always compare expenses at the time of investments .for eg loads charges etc,ulips always charge fund allocation charges which are from 20% to 30% in first year and 2 to 10 % in coming years .which are so high because insurense company have to pay comission to the so called advisor who is tempting you to take that policy.in comparision mutual funds charge far less in form of entry load which is usually2.25%,but if you invest directly to asset management compny that is also nil.so this proves that most of the charges paid by you to the compny goes to the agent.
so the thumb rule should be invest in mutual funds directly if you want to invest in equities rather than unit link insurence plans,for tax planning you can invest in elss funds.if you want insurance go for term insurance plan that will be cheap.
