The moment you hold your newborn in your arms, everything changes. Those tiny fingers wrapped around yours carry the weight of a thousand dreams, their first day of school, college graduation, maybe even their wedding day. As a parent, you’d move mountains to ensure those dreams come true. But in today’s uncertain world, love alone isn’t enough. Your child needs a financial safety net, and that’s where single premium child insurance policies become your silent partner in parenting.
Why Single Premium Policies? Understanding the Basics
Before we dive into specific policies, let’s address what makes single premium plans special for new parents like you.
Unlike regular insurance policies that require monthly or annual premium payments for years, a single premium policy asks for just one lump sum payment. Think of it as planting a tree—you invest once, and it grows steadily over the years, providing shade (financial security) when your child needs it most.
The practical advantages are compelling:
You eliminate the risk of policy lapse due to missed payments during financially tight months. There’s no stress about remembering due dates when you’re already juggling diaper changes and sleepless nights. Most importantly, these policies offer better returns compared to regular premium plans because your entire corpus works for you from day one, compounding over your child’s growing years.
5 Best Single Premium Child Insurance Policies
1. LIC Jeevan Tarun (Plan 834)
This policy holds a special place in many Indian parents’ hearts, and for good reason. LIC Jeevan Tarun is designed specifically for children, offering both protection and savings in one package.
Key Features:
The policy matures when your child turns 20 or 25 years old, depending on the term you choose. This timing is perfect—imagine your investment maturing right when they’re ready for higher education or starting their career. The single premium option allows you to secure their future with one payment, with minimum coverage starting at ₹75,000.
The maturity benefit includes the sum assured plus accumulated bonuses, which historically have been quite attractive. What sets this apart is the inbuilt life cover—if something happens to you (the parent), the policy continues without any further premium payment, and your child still receives the full maturity benefit.
Real-life scenario: Rahul, a 32-year-old IT professional from Pune, invested ₹5 lakhs as a single premium when his daughter was born. By the time she turns 20, the maturity amount is projected to be around ₹12-13 lakhs, perfectly timed for her engineering education.
2. LIC New Children’s Money Back Plan (Plan 832)
This policy takes a different approach—instead of waiting until maturity, it provides periodic payouts to meet your child’s evolving needs.
Key Features:
Money-back benefits are paid at regular intervals (typically 20%, 20%, and 20% of the sum assured at 5-year intervals), with the remaining 40% plus bonuses paid at maturity. This structure beautifully aligns with real-life expenses—the first payout might cover school admission fees, the second for higher secondary education, and the final amount for college or professional courses.
The minimum sum assured is ₹1 lakh, making it accessible to parents across income groups. Like other LIC child plans, it includes a premium waiver benefit in case of the parent’s unfortunate demise, ensuring your child’s policy continues seamlessly.
Why it’s practical: This policy acknowledges that children’s needs don’t wait until they turn 25. School fees, hobby classes, competitive exam coaching—these expenses arrive in phases, and this policy provides funds accordingly.
3. LIC New Endowment Plan (Plan 914) – Child Variant
While not exclusively a child plan, this endowment policy can be brilliantly structured for children with its single premium option.
Key Features:
You can choose the maturity age to coincide with important milestones in your child’s life—typically when they turn 18, 21, or 25. The single premium mode offers excellent bonuses, and the policy provides complete life insurance coverage for your child throughout the policy term.
The flexibility here is remarkable. You decide the sum assured based on your financial goals, whether it’s ₹10 lakhs for a professional degree or ₹25 lakhs for studying abroad. The policy also offers loan facilities against the surrender value, which can be helpful during genuine emergencies.
Parent’s perspective: Meera from Bangalore chose this for her twins, structuring both policies to mature when they turn 21. “I wanted them to have financial independence right when they enter adulthood,” she shares. “This policy lets me build that corpus while they’re still young.”
4. LIC Single Premium Endowment Plan (Plan 817)
This is the purest form of single premium investment for your child—simple, straightforward, and effective.
Key Features:
With just one payment, you secure a guaranteed sum assured plus loyalty additions for your child. The policy term can range from 10 to 25 years, giving you complete control over when the money becomes available. The death benefit ensures that even if something happens to the child (which no parent wants to imagine), the family receives financial support.
The beauty of this plan lies in its simplicity. There are no complicated structures or multiple payout schedules. You invest once, and at maturity, your child receives a substantial amount for their dreams—be it higher education, starting a business, or even a down payment for their first home.
Financial wisdom: This works exceptionally well when you receive a windfall—a bonus, inheritance, or maturity of another investment. Instead of letting that money sit idle or spending it impulsively, channeling it into your child’s future creates lasting value.
