People keep falling for same money traps: Zerodha’s Nithin Kamath on ULIPs, endowment plans
New Delhi, May 10 (IANS) Nithin Kamath has raised concerns over the way Indian investors continue to fall for unsuitable financial products despite easier access to financial education and online information.
In a post on social media platform X, the Zerodha co-founder said that while India has witnessed a massive rise in first-time investors entering mutual funds, stocks and insurance products, many continue to repeat the same financial mistakes year after year.
“When it comes to personal finance, people somehow keep making the same mistakes over and over again. There’s very little creativity in the mistakes people make,” Kamath wrote.
“Take investing. Pretty much every influencer, every serious finance writer, and the financial media have been screaming for years: don’t mix insurance with investments. ULIPs are usually a bad idea. Endowment policies are usually a bad idea,” he added.
Kamath specifically criticised the continued popularity of ULIPs and traditional endowment insurance policies, products that financial planners and investment experts have long warned against.
According to him, despite years of articles, videos and awareness campaigns explaining the drawbacks of these products, their sales continue to rise steadily.
“ULIPs are usually a bad idea. Endowment policies are usually a bad idea. And yet, ULIP sales continue to grow and endowment plans continue to be sold. People continue to fall for the same pitches, despite all the articles, videos, and excel sheets explaining why these products are bad,” he said.
Kamath argued that the problem is no longer a lack of information. Investors today have access to online comparison tools, detailed policy disclosures and AI platforms that can help explain complex financial products in simple language.
“Even a cursory Google search will tell you the problem. And today, in 2026, you can just ask ChatGPT or Claude whether a product is a good idea, and they’ll usually show you the math,” he added.
–IANS
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