Young man need advice

[w1rbelw1nd]

Insurance policies should be purchased on a needs basis, with a consideration on cost, not on a percentage basis.

It is perfectly reasonable for the poor to have premiums at higher % of salary because they do not have the financial capital for hospitalisation or tpd situations. Also perfectly reasonable for the rich people to have premiums at a 0.x% because their pay is so high, their needs are relatively low and they have a huge financial capital base.

Don't mix needs with %. It is a messed up, over-simplified method for a critical decision that is worth thousands of dollars and the risk mgmt of you and your family financial planning.

 

[kaya123]

Imo, for your current situation and age, I am assuming you are very young perhaps in the early twenties, the only insurance you need is integrated shield plan. Avoid ILP, you are better off investing the money yourself. And your financial advisor sounds like bad news.

 

[17smiles]

Wait so....TS policies don't possess cash-out terms like those of AIA?

If I were to say cash out from my AIA policy now, I would definitely incur a small loss due to shortfall of reaching its maturity date....But would least still see some form of cash returned to my pockets. TS should be able to see some $$$ back, unless he has only been with the plan for less than a few years? :/

 

[anfielder]

Wait so....TS policies don't possess cash-out terms like those of AIA?

If I were to say cash out from my AIA policy now, I would definitely incur a small loss due to shortfall of reaching its maturity date....But would least still see some form of cash returned to my pockets. TS should be able to see some $$$ back, unless he has only been with the plan for less than a few years? :/

Different types of policies. Yours is probably an endowment. And TS did say it's only 16 months.

 

[Wood41]

Property & insurance agents are rarely your friends .

 

[BBCWatcher]

But I assumed his parents are dependents.

I agree with Unhinged_loon. You cannot assume that. Dependents are dependents, regardless of age, race, nationality, etc. (I wasn't specific, and it's not necessary to be.) Dependents exist, or they do not. If you don't have any dependents, then you don't need life insurance.

As for "culture," that's not unique to Asia. In the past, and outside developed countries, almost everyone had zero wealth (or negative wealth, i.e. debt). They hopefully had income if they could work, and they worked starting as teenagers until they died, if they could. Parents were financially dependent on their children far more often, and children had to support their parents much more often. The world has changed for so many families in developed countries. In Singapore (and in many other developed countries), it's extremely common, even the norm, for parents to be far, far wealthier than their children.

 

[akwl88]

waiting for ts to reply

 

[wealth_farmer]

We are *all* assuming stuff here and giving advice to TS based on the assumptions shaped by our own personal circumstances. That includes you and unhinged.

I agree with your logic on when to get life insurance. I'm just saying in practice, most people would somehow find themselves buying some form of life insurance and if TS means to do so, and he qualifies to buy Aviva Group Term Life, then that's probably the best bang for his buck.

No offence but I guess there really is a cultural difference here. Or maybe I'm more Confucian than most. My parents are definitely set for retirement without my help, but I still want to give them something if I really leave before them. That's something that's perhaps not rational but I don't feel compelled to make you switch to my thinking.

And I'm still pondering on the concept of uninsurability that I learnt from dendii and bigoya on another insurance thread. Ideally once someone gets to an economically active age, one can consider getting reasonably priced term life cover.

I agree with Unhinged_loon. You cannot assume that. Dependents are dependents, regardless of age, race, nationality, etc. (I wasn't specific, and it's not necessary to be.) Dependents exist, or they do not. If you don't have any dependents, then you don't need life insurance.

As for "culture," that's not unique to Asia. In the past, and outside developed countries, almost everyone had zero wealth (or negative wealth, i.e. debt). They hopefully had income if they could work, and they worked starting as teenagers until they died, if they could. Parents were financially dependent on their children far more often, and children had to support their parents much more often. The world has changed for so many families in developed countries. In Singapore (and in many other developed countries), it's extremely common, even the norm, for parents to be far, far wealthier than their children.

 

[superEDED]

Thanks everyone for the input. Sorry I'm at work so I didn't have time to read this.

I'll try my best to reply everyone to the best of my knowledge.

