Insurance protection
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Dear tree nymph,
You try to read out the blog, i am not his customer. Just happened to see it when i google for insurance. It is self explanatory and i think it will change people’s mindset on how we look at insurance in the past.
Term plan is good to get extensive coverage with affortable price up to 30 years but the premium is non refundable, it means to say it is an expense. If you turn to whole life plan, the premium is very high and the coverage is far below what is required.
We need term policy especially we have young kids and parents to rely on us.
For me i will choose 25 years as during this period of time, my kids are young, should anything happen to me, this is the time that i need lots of $$ to pay for my kids education, daily expenses, loss in income, maid…
After 25 years later, my children are independant, they can make a living by themselves. I have no worry on this part by then.
I just need to ensure that i have
1.Whole life policy to covers whole life for TPD+death+CI
2.Hospitalisation & surgical plan (as charge feature by medisave approved private integrated plan)
3.cash or investment saving
4.Long term care policy to cover for disability after age 65 ( as Disability Income + Total permanent disability (TPD) coverage usually ends age 65)
For children’s protection, my priority as follows.
1. Hospitalisation & surgical plan (as charged feature)
2. Life policy (whole life or term plan)
3. Education fund (for my case, i bought TM Asia life as the guarantee portion is higher when i bought it few years back)
Retirement for myself- this is something that i am clueless. -
For Term insurance, you may consider buying the SAF Group Insurance from Aviva. I think this is one of the cheapest Term insurance I’ve came across.
Your hubby (serve NS before) needs to be insured first and you as spouse will enjoy cheaper rate.
For the example above, for 100K Term - hubby will pay $12.80 per mth while spouse will pay only $10.00 per mth. I’m extracting this from an old brochure which I have with me now. -
Hi Charmaine,
Yes, i understand that there is no returns on Term Policy. Once the Term is up, the policy expires, full stop, end of story.
And I agree with you that during this time, we have kids and parents to support. but after that, we will also need protection as well because this is the time we fall sick most easily - or rather we get diagnose with critical illness the most often…
That is why i feel that 25 years is too short. -
hi tree_nymph,
Understand that bit about no returns. Just keep in mind that wool comes from the sheep. It’s more a type of forced savings.
I bought insurance at various points in life, at times before I knew what I was doing. So in that sense I’m stuck with those plans.
But given a choice to start on a clean slate, I would:
1. get hospitalization/medical plans (based on as charged)
2. term insurance for life (in event of death, my dependents will be taken care of)
3. some insurance in event of total and permanent disability.
The money saved from not putting it with the insurers, I will choose to invest it elsewhere (buy unit trusts, shares, whatever). At least I have the flexibility to put in/withdraw when needed - now I have to pay month after month…and the returns not so fantastic. When there was scare I might lose my job, I still had to factor in these monthly payments (at least tong until cannot). -
Hi hquek,
Me too, have bought insurance in my various stages of life and there are a few policies that I’ve regretted taking up!
I was thinking more like if there are any term policies that offers medical/hospital up till like 75 or so? I think this kind of policy could be quite expensive. -
tree nymph:
Yah, I think we all have. Fully intending to share my experience with the kids so they can start on a better footing.Hi hquek,
Me too, have bought insurance in my various stages of life and there are a few policies that I've regretted taking up!
I was thinking more like if there are any term policies that offers medical/hospital up till like 75 or so? I think this kind of policy could be quite expensive.
Honestly for medical/hospitalization, it may not be worth to get term up to 75, bearing in mind
1. as we age, more problems crop up. if you need to get a brand new plan, you could find many things being excluded - that's the reason why my 2 kids are on the 2nd most expensive incomeshield plans (downgrade plan don't need to underwrite, upgrade will need).
2. life expectancy is up, so you might find problems cropping up AFTER 75....if your plans expire when you are 76, likely no one is going to insure you. Then any medical bills leh? I have heard enough horror stories (1st/2nd hand) about high medical bills that cost a few apartments and cannot even cure. But you may want to find out from your agent about such plans - there MAY be.
I think I sound a bit like my insurance agent liao, but actually I don't feel I know a thing.
One thing that upsets me no end is their endless definitions of what = TPD, what = cancer. Some insurers I heard are extremely tight with their definitions, so if something does not fall within that, they don't pay. -
Hi All,
In order to get good advise from licenced financial advisor, i find that usually fee based financial advisor does better job. Commission based financial adviser sells to meet target, sell products with high commission components, that is how they earn, instead of focus on clients needs. This is what i encountered so far.
I have ever called up a firm who provide fee based advise, they charge $100 per hour.
It takes about 2-4 hours to seek advise for insurance protection. nothing else.
If you need advise for financial planning for a family, it easily cost 3k plus.
Tree nymph,
Term plan is usually cover for TPD+CI+TI+Death for up to 30 years. I knew UOB life (now taken over buy prudential) has term plan that covers till age 99 or 100 with money return. If i am not wrong, HSBC has such plan too.
