Cancer

channelnewsasia.com

Do you know?

1. Everyone have a risk of developing cancer.

2. In year 2011, 10.9 million people died from cancer.

3. Cancer now kills more children between the ages 3 and 14 than any other illness.

4. In USA, cancer is responsible for 1 out of 4 deaths. While in Singapore, cancer is responsible for 1 out of 3 deaths.

Cancer is a killer, but luckily many cancers now are treatable and you can be cured. You just have to make sure you have enough money to pay the medical bills for all the treatments that you have to go through.

Have a look at the article above, the Argentinian president has just been diagnosed with cancer and you know what, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff and Paraguayan President Fernando Lugo have all waged battles against the disease.

You should know that cancer do not discriminate, anyone can be a victim. Be sure to guard yourself against financial catastrophe. Be ready to fight cancer anytime by having the right insurance plans, which are hospital plan and critical illness plan. You want the best chance to win against cancer without worrying about the bills don't you?

Cheers! Have a great day.

Statistics of claims

http://www.income.com.sg/claims/life/summary/2011/september.asp

I know there are many people who are sceptical about insurance. You do not believe that bad things happen to people of any age. You do not believe that insurance company pay out the claims. You do not believe that insurance can help people. If you are one of these people, please have a look at the data above. I took this from NTUC website, one of insurance company in Singapore. You can see for yourself.

To me, the data showed me that anyone of any age of any profession can experience unfortunate events. There is no discrimination. It can happen.

These data only showed claim above $100,000. But I believe there are many other claims which are below that amount. These data also showed only death, critical illness and permanent disability claims. That means the hospital claims are also excluded. If you think about it, the insurance company really pay out millions of dollars every month for their customer claims.

Insurance is not made for fun. It is for the benefit of the people and you can really see it from the above data. In the darkest times, the pay out can really help the customers.

Unfortunate events will cause emotional loss or pain. If you do not have insurance, you may even burden your self and your loved ones with financial problems.

I do not want to be in that position. Do you?


Cheers! Have a great day.

Unfortunately....

Yes, unfortunately sh*t still happens and will happen everyday.

Maybe you have read in my previous post titled "Sh*t happens", it is sad everytime we read this kind of story. But it is a fact of life and it will be there everyday of our life. There is no 1 day in the world where there is no accident, no sickness, no death, etc. There is always tragedy happen, even in the most unexpected way.

Let me share with you these 2 articles.

These 2 kind souls passed away very recently and it happens not because of their fault.

1 is a 22 years old guy who ran a marathon, he just collapsed when he reached the finish line and died. He is young, energetic and healthy. But sometimes, we just don't really know how our body works. Even if we go for a full medical check up, there might be certain illness that can't be discovered.

1 is a man in his 60s. He was in a car with his wife. He just stopped at a junction, then from no where a bus hit his car. The impact is so great that he died on the spot and his wife is injured. He was at no fault at all, he was just driving normally and following the traffic rules.

As you can see, 2 kind souls passed away. No one, and I said No one expect these events to happen. But it just did. No one can explain it. That's why I'm always talking about protection, protection, protection. Can you imagine if the one that passed away is the bread winner of the family? what if he has a wife and a kid? what about the home loan and other liabilities? who will bear the burden if it's not your loved ones.

Protecting your self and your family is about responsibility. It's about showing love and commitment. Do the right thing and plan now.


Cheers! Have a great day.

Insurance role

Taken from Straits Times Singapore, 27 Dec 2011.

I have said this before, everyone can benefit from insurance. Does not matter in which income category you are. Insurance can also play a part in everybody financial porfolio.

To me, if you are low to middle income earner, you MUST have insurance! It is a MUST. If you are able to fulfill your basic necessities from your salary and still able to save some money, please use a portion to buy insurance. Why? because it will help you to give financial security to yourself and your loved ones. With such a small premium, you instantly get huge amount of money that will cover you in case somethings happen.

Of course if you are struggling to fulfill your basic necessities such as food, kids school fee, house rent payment, etc. You can forget insurance for the time being, because your immediate needs are much more important. Hey, you got to eat right?

Then if you are in the high income category, you still can enjoy the benefit of insurance. Of course we will protect your money and most of all, its about providing more to yourself and your family. Who does not want to give more to their loved ones?

