NTUC Income Annual Bonus Update for 2008

When I first saw the title to the document I had just received, I thought it was trying to tell me NTUC Income is going to pay more bonus for my various policies.

Guess what I read.

They are telling me that they are increasing the Special Bonuses and decreasing the Annual Bonus, leaving the TOTAL bonuses unchanged or increased MARGINALLY.

My immediate reaction is why the change then.

Why would a Cooperative spend thousands of dollars on mailing thousands of pages to hundreds of thousands of policyholders telling them nothing much change except the allocation?

The change in allocation is supposed to give them "greater investment freedom.. to invest in higher yielding assets that COULD lead to higher returns in the long run." I am old enough to know that higher return could also mean lower return.

Can insurance company unilaterally change the terms of a contract that have been in force for years? Or is it part of the contract?

Can I say NO to the change until I am sure that the change is actually beneficial to me.

What is the difference between Annual bonuses and Special bonuses?

While Annual bonuses are added yearly to the policy, Special bonuses are paid only upon death/maturity/surrender.