Did you sign up for AXA inspire flexiprotector, AXA Term Protector, AXA Early stage criticare and AIA solitaire Personal Accident with the same IFA agent who told you to terminate your all your policies from AXA barely after 16 mths and switch to AVIVA MyProtector Term Plan and AXA Pulsar?? He is just simply doing churning which is illegal.

He is clearly screwing you the worst way I've ever encountered. How did you even got to know him by the way?

yes same person from an IFA. Introduced to me by a senior in poly.

AXA Term Protector can switch to Aviva MyProtector if you are still healthy, they are both low cost Term policies that offers high coverage, but Aviva has higher and longer coverages at much lower premiums. You just have to make sure he doesn't sell you more than that you need (or consider planning your finances with someone else altogether).

He could have sold you AXA Life Exential Prime than AXA Early Stage Criticare. Both plans offer Early CI protection, but Life Exential Prime cost lesser for same amount covered and offers longer coverage.
Having that said, Early CI coverage is more of a want rather than a need, your income is too low to even consider paying for ECI protection.

My dad was the one who advised me to get an insurance for early stage illnesses in case of anything, thus I went ahead to get one; else i would have only gotten the AXA Term Protector which covers stage 3-4 for illnesses. But i have asked if it is possible to switch term protector to aviva myprotector.

There are so much more that I could comment on those individual plans he's sold and tried to sell you, but you should know that you are just randomly buying financial plans instead of doing a proper financial planning for yourself. It is clear that he has not even put in the minimal effort to try to plan your finances properly.

If you are only paying $200/mth for so many plans initially, I'd believe the sum assured for each coverage are quite pathetic. This portfolio only seems to look good, but it's useless should anything really happens to you.

My suggestion is you make sure you have a proper Shield Plan to cover your hospital needs and a Term plan to cover at least a good amount of say, $500k on death/TPD and $250k on CI. Insurance is after all an expenses, whether eventually you get to claim it or not. Never spend more than what is reasonable. Got extra cash from ur income, grow the money instead (and not via ILPs like Inspire Flexiprotector or Pulsar).

Get a proper adviser and also do your own due diligence.

Imo, for your current situation and age, I am assuming you are very young perhaps in the early twenties, the only insurance you need is integrated shield plan. Avoid ILP, you are better off investing the money yourself. And your financial advisor sounds like bad news.

Yes i'm in my 20s and I only have my own laziness to blame to trust people just like that without doing my research. Guess my parents are right to say i'm stupid enough to trust people like that.

The premium that i'm paying now were set to cover me for 600k in any case of TPD or death.

Do you qualify for the Aviva SAF group term life policy? If so, that should be your first policy as it's pretty competitively priced.

For the savings and investment bit, just do it yourself. POSB Invest-Saver is a good starting point worth considering.

I'll take a look if this is overlapping any of whatever that i have. thanks for sharing!

Kill the ILP immediately. You will get nothing back, but that's better than continuing to pour money down that black hole. Chances are that even after 10 years you will still be making losses, so it's not really a long term savings plan but a blood-sucking demon in disguise.
Treat it as education fees for your financial journey.

This is very true. TS please familiarise yourself with the concept of sunk costs. In life we will make mistakes with our money and embark on the wrong financial enterprises. The solution is not to grit your teeth and press on but to learn to recognise these as sunk costs and don't throw good money after bad.
Unethical agents will say, "But if you stop now, all your previous premiums will go to waste. Such a pity!" This is a fallacious argument and a red flag. Take the hit now and put your future dollars to better use.

my agent is asking me to terminate this and then switch to pulsar, but i guess both are the roughly the same thing. Was telling my parents that i was asked to do that, but they got mad at me for wasting money like that.
I'll go terminate the ILP and then look for better vehicles to invest in rather than trusting people.

A lot asking why i got no hospitalisation, these are the only ones that I'm paying currently. on top of these, I have the AIA Healthshield gold max and another AIA life plan that my parents are currently paying. Thus I did not go for any of the other stuff.

 

[Mecisteus]

I get your logic. But I assumed his parents are dependents. In Asian society, we like to leave our parents something in case we children go first.