Have a look at the article above. You will see that this investment chief executive really plan his finances properly. I can safely say that he does not need insurance. He got so much investments, from shares to properties all over the world. He makes a lot of profit from buying and selling properties, and on top of that still having 10 to 20 percent return on his investments every year. Can you imagine how much money he has? I can assure you he can pay his own hospital bills if he sick, he can afford to stop working if he is disabled or critically ill and he still have enough money to take care of his family as well.

So why does he still has insurance? US$2 million to be exact.

It is because we really never ever know exactly our future. Tragedy and unexpected event can happen suddenly. So he wants to make sure that he can provide even more to him self and his family, in case something happens. He love his family. He does not mind spending money for insurance, because he knows. He is investment chief! He know that the premium is nothing compared to the coverage that he got.

If you see a man like that, with that financial background, that you think he does not need insurance. Yet he still have it. What does it say to you?

Simply, you must have it as well.


Cheers! Have a great day.

Sh*t happens

Just like the title said, sh*it happens. It does not matter you are a good guy, bad guy, rich guy, poor guy, healthy, sick, young, old, etc. Tragedy does not discriminate anyone. It can happen and that's a fact.

We never know what our future is. Not even what will happen in the next hour.

That is why I like to push people to think really hard about insurance. Because the truth is that most people only like to think good things. They try to put the bad things in the back of their mind. They choose to avoid it. But no matter how you try to avoid it, sh*t still happens. You can see it everyday in the newspapers, hospitals, etc.

No bad things happen in this world because people expect it. It just happens no matter what you think or expect.

It is quite sad that many people that I see everyday think that they are superman, invincible and that bad things only happen to other people.

Do you know what you actually are doing?
1. You are not using the wisdom that God give you to plan for rainy days.
2. You are not being responsible for your self and your family.
3. You are risking your savings from being wipe out if you fall ill.
4. You are risking your ability to earn income. If you are disabled or critically ill, you may not be able to work and your income will stop.
5. You are risking your parents's savings. Who do you think will pay for your expenses if you don't have money and you fall ill or become disabled?


Take a look at this article.
It's an Indonesian family having a stop over in Singapore. They reached Singapore in the morning and suppose to left at night on the same day. They were staying at their relative place at Balmoral and it is a walking distance to Orchard (the main shopping district). So thats what they did, just walked in the designated pedestrian walkway. No harm right? we do it every single day! Walk!

But sh*t happens. Accident. A van crashed into them. 1 of them died on the spot and 1 of them sent to ICU but died also several days later. It's a tragedy. So much emotional loss plus the ICU cost $75,000. Luckily the Indonesian community in Singapore manage to raise the funds to pay the hospital cost.

Money can never ever replace your loved ones or your self. Emotional loss by it self is already a huge burden. Do you in your right mind want your family to have added financial burden? What if the person who passed away do not have insurance? the spouse will have to bear the hospital cost, burial cost, what about the debt left behind such as house loan, car loan, credit card debt? what about the kids education fund in the future?

To see so many "superman" makes me sad. In the end, I will just read more stories like this in the newspapers.



Cheers! Have a great day.

Long term planning

Hi friends, it's been a month since my last post. I just came back from my home town. Hopefully everyone here are doing well.

Now, have you guys plan your finances properly? I am sure many of you have read the report about Singaporeans in a recent survey. They are most unhappy with their own personal savings. Which means they never plan properly.

The biggest problem that they found out is that most people do not develop a budget. They just take their salary and spend first. If there is any money left, then they will save it. But obviously this is the wrong way, because people as human being always have the propensity to spend a bit more. More, more and more. Therefore they have a problem to save.

Other problems are that they do not have insurance (thus when they fall ill, the bills can wipeout their savings at one go), they do no invest in other instruments (they only put money in savings account), and they under estimate how much they need to save (they forgot that inflation will push prices of goods to go up).

Please read this website for the full information.
http://entertainment.xin.msn.com/en/radio/938live/calocalnews.aspx?cp-documentid=5476277


In any long term plan, insurance is a must. I believe this with my heart and soul. This is the only instrument where you can leverage your money. To spend a little bit on paying the premium, but in return you get a big coverage. Which you may really need it in times of unfortunate/unexpected event.

This is another article where you can learn more about planning your financial future.



Cheers! Have a great day.

Evaluating your life insurance needs in detail

Image from palisade.plynt.com

In my earlier post, I have told you some tips on how much insurance to buy (click here). Now I want to break it down into more details, so you can understand more and calculate your life insurance needs.

Let's start.

