BEWARE, Upgrading eldershield good or bad?

[cracktheegg]

Guys I know that many people who turn 40 or above get call by lots of insurance company asking you to upgrade your basic elder shield. The reason for getting called is because, you will be automatically covered under basic elder shield. when you turn 40

If you are going to ask me, " with basic eldershield will it be good enough for me or I need to upgrade". I only got one reply for you, "of course, you need to upgrade".

I not saying by not doing the upgrade you will "DIE" or end up in something worse. I saying the basic eldershield which give you a monthly payout of $400 for a period of six year is not enough. Basic eldershield only give you the payout, if you are unable to do three daily activities anyway.

GEL and AVIVA have plan which allow you to get monthly payout if you are unable to perform two daily activities only.

You can also use your medisave interest only to paid for the premium. Your medisave earn you 4% interest per year, for most cases after deducting the premium from medisave interest there still are remaining interest left. So you will not decrease in medisave for most cases.

There is three insurance company doing this upgrade now,
Great eastern life
NTUC
Aviva

Q.Which Insurance company, i should not do the upgrade with?
NTUC- sure NOO, they are not competitive enough to give you lots of benefits when compare to GEL and Aviva. They do not have plan which allow you to get monthly payout if you are unable to perform two daily activities only.


Q.GEL or AVIVA-

The difference of Aviva and GEL:

Aviva give you a choice of $600 to $3500 monthly payout.
Great Eastern Life give you a monthly payout of $300 to $3000.

Great eastern life let you be covered for life, but the premium term ends at age 80. This is the main advantage of choosing GEL.

Premium are waived when you are receiving benefit payout for aviva and GEL.

For GEL your Benifit payout period are 10 years or lifetime, but for AVIVA the are 12 year or lifetime. Aviva allow you to choose the premium term from paying until age 67 or for 20 years from entry age.

Other benefit for aviva only are

A dependent care benefit of $200 per month payable up to 36 months if you have a child aged 21 years old and below at claim.

A Rehabilitation Benefit of 50% of the monthly payout during your recovery stage.

A guaranteed renewal that allows you to continue coverage as needed

http://elder-shield.com/

 

[Tony Sim]

Yes, I agree that the basic eldershield is not sufficient, and if you can afford it, should do an upgrade.

 

[goenitz33]

based on Aviva's Premium plan table, i thought there are lifetime benefits payout with limited premium payment period?

Quoted below from Aviva Site:

If you have finished paying all required premiums under the limited premium payment term option, no additional premium payment is necessary. You will still continue to enjoy lifetime coverage.

 

[aptget]

There is three insurance company doing this upgrade now,
Great eastern life
NTUC
Aviva

AIA as well. I've just upgraded mine. Yearly $150+

 

[cracktheegg]

based on Aviva's Premium plan table, i thought there are lifetime benefits payout with limited premium payment period?

Quoted below from Aviva Site:

If you have finished paying all required premiums under the limited premium payment term option, no additional premium payment is necessary. You will still continue to enjoy lifetime coverage.

You still have to paid more, it is like you paid for your future premium first within the limitied payment term.

I may be wrong, someone can get us info and explain in greater details?

 

[cracktheegg]

AIA as well. I've just upgraded mine. Yearly $150+

You sure that one is eldershield supplements? AIA do not had the right to upgrade the eldershield.

CPF Board - Ask Us - Browse all FAQs by category

 

[cracktheegg]

For anyone interested in upgrading pm me your age and monthly income and your prefer years of coverage and monthly payout. If you have children pls tell me too.

I can help you think which plan suit you, since this insurance thing is not so straight forward.

The insurance company always play zero-sum game, so dun be fool by which benifit they give more. Focus more on the plan feature to see wether it suit you.

If you are sure of the plan you want, pm me. I got friends working for all the insurance company. I can help them get commision, since they will be doing the explaining not me.

If you got friend working for insurance company, you ask them to do the upgrade. (help your friend)

 

[henrylbh]

More than 90% is money down the drain.

 

[limster]

(1) Eldershield is an emotional issue and may be linked to your own experience with your elderly family members like grandparents. I can say that none of my grandparents would benefit much from eldershield. One common experience is your grandparent needs a wheelchair, but being wheelchair bound alone is not sufficient for eldershield claim. Please look carefully at the requirements for a claim and think to yourself if your grandparents would be eligible for a claim? Mine weren't except perhaps for a short period - similar to the argument that by the time one is eligible for a claim, he may not have long to live.

(2) 5% per year inflation. Compare the net present value of your eldershield premiums versus the net present value of the best-case eldershield payouts in 35 years time. Are you are effectively lending money to the insurer at a negative inflation adjusted insurance rate?

