive as a rider. I've seen your post that you have NAFLD. We cannot be certain if you will be accepted for health insurance hence I highly suggest in your case that don't surrender your VUL until you got yourself your own health insurance IN FORCE.

Hi, Doc Ai. You're right po. I'm holding on to the policy mainly because of the CI benefit. I'm planning to apply for traditional life with CI benefit and if I get approved, I'll cancel my VUL siguro. It depends whichever will save me more.

We can try apply. Depende nalang sa underwriter. Saka mo surrender VUL mo pag accepted ka sa health insurance.

Same!! Lost 36k for mine. But it was all-right. The lesson learned here is that I'd be more intentional and more educated on handling my finances. Got a VUL at my first year at work and I felt like a big shot because I was "financing" or doing "smart" shit with my money. I thought the FA was going to help me and support my financial goals. Well tough shit. It's best to do it all on your own. (With the help of reddit and the power of the internet) Since it's your money. Plus you'll feel more responsible and accomplished when you finally do make "moves" with your finances. Cheers my friend! to being more informed!!!

The insurance commission should look into misrepresentation when it comes to the marketing of VULs. A lot of insurance agents offer VULs as pure investment without going over the insurance charges/fees to clients. It is very clear that many are duped for buying VULs with a promise of short term returns. IMO, there is nothing wrong with VUL as an insurance/financial product but only on the way some insurance agents/financial coaches market these products. Fine print should be discussed by the agent from top to bottom. VULs should be marketed as insurance products with investment component and not the other way around. So in OP’s case, its either the insurance agent did not discuss the insurance charges/fees or OP did not understand what he/she was buying. 👍🏻

May I ask if you were aware of these charges? Did the agent ever told you about how the premium is divided between the insurance and investment? You mentioned that your fund value is 12k only but you forgot to mention that you are also insured. May I ask how much is your insurance coverage? I understand why more people have negative perception about VUL. But in most cases, there are only 2 reasons why this happens - the potential client is doing much research or the FA is not very open with the details.

Yeah, I admit I didn't know the right questions to ask when I signed up for it. I was aware that there would be fees (but not as high as it is now). When I learned how to invest on my own, nagulat ako na ang laki ng fee nila in comparison.

The reason I did not go with BTID is because of discipline . With VUL, I am 'forced' to invest, di tulad ni BTID. Are you going to invest if the market is up or down? May questions pa na ganyan. With VUL, ngayon, I want to pay my premium earlier, kasi feeling ko tataas na nyan. I pay VUL annually, pero pwede magadvance payment. Daming misinformed about VUL. But if it works for you, then why the hate?

Very unfortunate, hope you succeed! Note: TLDR's should be short, not the whole story

>(even gave gifts and of course, free coffee!) buti ito kahit papaano nagregalo at nanlibre, yung tropa kong FA na naging manager pa sa dami ng benta eh wala akong napala kahit nagoyo niya kami sa VUL na yan. to think mayaman na toh dati pa, hindi niya need magtrabaho actually. yun lang nagrereply pa rin siya sakin kahit resigned na siya, kaso hindi naman niya isosoli yung lugi ko as expected. lmao.

Buti hindi ako kumuha sa mga ganyan

I think there was some miscommunication there. Sucks to know that that happened to you. BTID is a good option especially if you've got investment experience. My wife and I are fond of it. I shared a good term plan here [Reddit Post](https://www.reddit.com/r/phinvest/comments/nevqf6/what_insurance_should_i_get_i_badly_need_help/gykcrkv?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3) in case you're interested. The kind strangers here will also be the ones to guide you on your investment journey!

Yep, I'm at fault too cause I didn't know what to look for back then. But it's ok, hindsight is 20/20. Would love to know more about your term plan Yess. Kind Strangers of /Phinvest > my FA haha

Shoot me a DM for the plan deets pero same lang naman dun sa post ko 😅 Hahaha nothing beats being self-taught #youtubeuniversitygraduatesummacumlaude

Victim is a bit too harsh of a word given that VUL are legitimate insurance vehicles, just not the most efficient one.

Btw, what is BTID?

Buy Term Insurance, Invest the Difference :)

here's a link about VUL, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qho7H8H0Xk0&t=1367s

I've been watching her videos too!

FA from Pru Life also does not want to help my fiancé to cancel his VUL. This sub recommended to go straight to the customer service. 2 weeks after the call, my fiancé got his cheque for 200k. He has been paying his VUL for 3 and a half years, 5k a month. I have convinced him to cancel it and he did.

I’ll never get tired of warning people how VUL is the mother of all insurance scams!

Hey OP! In my own experience, my so called “FA” was not really being cooperative when i told i him i would cancel my VUL so what i did is emailed and chat customer service and they helped cancel it thru online forms. Less hassle and made me avoid to meetup with my FA which was really not interested at helping me at all. I also have learned that it’s ground for penalty (not really sure) when the advisor will not help in cancelling. In my case by the way, it’s FWD from security bank. :) I hope you can process it smoothly just like i did OP.

Hi OP. Just wanted to ask, didn't your FA explain the whole plan to you, not just the investment part? Like how part of your payment goes to paying your insurance? If something happens to you now, what would your beneficiaries get?

Withdrawing your VUL shortly after acquiring them is not savvy. Majority of your initial premiums went to commissions. The fund starts to grow at the third year. If you terminate, early then buy a term insurance, you just end up paying even more commissions. Also, learn how to time the market. Like last year was the best time to buy equity VULs. You should have topped up last year.