Getting started with insurance

[bubbasour]

• all private hospitals
• private (single bed) wards in all public hospitals plus Raffles Hospital
• private wards in all public hospitals
• B1 wards (4 beds, air conditioned) in all public hospitals
• B2+ wards (5 beds, air conditioned) in all public hospitals (or the lower B2 ward whenever B2+ is not available)

So that's 5 levels of Integrated Shield coverage, really.

Thx BBCwatcher for sharing ! This was very helpful. I would be interested in the TOP 3 plans: Private, Public+Raffles, Public Private ward.

Is there any tool to easily compare these configuration between different IP providers, how much cost what is covered etc.? Thank you!

 

[BBCWatcher]

Thx BBCwatcher for sharing ! This was very helpful. I would be interested in the TOP 3 plans: Private, Public+Raffles, Public Private ward.

OK, taking these in reverse order:

1. For public hospital A ward coverage, take a look at Prudential PRUshield Plus, Raffles Shield A, and AXA Shield Plan B. Note that all of these plans provide some coverage for private hospitals, but they just do it using a proration factor (meaning that you’re responsible for a certain percentage of the bill before insurance kicks in). So you can still “dabble” in private hospital care if you wish, but you just have to come up with some more MediSave and/or cash.

2. For public hospital A ward coverage plus Raffles Hospital, there’s only one choice: Raffles Shield A with the Raffles Hospital Option.

3. For private hospital coverage there are a lot of choices, but AIA HealthShield Gold Max A is rather interesting because, if you stick to their “in network” (panel) medical providers (which also includes all public hospitals — although this is not the right plan if you’re going to choose public hospitals for all your care needs), you get the longest pre-/post-hospitalization coverage window (13 months/13 months) and a whopping $2 million annual claim limit. But it’s an expensive plan and getting more expensive faster due to the medical inflation factors I mentioned.

Is there any tool to easily compare these configuration between different IP providers, how much cost what is covered etc.? Thank you!

Yes, the Ministry of Health has comparison tables available here. But you still ought to investigate with each carrier and read their actual policy letters carefully, to make sure you understand all the terms and conditions.

We still haven’t discussed overseas urgent care, i.e. travel medical insurance. I still like Bupa’s “Basic” annual travel medical insurance plan that’s available for purchase from Bupa Global’s Web site. (Check each currency choice to find the lowest premium, usually in British pounds.) If you only venture outside Singapore one or a couple times per year, and especially if you don’t visit a high cost/high risk medical care country, then you might do a little better with single trip travel medical insurance.

 

[lukefung85]

lukefung85
Junior Member

Join Date: Jan 2019
Posts: 1

At Life Assure, we are a group of local certified specialist that come from different company that will always be there to serve and put our customers at first priority. We are dedicated to finding you the right insurance at the right price. Our specialist are standing by to answer all of your questions and help guide you through the insurance buying process.

nice try dude getting pple to go your website buy insurance

No lah bro. I would like to credit the lifeassure group as recently my friend got into a accident. They are the one helping him do the claim. Very Professional group of agents! Do things very fast and on the ball. So good things must share ma! dont say i alibaba haha

 

[JuniorLion]

Accident Insurance versus Term Life Insurance.

If you have both of the above, and you die due to accident, can you claim from both policies?

 

[BBCWatcher]

Accident Insurance versus Term Life Insurance.
If you have both of the above, and you die due to accident, can you claim from both policies?

No. You cannot claim. You'll be dead!

Your survivor(s) can claim from both policies, sure.

For what it's worth, so-called "accidental death" insurance is absolutely worthless. Who the hell cares how you died? You're dead. Can you imagine the conversation your spouse would have with the hospital or police?

Police: "Mrs. JuniorLion, I have some terrible news. Your dear spouse, JuniorLion, has died."
Spouse: "Oh no! That's terrible! By the way, how did he die?"
Police: "He was run over by a bus."
Spouse: "Oh that's awesome! Jackpot, baby!"

It's absolutely absurd. Don't waste your money. Either you need life insurance or you don't, but you don't need more life insurance just because you died due to a collision with a bus rather than a massive heart attack in your sleep.

 

[anon0000]

Hi there, I would like to have some advice with regards to insurance for fresh grads.