Scenario:
A male age 35, married, have 2 young kids.
He earn $100,000 a year.
Have a home loan of $1,000,000.
Have a car loan of $100,000.
We assume that this guy does not have any other loan or debt.

So how much life insurance does he need?

1. Calculate all debts that you have.
He have a total debt of $1,100,000.

2. Income replacement.
He will need to have a pay out that is huge enough to replace his income and plus a little bit extra to cover for inflation. Now we assume that the lump sum pay out can be invested at a return of 8% a year. So, to replace his income, he will need a $1,250,000 coverage ($100,000 x 100/8). Then by adding his salary in a year ($100,000) back to the policy, it will be quite a good buffer against inflation. Total coverage that he need is $1,350,000. This amount will have to be added up to your total debt.

3. Future obligations.
He has 2 young kids that he want to send to university in the future. The cost of education for a local university is estimated at $100,000 each. So he needs to set aside $200,000.

So for this guy, his life insurance needs is estimated at $1,100,000 + $1,350,000 + $200,000 = $2,650,000.

Now that he knows that this is the amount he needs, he should set aside 10% of his income to plan for his protection. From his budget, we can advise him on the different type of insurance that will reach his protection needs. We will not want him to have inadequate coverage or expensive coverage that he does not need.

This is important for you to know, so you know how much you need. Please plan accordingly so you buy the right insurance with the right amount.

Cheers! Have a good day.


Sources: www.investopedia.com/articles/pf/06/insureneeds.asp#axzz1aiykOJ6G

What are you doing with your money right now?

I'm guessing that majority of people in the world only put their money in the bank to earn interest. They feel that it is safe and no risk at all. True that it is safe in a sense, because you will not lose the money. But you must know that it is risky, because the value of your money may go down. This is due to inflation and inflation rate is usually always higher than the interest rate that you get in your saving.

Example:

Singapore 2011 inflation rate is about 5%.
Bank annual saving interest rate is 0.125%.

As you may know, inflation is the percentage increase in the price of goods and services. This is common sense, the number above means that prices have increase by 5% while your saving in the bank only grow by 0.125%. So your money is losing value! Big time! Sooner or later, you won't be able to buy anything, because your saving is actually decreasing in value.


Image taken from http://www.finehomebuilding.com

Have you heard about the 72 rule? It is a very simple formula which can tell you how much time you need to double up your money. Of course this is just approximation.

Example:

If you invest $5,000 at 8% interest per year, you will double your money in 72/8 = 9 years.

So if you invest $5,000 at 1% interest per year, you will only double your money in 72 years.


Now do you think you still growing your money in the bank? The facts said no. I am not saying that bank is not good. Bank is good for you to keep some of your money, for your house, personal, daily expenses and cash for emergency. But other than that, you should diversify and invest some of your money, be it a business, stocks, unit trusts, structured deposits, properties, gold, etc. Just try, rather than guaranteed losing value of your money in the bank. Think long term, think about the potential higher return. But let me say this, never ever put all your money for investment because there are risks involved also. You can earn more but you also can lose money. You should know that there are no perfect product. Therefore, use the money wisely.

Cheers! Have a great day.

Jelly belly cancer

As you can see from the article, this Indonesian is suffering from cancer. The doctor in Indonesia could not figure out what it is, but luckily the doctors in Singapore managed to diagnose it and treat it. The operation it self can cost up to $100,000. Not including other expenses such as the room, medicine, follow up and etc. He works as a general manager in Indonesia. I do not know how much he earns. But roughly on average, a general manager in Indonesia earn maybe about $80,000 a year. So he will spend about 1 to 2 years of his salary to pay for the medical expenses if he do not have insurance. To me, that is not a good financial planning. What do you think?

Do you know that cancer is the no 1 killer in the world by 2010? Now it's already 2011. It's no wonder that we see so many cancer cases almost every other day. We in the insurance industry all over the world have paid out billions of dollars for hospital and critical illness claims to help our policy holders.

This is what's happening, the risks are very real. I am pretty sure that many of you knows someone who have suffered cancer before, be it someone in the family, relatives or friends. I am not saying that everyone will get cancer, but statistics have shown that many people have a chance to suffer from cancer in their life time. Globally, 1 in 8 died from it and in Singapore, 1 in 3 died from it.

No one knows who will get cancer, because it is partly genetics. So it does not matter you are healthy or not, smoking or not, young or old, etc. It may happen. Thus the need to protect yourself with a good hospital and critical illness coverage. You do not buy insurance expecting to get sick. But you buy insurance to make sure that your income is protected, your saving is protected, you and your family life style is protected.

