Why I regret spending too much on Insurance

zidane13

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Hi all, I was going through my insurance and realized I might have signed up too much insurance.

GE Supremehealth $570/yr – paid by CPF
GE total shield $604/yr
GE life smart protect ILP $300k(CI $200k) - $490/pm
GE early CI rider $100k - $38.90
TK My Legacy Plus $300k (CI $300k) - $374.80/mth
Aviva term $125k + accident $100k - $6.20/mth
AIA prime life $50k - $80.75/mth
NTUC Pioneer Endowment $20k - $35/mth

I got the AIA when I was 14yo so most probably going to continue. The Endowment matures in about 5 more years, so plans to continue too.

The GE ILP has gained about 5% in value. But I read some bad things about ILP in the other threads. Should I cancel it or to treat it as an investment by decreasing the coverage so more goes into the investment portion?

My agent is also trying to sell me an annuity plan at $366/mth for 25 years and I will be getting $14,000 a year for 15 yrs after 65yo (total about $210,000). How does it compare with CPF? I think I can get more with putting the same amount in my CPFSA?
 

JuniorLion

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Hi all, I was going through my insurance and realized I might have signed up too much insurance.

1. GE Supremehealth $570/yr – paid by CPF
2. GE total shield $604/yr
3. GE life smart protect ILP $300k(CI $200k) - $490/pm
4. GE early CI rider $100k - $38.90
5. TK My Legacy Plus $300k (CI $300k) - $374.80/mth
6. Aviva term $125k + accident $100k - $6.20/mth
7. AIA prime life $50k - $80.75/mth
8. NTUC Pioneer Endowment $20k - $35/mth

I got the AIA when I was 14yo so most probably going to continue. The Endowment matures in about 5 more years, so plans to continue too.

The GE ILP has gained about 5% in value. But I read some bad things about ILP in the other threads. Should I cancel it or to treat it as an investment by decreasing the coverage so more goes into the investment portion?

My agent is also trying to sell me an annuity plan at $366/mth for 25 years and I will be getting $14,000 a year for 15 yrs after 65yo (total about $210,000). How does it compare with CPF? I think I can get more with putting the same amount in my CPFSA?

Item 1 and are essential. I'd recommend buy-term-invest-the-rest. But if you don't know how to invest, then I suppose one can keep some of your plans (someone else will provide more details).

I'd recommend not buying any more annuity plans from your agent. CPF-SA gives the best return in Singapore.
 

andyhtc

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Hi all, I was going through my insurance and realized I might have signed up too much insurance.

GE Supremehealth $570/yr – paid by CPF
GE total shield $604/yr
GE life smart protect ILP $300k(CI $200k) - $490/pm
GE early CI rider $100k - $38.90
TK My Legacy Plus $300k (CI $300k) - $374.80/mth
Aviva term $125k + accident $100k - $6.20/mth
AIA prime life $50k - $80.75/mth
NTUC Pioneer Endowment $20k - $35/mth

I got the AIA when I was 14yo so most probably going to continue. The Endowment matures in about 5 more years, so plans to continue too.

The GE ILP has gained about 5% in value. But I read some bad things about ILP in the other threads. Should I cancel it or to treat it as an investment by decreasing the coverage so more goes into the investment portion?

My agent is also trying to sell me an annuity plan at $366/mth for 25 years and I will be getting $14,000 a year for 15 yrs after 65yo (total about $210,000). How does it compare with CPF? I think I can get more with putting the same amount in my CPFSA?

For 5. TK and perhaps a few others, you can consider Aviva/SAF's term and CI. I have switched over to Aviva and saved more than half the premium.
 

rottingapple

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Please let us know! There are only 3 companies that can quote DII (sold in Singapore), so that should be the maximum effort.

Sure! Once i get the quotes i will update here :) actually i think there are 4 companies providing DII, prudential also has one, but the claimant has to be certified unable to work for at least one year. I remember the cost of that DII is quite low. I will go find out and let you all know :)

Just wondering, if one downgrade from private rider hosp plan to B1 public hospital, and one day kena accident, if the ambulance drive the claimant to private hospital to receive treatment, is the private hosp bill claimable?
 
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Maeda_Toshiie

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Hi all, I was going through my insurance and realized I might have signed up too much insurance.