These are not new arguments, read askdrmoney etc etc

At least the basic eldershield is controlled by govt, so the insurers are unlikely to have large profit margins, so I would still go for basic eldershield. For enhanced eldershield, the "enhanced" probably refers to the insurers profits

 

[tetat_ic]

ElderShield is a disability insurance scheme with no savings or investment elements. This helps to keep the premiums affordable.

No one knows for sure whether we would be so unfortunate to be disabled in old age. As we grow older, our chances of suffering from severe disabilities increase sharply. Based on the experience of other advanced countries, such as the UK, men and women have a 35% and 45% chance of being disabled in their lifetime respectively. This high incidence rate of disability makes it necessary to protect ourselves in old age.

If anyone is interested in enhancing their Eldershield policy, please do drop me a PM. I will be able to provide more advice.

 

[FP_IFA]

AIA as well. I've just upgraded mine. Yearly $150+

What are you talking about? AIA has no eldershield plan.

 

[limster]

This high incidence rate of disability makes it necessary to protect ourselves in old age.

So what is the incidence of disability in Singapore that qualifies for eldershield?

If a person cannot walk and has to be in a wheelchair but can use his hands, still cannot qualify for eldershield!

If you are so disabled that you qualify for eldershield, how long does such a person live for? A few months, a few years? What's the average lifespan for a person with such a disability compared to all the premiums you paid earlier.

 

[Panerex]

Sorry, digging this thread out.
Based on the 3 insurers that currently have to offer for eldershield upgrades, what would you recommend?

TIA

 

[linusz]

Need underwriting to upgrade?

 

[maumu]

I am also pondering whether to upgrade eldershield since i'm turning 40 next month. my insurer is GE and yup, they have an upgrade which is just 2 activities out of the 6 that we cannot do.

but at the back of my mind I was thinking how 'difficult' it is to 'qualify' for the 2 activities. if I reach that stage in my life, will I be better off dead and not be a burden to others? I supposed the payout is just to subsidise the cost of some caretaker to take care of my 'disabilities' until I die. right?

 

[mosmos]

Sorry, digging this thread out.
Based on the 3 insurers that currently have to offer for eldershield upgrades, what would you recommend?

TIA

I am planning to cancel eldershield, looked like a waste of my medisave.

Why not just save enough money, $400 x 6yrs = $28800, rather than money go down the drain if did not utilise

 

[tan1688]

Moderator Please close this thread. Salesman pushing their garbage again on this thread..

 

[Bigoya]

Need underwriting to upgrade?

Underwriting is compulsory for upgrades.

 

[Bigoya]

Sorry, digging this thread out.
Based on the 3 insurers that currently have to offer for eldershield upgrades, what would you recommend?

TIA

My preference for Aviva's MyCare hasn't changed since 2 yrs ago. Rational more or less similar to what TS has hi-lighted.

 

[Bigoya]

I am also pondering whether to upgrade eldershield since i'm turning 40 next month. my insurer is GE and yup, they have an upgrade which is just 2 activities out of the 6 that we cannot do.

but at the back of my mind I was thinking how 'difficult' it is to 'qualify' for the 2 activities.

If u kena sever stroke must prob is 3 out of 6.
I think kena 3 out of 6 has higher chance compared to just 2 out of 6.

The 6 activities are:

Washing
The ability to wash in the bath or shower (including getting into and out of the bath or shower) or wash by other means.

Dressing
The ability to put on, take off, secure and unfasten all garments and, as appropriate, any braces, artificial limbs or other surgical or medical appliances.

Feeding
The ability to feed oneself food after it has been prepared and made available.

Toileting
The ability to use the lavatory or manage bowel and bladder function through the use of protective undergarments or surgical appliances if appropriate.

Mobility
The ability to move indoors from room to room on level surfaces.

Transferring
The ability to move from a bed to an upright chair or wheelchair, and vice versa.

if I reach that stage in my life, will I be better off dead and not be a burden to others? I supposed the payout is just to subsidise the cost of some caretaker to take care of my 'disabilities' until I die. right?

I think u are more or less correct that the payout is majorily used to subsidise the cost of a caretaker, or if your loved ones have to quit their job to take care of you, this would replace their income.

Personally I think the premiums are rather low, if you Medisave can afford it, there's not much reasons to reject the option since you can't spend the money in MA elsewhere.

Putting things into perspective, if your loved ones (could be parent, spouse, children) reach that stage in life and think they'd be better off dead instead, what would your response be for them?
Try putting yourself in their shoes too rather than just putting them into yours.