I am 24 years old, Male, non-smoker. Currently owning 2 insurance policies, namely AIA SmartRewards Saver (II) plan which started in 2014, and Prudential's PruLife Multiplier Flex plan, which began in Nov last year. I am currently paying ~$500+ per year for the 1st policy, and ~$90 per month for the second policy with Prudential.

Looking around from online sources,I feel that there should be a cheaper plan than the Prudential's PruLife Multiplier Flex. Besides, I worry that as I am looking for a full-time job, I may not be able to commit to payment of the premium. I am thinking of canceling the plan, and change to something cheaper like NTUC Income's Incomeshield, which is much cheaper.

Hoping to look for inputs from you guys here. Thanks.

 

[BBCWatcher]

I am 24 years old, Male, non-smoker. Currently owning 2 insurance policies, namely AIA SmartRewards Saver (II) plan which started in 2014, and Prudential's PruLife Multiplier Flex plan, which began in Nov last year.

What life problems or risks were you trying to address with these policies?

 

[anon0000]

What life problems or risks were you trying to address with these policies?

Hi there, what are the consequences if I were to cancel these 2 policies? I am a fresh grad who is looking for my 1st job, and I feel that the Prudential's PruLife Multiplier Flex plan isn't something that I am looking for, particularly as I am afraid that I may not be able to afford to pay the monthly premiums. I am looking for purely term life insurance for healthcare, and it seems that FWD's term life insurance plan is something that I am looking for. However, what amount of coverage should I be looking at to insure myself? Is $200k be a good starting amount?

I was also advised that AIA SmartRewards Saver (II) plan does not offer that much high rate of return, and I should be looking at something like Singapore savings bonds, as a better example if I am looking to invest or increase my savings.

 

[moejoseph]

Hi there, what are the consequences if I were to cancel these 2 policies? I am a fresh grad who is looking for my 1st job, and I feel that the Prudential's PruLife Multiplier Flex plan isn't something that I am looking for, particularly as I am afraid that I may not be able to afford to pay the monthly premiums. I am looking for purely term life insurance for healthcare, and it seems that FWD's term life insurance plan is something that I am looking for. However, what amount of coverage should I be looking at to insure myself? Is $200k be a good starting amount?

I was also advised that AIA SmartRewards Saver (II) plan does not offer that much high rate of return, and I should be looking at something like Singapore savings bonds, as a better example if I am looking to invest or increase my savings.

Will advise to get yourself covered with integrated shield plan first, and when u found a job with stable income, then look at term.

 

[BBCWatcher]

What life problems or risks were you trying to address with these policies?

Hi there, what are the consequences if I were to cancel these 2 policies?

I don't know yet. What issues and risks are you trying to address? Let's start with what you think you need, then work from there. There's some partial information here....

I am a fresh grad who is looking for my 1st job.... I am looking for purely term life insurance for healthcare....

Term life insurance isn't for healthcare. I think you're talking about two different issues.

Why do you want life insurance of any sort? You only need life insurance if ALL of the following conditions hold:

1. You have one or more dependents (spouse, child, or really anybody you care for).

2. Your dependent would be genuinely, materially harmed if he/she were to lose your financial support from your employment income, not only sad.

3. You do not have enough wealth to self-insure.

Most 24 year olds still looking for their first jobs don't have dependents.

Medical insurance helps pay medical bills for medically necessary care that are so big that you could not reasonably handle them on your own out of your income and wealth, which includes your MediSave Account balance. Assuming you are a citizen or Permanent Resident living in Singapore, you are covered under MediShield Life which (according to the government anyway, and assuming a "reasonable" MediSave Account balance) provides enough hospitalization coverage in public hospitals at B2 ward and below. If you'd like more medical insurance then the next step up from MediShield Life would be an Integrated Shield plan designed to cover an air conditioned ward in a public hospital. (Air conditioned wards are B2+ and above.)

If you venture outside Singapore then travel medical insurance is important. Travel medical insurance is not quite the same thing as travel insurance more broadly, which isn't important. It's not a disaster if you lose $300 worth of luggage, for example. But it is a major problem if you get injured or suddenly fall sick, get some expensive medical care, and need medically suitable transport back to Singapore once you're stabilized. All of that can be quite expensive and difficult or impossible to handle on your own, and that's where travel medical insurance is useful.