GE Supremehealth $570/yr – paid by CPF
GE total shield $604/yr
GE life smart protect ILP $300k(CI $200k) - $490/pm
GE early CI rider $100k - $38.90
TK My Legacy Plus $300k (CI $300k) - $374.80/mth
Aviva term $125k + accident $100k - $6.20/mth
AIA prime life $50k - $80.75/mth
NTUC Pioneer Endowment $20k - $35/mth

I got the AIA when I was 14yo so most probably going to continue. The Endowment matures in about 5 more years, so plans to continue too.

1 is essential. 2 is dependent on whether you want full payment rather than copayment. Your premiums are rather high. What is your age? Do you have existing conditions?

Drop 3 (seee below).

Keep 4 if you feel rich. (Early) CI is not essential, unlike hospitalization plans. Getting such bells and whistles is not crucial if it affects your retirement plans. BTW, it is a rider to which policy? You cannot cancel the underlying policy while keeping the rider (the reverse can be done).

Keep 5 if you feel very rich. That is a huge chunk of money (CI plans are costly, no matter what). The point for 4 applies here (except for the rider part).

6 is fine. Keep. Personally, I'd get more of such cheap term coverage instead.

Cut 7 and 8 when they break even. Put the money elsewhere for better returns (same as 3, and see below).

The GE ILP has gained about 5% in value. But I read some bad things about ILP in the other threads. Should I cancel it or to treat it as an investment by decreasing the coverage so more goes into the investment portion?

Sell it. You do not need the coverage offered by ILPs when you have much larger coverage from term plans (at a far lower cost). If you want to learn some basics ideas about personal finance, you can pick up on how to buy low cost funds (just ask in this forum, many of us do so), instead of giving money away.

My agent is also trying to sell me an annuity plan at $366/mth for 25 years and I will be getting $14,000 a year for 15 yrs after 65yo (total about $210,000). How does it compare with CPF? I think I can get more with putting the same amount in my CPFSA?

That is ~4.7% annualized returns assuming that they achieve $210000 on the 25th year and start paying out right after (and excluding any additional returns if the pay out does not start right away and while the sum is being slow paid out). Is that even guaranteed? You must check and make sure that those not projected and instead are guaranteed. The wording is extremely important. Generally, 4.7% returns are projected, not guaranteed.
 

BBCWatcher

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prudential also has one, but the claimant has to be certified unable to work for at least one year.
What’s the product name? “PRUearly stage disability”? That’s not disability income insurance, really. It’s more like ElderCare. It also doesn’t insure very much. I can illustrate the problem....

Currently you’re age 28, and let’s suppose you work until age 60. Let’s further suppose your income from work averages $4,000/month and that you get a 13th month bonus. So that’s $52,000/year times 32 years = $1,664,000 of lifetime income from work, give or take. (Adjust these numbers if you wish.)

OK, so you buy PRUearly stage disability, as much of it as you can. How much will it pay if you were to become disabled (totally) at, say, age 29 — disabled even as the policy defines it, for full payout? A whopping $100,000. The other $1.5 million of your earning potential is not protected. That’s not a lot of coverage.

DII with $2,500/month coverage to age 65 would protect up to $1,100,000 of that earning potential if you were to become disabled. (It’s $2,500 x 12 x 37. That’s 66%, or 2/3rds, in this example.) And the definition of disability is less difficult to meet, because disability is defined in work/income-related terms. DII also “tops you up” if you have a partial disability that still lets you work but only in a lower paying job.

And yes, I would expect genuine DII to cost more than PRUearly stage disability. (In fairness to Prudential, it’s a reasonably well named product. “Early stage” means just that. You get no help in the “middle” and “late” stages of disability. :D) It’s better coverage, so that means it should cost more. But it might not cost more than the patchwork of coverage you have now (accident, CI, ECI, etc.) I’ll be interested in hearing what you find out.
 

ocs_woodlands

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The GE ILP has gained about 5% in value. But I read some bad things about ILP in the other threads. Should I cancel it or to treat it as an investment by decreasing the coverage so more goes into the investment portion.

may I know how many years have you had this ILP? How old are you now?
 

zidane13

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may I know how many years have you had this ILP? How old are you now?