It still depends on situation. If your father is as rich as Peter Lim, you don't need to leave anything behind.

For TS case, cash flows preservation is important because his income is low.

It is recommended for TS to opt for low cost term insurance if he has a dependent parents. Otherwise, a comprehensive H&S would suffice.

Endowments and WL insurances are definitely out.

 

[Bigoya]

yes same person from an IFA. Introduced to me by a senior in poly.

My dad was the one who advised me to get an insurance for early stage illnesses in case of anything, thus I went ahead to get one; else i would have only gotten the AXA Term Protector which covers stage 3-4 for illnesses. But i have asked if it is possible to switch term protector to aviva myprotector.


Yes i'm in my 20s and I only have my own laziness to blame to trust people just like that without doing my research. Guess my parents are right to say i'm stupid enough to trust people like that.

The premium that i'm paying now were set to cover me for 600k in any case of TPD or death.

I hope ur senior din get conned too.

How much CI are u protected for?

It is better to learn your lessons early than late. Count your blessings.

 

[unhinged_loon]

my agent is asking me to terminate this and then switch to pulsar, but i guess both are the roughly the same thing. Was telling my parents that i was asked to do that, but they got mad at me for wasting money like that.
I'll go terminate the ILP and then look for better vehicles to invest in rather than trusting people.

I strong suggest that you visit Shiny Thing's thread on the matter of investing. Remember, if anyone is pushing to sell you something, be very wary. It can be an agent, a saleman, or even a customer service officer at the bank like DBS.

 

[superEDED]

I hope ur senior din get conned too.

How much CI are u protected for?

It is better to learn your lessons early than late. Count your blessings.

I hope not. They are blood related...

For CI I'm protected for 300k, as of the AXA term protector.

 

[superEDED]

I strong suggest that you visit Shiny Thing's thread on the matter of investing. Remember, if anyone is pushing to sell you something, be very wary. It can be an agent, a saleman, or even a customer service officer at the bank like DBS.

Thanks for the heads up. I'll head over there to read it up!

 

[satayxp]

I hope not. They are blood related...

For CI I'm protected for 300k, as of the AXA term protector.

blood related doesnt mean a thing to insurance agents ~ lol

 

[Bigoya]

I hope not. They are blood related...

For CI I'm protected for 300k, as of the AXA term protector.

In tt case it sounds like they ae in a cahoot to con ur money?

Your coverage is decent. Protect to age 65?
How much premium is ur Term Protector?

 

[BBCWatcher]

My parents are definitely set for retirement without my help, but I still want to give them something if I really leave before them.

Then you consider your parents as dependents. You decide who are and who are not your dependents. The fact remains that you don't need life insurance if you have no dependents. (You have a couple. OK.)

There's nothing uniquely Singaporean or Asian about this. I'm sure there are some Swiss children that consider their reasonably (or better) set-for-life Swiss parents to be their dependents.

That said, I don't recommend letting an insurance salesperson try to convince you that someone who isn't a dependent actually is. You should decide that, not the salesperson.

 

[BBCWatcher]

If your father is as rich as Peter Lim, you don't need to leave anything behind.

Moreover, I suspect Peter Lim and many other comparatively wealthy parents would be downright insulted if their children were earning $2K/month (or more) and spending any of that income on what amounts to token life insurance with their parents as beneficiaries.

 

[superEDED]

In tt case it sounds like they ae in a cahoot to con ur money?

Your coverage is decent. Protect to age 65?
How much premium is ur Term Protector?

I have no idea man hahahaha!

I've been thinking about that for the past few days though.

Er, the coverage is a 10 year term, so until 2026. ~34.

premium is 31.29 monthly. No money to pay a lump sum for a year even though i know it helps to save quite a bit.

 

[Bigoya]

I have no idea man hahahaha!

I've been thinking about that for the past few days though.

Er, the coverage is a 10 year term, so until 2026. ~34.

premium is 31.29 monthly. No money to pay a lump sum for a year even though i know it helps to save quite a bit.

DAFUG BRO!????? YOU BOUGHT A 10 YR TERM????
-_-"

U srsly tio conned big time.