Once you get a job and can obtain Disability Income Insurance (DII), it'd be terrific to get DII as part of your core insurance needs.

....And that's about it, really.

 

[dgenex]

Hi,

I'm 24 years old, currently single and starting work later this year with monthly income of $3600 after CPF.

Dependents are only my 2 parents about 55 years old now.

Family has no more home loan to pay and no car.

I was thinking of getting a Term Insurance that would last about 20 years (to provide for parents if anything happens to me within that period)

Also want to get an IP Shield Plan for Class A Ward and considering whether to get an Early CI or Disability Income insurance in case of anything happening to me.

Would appreciate some guidance on whether all these policies are a bit overkill (e.g. Early CI and Disability Income) and will end up with me paying too much every year. Also could use some help with deciding how much to be coverage to take for each policy.

Thanks!

 

[moejoseph]

Hi,

I'm 24 years old, currently single and starting work later this year with monthly income of $3600 after CPF.

Dependents are only my 2 parents about 55 years old now.

Family has no more home loan to pay and no car.

I was thinking of getting a Term Insurance that would last about 20 years (to provide for parents if anything happens to me within that period)

Also want to get an IP Shield Plan for Class A Ward and considering whether to get an Early CI or Disability Income insurance in case of anything happening to me.

Would appreciate some guidance on whether all these policies are a bit overkill (e.g. Early CI and Disability Income) and will end up with me paying too much every year. Also could use some help with deciding how much to be coverage to take for each policy.

Thanks!

Shield is definitely important for a start. For life, glad that you thought of your parents, which i personally feel is important, because after all they raised us up and it is only right for us to be filial to them, especially if they are not well-to-do. Most advices out here won't classify our parents as dependant though.

For Early CI & DI, they are good to have, but you may want to work out if there is a need as of now. Especially if your parents are not having any coverage, it will be advisable to insure them as well first.

 

[BBCWatcher]

Dependents are only my 2 parents about 55 years old now.

OK, is there any reasonable prospect that either or both of your parents will be in genuine financial distress — not only grieving — if you should predecease them? If the answer is yes, then term life insurance may be helpful. If the answer is no, you do not need life insurance at this time.

I was thinking of getting a Term Insurance that would last about 20 years (to provide for parents if anything happens to me within that period)

Possibly, if the answer to the question I posed above is “Yes.” Although there’s another possibility: they’re already in financial distress, i.e. are already suffering from inadequate retirement savings. If that’s the case, then you should also take a look at what you can do to bolster their retirement financial stability, specifically CPF Retirement Account top ups. You can get up to $7,000 of tax relief per year for such top ups. The tax relief will probably become interesting in January, 2020.

In other words, if they’re already struggling financially, term life insurance won’t help and probably never will. Cash, well deployed, is the solution to that particular problem.

Also want to get an IP Shield Plan for Class A Ward and considering whether to get an Early CI or Disability Income insurance in case of anything happening to me.

DII is quite important, and “Early CI” is much, much less important. An Integrated Shield plan designed for public hospital A ward is essentially the same price at your age — very, very close — as a public hospital B1 ward plan. So even if you don’t need A ward, for $2/year (or something like that) it’s fine.

Most advices out here won't classify our parents as dependant though.

Look, it’s FAR better to hand your parents cash if you want to be filial instead of paying an insurance company for insurance neither you nor they genuinely need, if that’s the case. “I love you so much I gave some money to Prudential” said nobody, ever.

....Or your parents might be genuninely financially dependent on you. Insurance is wonderful stuff and useful in solving problems that actually exist. If the problem doesn’t exist, then don’t buy insurance designed to solve a problem you don’t have.

For Early CI & DI, they are good to have, but you may want to work out if there is a need as of now. Especially if your parents are not having any coverage, it will be advisable to insure them as well first.