You need to get a H&S as charged feature, this is a must for everyone. Aside of this, we can buy LONG TERM CARE to take care of us in the event that one can’t even perform daily activities eg: changing clothes on her own…
On top of getting insurance to get protection, we need a good habit to save cash regularly and do some investment.
Hi hquek,
For me, i spend quite a fair bit in insurance. Especially afer having 2 young kids, i am very worried if anything happen to me or my hubby, where is the money come from to pay for their daily expenses, education , etc. I hope insurance can lighten the burden should this happen.
Whole life is not for me at this age. It is too expensive and does not meet my objective.
Term life, yes. It helps me to get greater protection with much more affortable premium. The thing is as this is low commission product, usually financial advisor would not be interested to sell it to you.
I know I-term from NTUC, but based on my limited knowledge it is not the cheapest. -
Dear All,
I find an arcticle that is worth sharing with you guys. It was published in the Magazine Invest Jun/Jul2008.
Top 10 Common Mistakes in Protection Planning
Making a mistake in buying an insurance product can result in huge financial consequences.
In ocean navigation, lighthouses and buoys serve as important reference points and indicate hazardous spots to avoid. Similarly, this second article on Proper Protection Planning will attempt to serve as a lighthouse or buoy in the navigation to financial well–being by having a discussion
on the main class of insurance polices available in Singapore and the common mistakes and misconceptions to avoid.
Due to the complexity of the different class of products, consumers often use the incorrect type of policy to meet their needs or purchased them with the wrong concept. Making such mistakes can result in huge
financial consequences.
The following is a brief discussion. Consumers have a common misconception that premiums paid for insurance policies
are “wasted” if there is no claim. As such, with–profits or participating plans As discuss ed above, with–profits or are very attractive as the premiums can be “recovered” with profits. Under the 4W of financial planning, namely; Wealth Protection, Wealth Accumulation, Wealth
Preservation and Wealth Distribution, Protection is the primary consideration.
In the case of Whole Life Plans (WL), it is incorrect to view the policy as a form of savings/investment vehicle and to surrender the plan at retirement for the cash value. Probability of claim increases with
age. Surrendering the plan at retirement age would mean letting go of the plan when you need it most. WL should be viewed as a form of Wealth Protection. The returns generated should be viewed as a way of keeping pace with inflation. For Term plans, the premium paid is for pure protection without any returns and thus, cheaper than WL or Endowment plans.
participating plans are very attractive to consumers. Thus, endowment plans are favored when getting an insurance policy. Endowment plans are essentially saving plans (Wealth Accumulation) with some protection. They are not meant to provide a good protection as the coverage is low
compared to a WL or Term plan.
A lot of consumers still do not see the need to start preparation for coverage in retirement years early. The thought of reaping a return after a fixed number of years is very appealing to them. So, instead of getting a WL or Term plan, many go for an endowment plan. Similar to using endowment plans for life protection, using PA plans as the primary protection is also rather common.
PA plans can provide a big coverage at very low premiums. However, such plans’ coverage is only valid when it is due to accidents only. That is why the premiums can be so low at such a high coverage. Consumers might get
the impression that they are well covered when in fact they are not.
Mistake No. 1
Thinking that premiums are “wasted” if there is no claim
Please read on from here.
http://www.ifa-sg.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/2008_06_01_top_10_common_mistakes_in_protection_planning.pdf -
Charmaine_chong:
In my younger days, i've bought like 2 or 3 life-policies, so for that area, i'm fine. i have little medical and hospital coverage i think, of course there are riders in the life-policies, but i think i should look into a term life policy as well...Hi All,
In order to get good advise from licenced financial advisor, i find that usually fee based financial advisor does better job. Commission based financial adviser sells to meet target, sell products with high commission components, that is how they earn, instead of focus on clients needs. This is what i encountered so far.
I have ever called up a firm who provide fee based advise, they charge $100 per hour.
It takes about 2-4 hours to seek advise for insurance protection. nothing else.
If you need advise for financial planning for a family, it easily cost 3k plus.
Tree nymph,
Term plan is usually cover for TPD+CI+TI+Death for up to 30 years. I knew UOB life (now taken over buy prudential) has term plan that covers till age 99 or 100 with money return. If i am not wrong, HSBC has such plan too.
You need to get a H&S as charged feature, this is a must for everyone. Aside of this, we can buy LONG TERM CARE to take care of us in the event that one can't even perform daily activities eg: changing clothes on her own...
On top of getting insurance to get protection, we need a good habit to save cash regularly and do some investment.
Thanks for the recommendaton, hquek and Charmaine. I will go look and see and try to sniff out one that suits my needs and my wallet. -
Yeah it's very important to have insurance.... Wish I could have applied for a million dollar insurance ;)...
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