1 is essential. 2 is dependent on whether you want full payment rather than copayment. Your premiums are rather high. What is your age? Do you have existing conditions?

ocs, maeda, I'm currently 33 with no medical conditions. Had the ILP for about 6 years.



That is ~4.7% annualized returns assuming that they achieve $210000 on the 25th year and start paying out right after (and excluding any additional returns if the pay out does not start right away and while the sum is being slow paid out). Is that even guaranteed? You must check and make sure that those not projected and instead are guaranteed. The wording is extremely important. Generally, 4.7% returns are projected, not guaranteed.

According to the proposal summary, $9600 is guaranteed while $4400 cash bonus projected at 4.75% is not. There is a part that says the bonuses are smoothed to ensure stable returns on the policy. This means that bonuses are held back on good years to support the bad years.
 

JuniorLion

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According to the proposal summary, $9600 is guaranteed while $4400 cash bonus projected at 4.75% is not. There is a part that says the bonuses are smoothed to ensure stable returns on the policy. This means that bonuses are held back on good years to support the bad years.

4.75% is the returns if the funds performed at 4.75%, not the returns you are getting. Typically, after subtracting the relevant fees, your returns will be much lower.

I won't recommend annuity plans with private insurers. I will first go for:
1) Maximize SA
2) Top up SRS and use SRS to buy
a) Blue Chip stocks
b) STI ETF
c) single-premium endowment plans
(in order of best returns)
 

frenchbriefs

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if u buy 10 insurance policies and u get sick or injured,do u get 10 payouts plus hospital allowances?
 

JuniorLion

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if u buy 10 insurance policies and u get sick or injured,do u get 10 payouts plus hospital allowances?

That's a very generic question.

Ok, I try to answer specifically for one..
If you buy 3 different CI plans, with similar coverage of CIs (i.e. 37 CI as defined by LIA). If you are diagnosed with something that falls within the category, then yes, you will get 3 payouts..


Is that what you are asking... ?
 

frenchbriefs

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That's a very generic question.

Ok, I try to answer specifically for one..
If you buy 3 different CI plans, with similar coverage of CIs (i.e. 37 CI as defined by LIA). If you are diagnosed with something that falls within the category, then yes, you will get 3 payouts..


Is that what you are asking... ?

yes one of those cheap $14 a month general illness or accident insurance where they simply pay u $100 for each day u are hospitalized or missing work due to unfit for duty.imagine u stack ten different policies together....
 

BBCWatcher

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1) Maximize SA
And if you want more, on your 55th birthday zoom your Retirement Account up to the Enhanced Retirement Sum....

....But don’t forget about your spouse. Broadly speaking you want to aim for roughly equal CPF LIFE payouts.

2) Top up SRS and use SRS to buy
a) Blue Chip stocks
b) STI ETF
c) single-premium endowment plans
(in order of best returns)
Why do you put (a) ahead of (b)? They’re the same thing, substantially, aren’t they? Or is your idea that you can somehow be a great stock picker? Random selection of (a), a subset of (b), in statistical math means the same average returns, but with more volatility. Or are you thinking of the annual ETF management fee? OK, but it’s one trade (one commission) versus, say, 10 for individual stocks.

Anything outside Singapore you want to recommend, just in case Singapore implodes (financially anyway)?
 

JuniorLion

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Why do you put (a) ahead of (b)? They’re the same thing, substantially, aren’t they? Or is your idea that you can somehow be a great stock picker? Random selection of (a), a subset of (b), in statistical math means the same average returns, but with more volatility. Or are you thinking of the annual ETF management fee? OK, but it’s one trade (one commission) versus, say, 10 for individual stocks.

Anything outside Singapore you want to recommend, just in case Singapore implodes (financially anyway)?

It may not be easy to pick a stock that beats market returns. But if you do your due diligence, read financial statements, track the market, it is not something that is entirely impossible.

Agree that an easier method is to buy STI ETF.

I seldom trade outside of Singapore, so afraid that I'm not able to recommend anything.
 

JuniorLion

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yes one of those cheap $14 a month general illness or accident insurance where they simply pay u $100 for each day u are hospitalized or missing work due to unfit for duty.imagine u stack ten different policies together....

Hospital Income Insurance is what you're asking.