I’m not exactly sure what you mean, but DII is (in part) about not becoming the hugest burden on your parents and about assuring some baseline level of income to keep yourself going should you be unable to generate an income. Everything we’ve discussed so far is based on an assumption of future income from work, a working lifetime of income. Well, that’s not a given. If you become disabled and cannot work, it’s gone, probably all of it from that point forward. It’s the biggest asset by far a young or mid-career working adult has, his/her future income earning potential. And insuring against what would be an utterly catastrophic loss of that asset is really, really important, especially in high cost of living Singapore.

I agree with this article.

 

[moejoseph]

Look, it’s FAR better to hand your parents cash if you want to be filial instead of paying an insurance company for insurance neither you nor they genuinely need, if that’s the case. “I love you so much I gave some money to Prudential” said nobody, ever.

....Or your parents might be genuninely financially dependent on you. Insurance is wonderful stuff and useful in solving problems that actually exist. If the problem doesn’t exist, then don’t buy insurance designed to solve a problem you don’t have.


I’m not exactly sure what you mean, but DII is (in part) about not becoming the hugest burden on your parents and about assuring some baseline level of income to keep yourself going should you be unable to generate an income. Everything we’ve discussed so far is based on an assumption of future income from work, a working lifetime of income. Well, that’s not a given. If you become disabled and cannot work, it’s gone, probably all of it from that point forward. It’s the biggest asset by far a young or mid-career working adult has, his/her future income earning potential. And insuring against what would be an utterly catastrophic loss of that asset is really, really important, especially in high cost of living Singapore.

I agree with this article.

I do agree DII is impt, but as poster just started his job, he might want to prioritise what he wants to get first.

Life insurance is to prevent unforseen circumstances, which are really hard to say in this world. And it won't be expensive if poster is to get it right now, than compared to years later.

I myself spend 1/3 of my take home pay on insurance, so everyone of us will have to prioritise our needs, as all our needs and what we are looking for are different.

Just providing my opinion here. We are not here to force our opinions on others. Ultimately it is up to poster to make his own decision as well, not blindly listen to all of us here. Believe poster is able to do that from his post

 

[dgenex]

OK, is there any reasonable prospect that either or both of your parents will be in genuine financial distress — not only grieving — if you should predecease them? If the answer is yes, then term life insurance may be helpful. If the answer is no, you do not need life insurance at this time.


Possibly, if the answer to the question I posed above is “Yes.” Although there’s another possibility: they’re already in financial distress, i.e. are already suffering from inadequate retirement savings. If that’s the case, then you should also take a look at what you can do to bolster their retirement financial stability, specifically CPF Retirement Account top ups. You can get up to $7,000 of tax relief per year for such top ups. The tax relief will probably become interesting in January, 2020.

In other words, if they’re already struggling financially, term life insurance won’t help and probably never will. Cash, well deployed, is the solution to that particular problem.


DII is quite important, and “Early CI” is much, much less important. An Integrated Shield plan designed for public hospital A ward is essentially the same price at your age — very, very close — as a public hospital B1 ward plan. So even if you don’t need A ward, for $2/year (or something like that) it’s fine.


Look, it’s FAR better to hand your parents cash if you want to be filial instead of paying an insurance company for insurance neither you nor they genuinely need, if that’s the case. “I love you so much I gave some money to Prudential” said nobody, ever.

....Or your parents might be genuninely financially dependent on you. Insurance is wonderful stuff and useful in solving problems that actually exist. If the problem doesn’t exist, then don’t buy insurance designed to solve a problem you don’t have.


I’m not exactly sure what you mean, but DII is (in part) about not becoming the hugest burden on your parents and about assuring some baseline level of income to keep yourself going should you be unable to generate an income. Everything we’ve discussed so far is based on an assumption of future income from work, a working lifetime of income. Well, that’s not a given. If you become disabled and cannot work, it’s gone, probably all of it from that point forward. It’s the biggest asset by far a young or mid-career working adult has, his/her future income earning potential. And insuring against what would be an utterly catastrophic loss of that asset is really, really important, especially in high cost of living Singapore.

I agree with this article.

I do agree DII is impt, but as poster just started his job, he might want to prioritise what he wants to get first.

Life insurance is to prevent unforseen circumstances, which are really hard to say in this world. And it won't be expensive if poster is to get it right now, than compared to years later.

I myself spend 1/3 of my take home pay on insurance, so everyone of us will have to prioritise our needs, as all our needs and what we are looking for are different.

