What are the benefits of having offshore life insurance?

There are plenty of options when considering local life insurance plans, many of which provide comprehensive cover that offers you exactly what you're after: financial security and peace of mind. These days, options also enable clients to link their policies to foreign currency exchange rates. However, the only authentic offshore life insurance plan is Discovery's Dollar Life Plan, which can offer you just as much, if not more, financial security than a local policy.

Benefits of Discovery Life International's offshore life insurance offering

• Global risk protection that offers comprehensive life cover that pays out in US dollars
• Exchange rate certainty through the ability to fix the rand-dollar exchange rate for a period of time
• Additional benefits that offer more than just life cover, including severe illness cover and global disability protection.

"Discovery's Dollar Life plan has a Life Fund which is set up for the life assured. Upon their passing, a lump sum is paid out from this fund to the nominated beneficiaries. The Life Fund allows clients to protect offshore liabilities, as well as guards against any applicable currency fluctuations. There are even possible tax incentives," says Discovery Life Senior Risk Specialist, Daniel Stoch. Clients can also benefit from the unique Vitality Exchange Rate Protector which provides exchange rate certainty for up to nine years. "This optional benefit on the Dollar Life Plan provides an automatic, upfront 15% discount on the exchange rate for the first three years. Thereafter, clients are provided with two additional three-year periods of locked-in rates. During this time, clients can increase their exchange rate discount by up to 21%," Stoch explains further.

As part of this comprehensive life plan, clients can access the market-leading Severe Illness Benefit, as well as the Global Treatment Benefit and the Cancer Exome Sequencing Benefit. "This opens clients up to extensive oversees treatment opportunities that may not be available locally," says Stoch.

Clients also have access to Discovery Life's Dollar Capital Disability Benefit and optional cover, including the flagship LifeTime Capital Disability Benefit and the MedTech Booster feature. For these benefits, a lump sum is then paid out in dollars where applicable severe illness or disabilities occur.

Tailorable benefits, additions, enhancements and rewards on the Dollar Life Plan

These include:

• Global education protection (denominated in US dollars): The Dollar Global Education Protector helps a life assured to cover the costs of education from crèche through to a tertiary education should a death, severe illness or disability negatively impact a client's life and earning capability. Clients can also receive up to 100% of their children's tertiary or college fees paid back to them if they don't claim on their policy, simply for managing their health and wellness during their policy period.
• Retirement optimiser: Clients can use the Discovery Retirement Optimiser to supplement and diversify their retirement goals each month with an offshore endowment policy denominated in US dollars.
• Buy-up Cash Conversion Benefit: Clients can increase their cover (for an additional premium) through the available Integrators and receive either 25% or 50% of those funds as a tax-free lump sum that is paid out in US Dollars at age 65.
• Up to 50% PayBack of qualifying premiums: These payments are received every five years through the PayBack Benefit. Payments are made in US dollars directly into an offshore bank account.
• Vitality membership can now be added to plans: This gives clients access to enhanced shared-value benefits such as the Vitality Rating Longevity Discount which provides long-term premium sustainability.

"For a limited time, Discovery Life International is making available a limited offer for new business clients - the R10.90/$ New Dollar Life Plan offer," shares Stoch. "With economies experiencing much volatility of late, this special offer provides enhanced certainty, value and protection with a set exchange rate of R10.90/$ for the first three years of a policy that is taken out before 15 December 2021."

Enhanced value through this offer is available when clients take out a new Dollar Life Plan with the Vitality Exchange Rate Protector. Overall, clients will receive 9 years of continuous exchange rate certainty, while enjoying increased value too.

"A good offshore life insurance plan gives people more choice and offers an opportunity to diversify their financial portfolio in global currencies like the US dollar. It's a way for people to maximise the value of their hard-earned rands - and Discovery's Dollar Life Plan is one such policy that can offer South Africans world-class risk protection and benefits for this," Stoch concludes.

DISCLAIMER