I am 18 and thought of investing around 50k in endowment plans which has capital guarantee and a short 10 year duration and invest 36k in stocks Is it a good idea?

Not sure how much cash you have, but at least 86k in starting capital is quite good.

Questions for you to think about

• do you need to set aside money for future education?

• do you see yourself needing to set aside money for getting married, and buying a home, in a certain time frame?

These are the two most important questions you need to think about, although you might not have an answer.

Personally, I am not so in favour of endowments (because the commissions paid to agents eat a large chunk of the returns), and you will have to hold it to maturity to avoid large loss for the surrender value. If you need to take the money out from the endowment to cover expenses mentioned in my two questions in less than 10 years, then I am quite sure endowment isn't the right product.

If you have to take on an education loan to continue further education, then i think it would be smarter to keep in high interest bearing bank accounts to maintain the liquidity, because it would be quite foolish to pay interest on debt, while money is stuck in an endowment, and you have to figure whether you are net paying interest or gaining.

Assuming you have confirmed your decision to set aside some funds on endowment policies for 10-year holding period, one option would be traded endowment policies (TEPs) for up to 4.6% projected Internal Rate of Return. TEPs are endowment policies which were given up by original policyholders and are then available for resale. However, you have to speak with a financial advisor if TEPs is suitable for you.

Disclaimer: I run my own business trading TEPs.