Just providing my opinion here. We are not here to force our opinions on others. Ultimately it is up to poster to make his own decision as well, not blindly listen to all of us here. Believe poster is able to do that from his post

Okay, thanks alot for the opinions guys! Really appreciate it, will think it through.

 

[BBCWatcher]

I do agree DII is impt, but as poster just started his job, he might want to prioritise what he wants to get first.

What’s higher priority than defending against the utter catastrophe of losing your biggest asset, by far? I’m all for priortization...and that particular insurance is damn important.

Life insurance is to prevent unforseen circumstances, which are really hard to say in this world.

Such as? If his parents are already in line for decent or better CPF LIFE payouts, and they have a fully paid up roof over their heads (they do), then they’re in at least pretty good shape no matter what. I’m sure they would be very sad if dgenex were to predecease them, but would they necessarily be in genuine financial distress?

They’re very likely to be in genuine financial distress if dgenex were to become a financial burden on them (disability, income loss). If dgenex were to become disabled and unable to work in, say, June, 2020, that’d be an utter, life wrecking catastrophe without insurance. It’d still be awful with insurance, but without, in Singapore? Disaster. THAT’S what insurance is for.

And it won't be expensive if poster is to get it right now, than compared to years later.

It won’t be expensive at age 32 either, if/when dgenex has actual dependents. Adult diapers aren’t expensive, but why buy them now, before incontinence? That doesn’t make any sense, and it doesn’t make sense with life insurance either.

I myself spend 1/3 of my take home pay on insurance, so everyone of us will have to prioritise our needs, as all our needs and what we are looking for are different.

And that’s a lot, possibly too much.

 

[moejoseph]

Well forum users such as dgenex have heard the various opinions, and will leave it up to them to make their own sound decisions.

No point for me or anyone to argue about our points because ultimately everyone has got what we believe in, and there are pros and cons to every plans out there. Believe that no plan is perfect as i was taught. My 1/3 is inclusive of saving plan as well btw.

The arguements will also be the same still after a few forum threads, so not much point to carry arguing further. Cheers

 

[JuniorLion]

Well forum users such as dgenex have heard the various opinions, and will leave it up to them to make their own sound decisions.

No point for me or anyone to argue about our points because ultimately everyone has got what we believe in, and there are pros and cons to every plans out there. Believe that no plan is perfect as i was taught. My 1/3 is inclusive of saving plan as well btw.

The arguements will also be the same still after a few forum threads, so not much point to carry arguing further. Cheers

The problem with BBW is that he insists there's only 1 way of doing things and that's his way.

 

[exterminazn]

Even if his parents have no financial distresss if poster was to pass away, have you ever considered that he may actually get married and form up assets in the future? Even if he remains single forever, how sure of you that his parents may leave him their assets?

Getting life/term insurance isn’t all about cost, the key is about getting while he is healthy, which I presume he is as of now.

No doubt disability insurance is important, but do keep an open view about life/term insurance too.

 

[BBCWatcher]

The problem with BBW is that he insists there's only 1 way of doing things and that's his way.

Oh, please. “If A, then B; if C then D” is certainly not “only 1 way.”

If you want to disagree, make your argument based on logic and facts. Cut out the b.s. There’s way, way too much financial b.s. going around.

Even if his parents have no financial distresss if poster was to pass away, have you ever considered that he may actually get married and form up assets in the future?

Sure! Then there are dependents in the picture, then life insurance may have strong merit. That’s exactly what I described.

Even if he remains single forever, how sure of you that his parents may leave him their assets?

What has that got to do with whether he (dgenex) buys a life insurance policy or not now?

Getting life/term insurance isn’t all about cost, the key is about getting while he is healthy, which I presume he is as of now.

Ah, yes, the “suppose I can’t buy life insurance in the future” argument. I love that one; it’s the insurance salesperson’s favorite. And no, it doesn’t actually make very much sense, especially if infinitely more important insurance for the present situation is left on the cutting room floor.

No doubt disability insurance is important, but do keep an open view about life/term insurance too.

Where did I say that life insurance isn’t a great product? I said exactly the opposite! Adult diapers are also great products, but some people need them now, and some people don’t.