5. LIC Bima Bachat Plan (Plan 851)
This relatively newer offering from LIC combines insurance with attractive returns, perfect for parents who want to maximize growth for their children.
Key Features:
The policy offers a high insurance cover along with guaranteed additions. What makes it particularly attractive for children is the tenure flexibility—you can structure it to mature at different life stages. The single premium option eliminates future payment worries, which is crucial when planning for children since your financial situation might change over two decades.
The guaranteed additions mean you know the minimum your child will receive, removing uncertainty from the equation. Additionally, the policy participates in LIC’s profits, potentially increasing returns beyond the guaranteed amount.
Strategic advantage: Since this is a pure endowment plan with significant maturity benefits, it works wonderfully for parents who want to build a substantial education fund. The guaranteed component provides peace of mind, while the profit participation offers growth potential.
Common Questions Parents Ask About Single Premium Child Policies
Q1. Is single premium better than regular premium for children?
It depends on your financial situation. If you have a lump sum available—perhaps from a job bonus, inheritance, or maturity of another investment—a single premium policy offers better returns and eliminates the risk of missing future payments. However, if you prefer spreading payments over time to manage cash flow, regular premium plans might suit you better.
Q2. How do I calculate the right sum assured for my child?
Start by estimating future education costs. Today, a good undergraduate degree costs ₹15-20 lakhs, while postgraduate or international education can exceed ₹50 lakhs. Factor in inflation (education inflation runs higher than general inflation at 8-10% annually), and choose a sum assured that, with bonuses and additions, will cover these projected costs.
Q3.Can I have multiple policies for one child?
Absolutely. Many parents create a portfolio—one policy for school education, another for college, and perhaps a third for marriage or starting their career. This diversification ensures funds are available when specific needs arise.
Q4. What if I need money urgently before maturity?
Most LIC policies offer loan facilities against the surrender value after a few years. While it’s not ideal to disturb your child’s long-term plan, this provision provides liquidity during genuine emergencies—a medical crisis, unexpected job loss, or urgent family needs.
Making Your Decision: Practical Steps
Choosing the right policy for your child isn’t just a financial decision, it’s an act of love translated into numbers and terms. Here’s how to approach it:
Assess your current financial position honestly: Do you have a lump sum available for single premium investment? Can you afford to lock away this money for 15-20 years without needing it?
Define clear goals for your child: Are you planning for domestic education or international? Do you want funds available at multiple life stages or one large corpus at age 21-25? Your goals should drive your policy selection.
Compare policies objectively: Look beyond just the maturity benefits. Consider the death benefit (God forbid), loan facilities, bonus history of the plan, and flexibility in terms.
Don’t delay: The earlier you start, the better. A policy started when your child is one month old has more time to grow than one started at age five. Those extra years of compounding make a significant difference.
Read the fine print: Understand exclusions, surrender charges if you need to withdraw early, and the exact terms of premium waiver benefits. Ask questions until everything is crystal clear.
Book a Trusted Financial Advisor: In case you are not clear and want guidance regarding your child’s financial planning. Book a trusted Investment advisor like Ramprasad Nadar from Venus Finance Consulting to get the clear picture of your savings journey and secure your child’s future.
The Emotional Investment
Numbers and percentages can’t capture what you’re really doing here. You’re building a safety net woven from your hopes and secured by your foresight. You’re telling your child—even though they can’t understand it yet—that their dreams matter, that you believe in their potential, and that you’re working today to open doors for them tomorrow.
Single premium child insurance policies are more than financial products. They’re promises kept, futures secured, and love quantified. Whether you choose LIC Jeevan Tarun for its child-specific features, the New Children’s Money Back Plan for its phased payouts, or any other policy that aligns with your vision, you’re making a decision that will echo through your child’s life.
Years from now, when your son or daughter stands on the threshold of their dreams—clutching a college acceptance letter or launching their first venture—they’ll have the financial foundation to step forward confidently. And you’ll know that your single premium payment today was one of the best investments you ever made.
Because securing your child’s future isn’t just smart financial planning. It’s what parents do. It’s what love looks like in the language of insurance policies and maturity benefits. It’s your hand reaching across the years to hold theirs when they need it most.
Start today. Your child’s tomorrow begins with the decision you make right now.
Amruta Nadar is the Co-founder and Marketing Head at ChildFuturePlan.com. She has over 10 years of experience in Digital Marketing and has helped over hundreds of clients to succeed in the business. With ChildFuturePlan, she focuses on helping parents plan their child’s education, financial security, and future milestones through practical insights and simplified financial concepts. When she is not at her desk, you will see her gardening, cooking, walking, or just meditating!