I'm not too sure on this. But it doesn't sound like it's something that is allowed.
 

blurpandasg2014

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GE Supremehealth $570/yr – paid by CPF
GE total shield $604/yr
GE life smart protect ILP $300k(CI $200k) - $490/pm
GE early CI rider $100k - $38.90
TK My Legacy Plus $300k (CI $300k) - $374.80/mth
Aviva term $125k + accident $100k - $6.20/mth
AIA prime life $50k - $80.75/mth
NTUC Pioneer Endowment $20k - $35/mth

I got the AIA when I was 14yo so most probably going to continue. The Endowment matures in about 5 more years, so plans to continue too.
The GE supreme health and total shield can keep as mentioned by others on this thread.

TM legacy plus is an old plan which I presume you had bought sometime back. The plan returns are pretty decent and much better than most plans currently available so can jus keep it for long term coverage

ILP since break even, can cancel and place ur money into sti etf in rsp mode, place some into Singapore saving bonds etc. Try to diversify.

Aviva term can keep... I believe this is the saf one. It's cheap and very worth

For your endowment, take it as a savings plan since u have paid for it for many years already.

As for cpf investment, best way is to trf some money from OA to SA... Otherwise u can top up SA to offset taxes. Should u want to invest in unit trust, can top up ur SRS account and sign up dollardex to do srs investments.
 

Maeda_Toshiie

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The GE supreme health and total shield can keep as mentioned by others on this thread.

TM legacy plus is an old plan which I presume you had bought sometime back. The plan returns are pretty decent and much better than most plans currently available so can jus keep it for long term coverage

ILP since break even, can cancel and place ur money into sti etf in rsp mode, place some into Singapore saving bonds etc. Try to diversify.

Aviva term can keep... I believe this is the saf one. It's cheap and very worth

For your endowment, take it as a savings plan since u have paid for it for many years already.

As for cpf investment, best way is to trf some money from OA to SA... Otherwise u can top up SA to offset taxes. Should u want to invest in unit trust, can top up ur SRS account and sign up dollardex to do srs investments.

I would caution transferring from OA to SA. It is one way trip. For those who wish to use OA for housing, it may not be a good idea.
 

Maeda_Toshiie

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ocs, maeda, I'm currently 33 with no medical conditions. Had the ILP for about 6 years.

Reasonably young actually. Having kids or not, you are certainly in a position to own a diversified portfolio of stocks and bonds. To mitigate the risk of individual stocks/ market sectors, using more broad based ETFs is a great way to participate in economic growth to grow your own retirement nest (as long as you don't panic sell at market bottoms instead of waiting for the market to recover).

According to the proposal summary, $9600 is guaranteed while $4400 cash bonus projected at 4.75% is not. There is a part that says the bonuses are smoothed to ensure stable returns on the policy. This means that bonuses are held back on good years to support the bad years.

Guessed as much. The 4.75% is the typically quoted projected return (based on MAS guidelines). This means that the guaranteed part is 15*9600=144000. This translates to ~2% for the guaranteed part. For such a long horizon (25 years), that is low. I would not recommend it.
 

BBCWatcher

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It may not be easy to pick a stock that beats market returns. But if you do your due diligence, read financial statements, track the market, it is not something that is entirely impossible.
No, it’s actually impossible, especially for this audience. Professional fund managers cannot beat the market, and there’s a lot of excellent research/data on that point.

Insider trading on proprietary information — illegal in most markets — is the exception.

If you had written (a) such that it included something beyond the contents of the STI, then we’re starting to get closer to a higher yield (and greater volatility, of course).

I seldom trade outside of Singapore, so afraid that I'm not able to recommend anything.
So how do you diversify against the risk that a tiny country, with a low single digit percentage of the world’s investible markets, might have problems? There are so many examples throughout history.
 

JuniorLion

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No, it’s actually impossible, especially for this audience. Professional fund managers cannot beat the market, and there’s a lot of excellent research/data on that point.

Insider trading on proprietary information — illegal in most markets — is the exception.

If you had written (a) such that it included something beyond the contents of the STI, then we’re starting to get closer to a higher yield (and greater volatility, of course).


So how do you diversify against the risk that a tiny country, with a low single digit percentage of the world’s investible markets, might have problems? There are so many examples throughout history.

I'm not recommending people pick many stocks, but rather just a few stocks. Some companies diversify by having companies in many countries too.
 
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