Cheers! Have a great day.

How to protect your health and money?

Image from vitalityhealthinsurance.com

We are in an economy where it is unstable and a lot of uncertainties. We do not know where it is heading, but we do know that many people are holding on to their money. Some of course will take advantage of the downturn to buy more stocks at bargain prices. But majority are cautious because companies and businesses may collapse as well. So it is best that the money that you are holding are safe and protected against unforeseen event, such as falling ill.

Ways to help you protect your health and money:
1. Get your self and your family a good medical coverage. Make sure the benefits are enough to cover the hospitalisation cost. This is to make sure that you will not be burden with any medical cost.

2. See your doctor regularly, maybe once a year or once every 2 years if you are young. If you are older and have chronic illness, please do it more often. This is so that if any medical conditions detected early, it can be treated faster and will be less costly.

3. Many illnesses can be prevented now because of breakthrough in the medical field. Do not forget to be vaccinated to prevent illness.

4. Eat the right food, plenty exercise, enough sleep, stop smoking and do not be overweight. This will make sure that you are in the best condition to be healthy.

5. Set aside emergency fund for your medical purposes which may not be covered by insurance. It may also be for your living expenses in case you can't work when you fall ill.

I hope you all want to be healthy and save money. The tips above I'm sure many of you knows. But hopefully not just knowing, but you do it too.

Cheers! Have a great day.

Thai teen who lost legs

Read the full report at http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/1158934/1/.html

Accident, accident, accident. It can happen anywhere, anytime to anyone. No matter how safe you think you are, there is always that risk for accident to occur. Just take a look at the article above, it is the Thai teen that make headlines few months back, when she fell down into the MRT track and lost her legs. Now she is still in the pursuit of suing SMRT to pay her compensation of $3.4 million.

In my opinion, she should not sued SMRT because she fell by her self. None of the SMRT staff pushed her down or the MRT platform suddenly broken which make her fell. I understand she needs money for her future medical and living expenses. But this is not the way, to blame other party for compensation. I have been riding MRT for many years, even without the barriers, I don't see people falling down. So she can't blame SMRT for not having the barriers either. There are enough signs and warnings to be cautious and be safe in the MRT station.

What irritate me the most is that her father is an insurance agent. Why didn't he insured all his family, including her? He should know better that accident can happen to anyone. He is not being responsible. He should take charge in insuring his family to make sure that if something unfortunate happens, they don't have to worry about future expenses.

Therefore, my advise to you, be responsible for your self and your family. Make sure that you are adequately covered. A personal accident plan is one of the cheapest plan available. Get it when you don't need it.

Cheers! Have a great day.

Life is short

As you all may know already, the co-founder of Apple and one of the most extra ordinary people in the field of technology, Steve Jobs have passed away. He is only 56 years old and he is survived by his wife and 4 children. To me, he had done a lot of things to improve people lives. People will always remember him for making life easier, more fun and interesting through his gadget creations.

The cause of his death might be pancreatic cancer. Pancreatic cancer is one of the deadliest cancer and it have a very high mortality rate. This year, about 38,000 Americans will be diagnosed with this cancer and 34,000 will die from it. Pancreatic cancer is actually treatable, but the bad news is that this cancer is very hard to detect because there is no reliable screening test for early detection. Also the symptoms are often vague and easily confused with other diseases.

I believe Steve had the best treatment that the world can offer. Maybe he even lived longer than he should because of the advancement of medicine and technology. Yet it still can't cure the sickness. There are still many limitations that doctors are facing. But to able to live a little bit longer, it's good enough for many people.

Steve has a net worth of US$8.3 billion. His family will not have to worry about their future living expenses. His life is short, but he made a lot of impact to the world and he never forget his family. His relative said "Steve died peacefully today surrounded by his family. In his public life, Steve was known as a visionary; in his private life, he cherished his family". How wonderful is that?

What about you? Have you provide enough for your family? Are their financial future secured? Life will always end in death. The only thing we don't know is when. Make sure you make your life worth while. Make an impact to other people and never neglect your loved ones.

Steve once said, "No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don't want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life's change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. Right now the new is you, but someday not too long from now, you will gradually become the old and be cleared away. Sorry to be so dramatic, but it is quite true."

Cheers! Have a great day.

Source: apple.com, http://pathology.jhu.edu/pc/basicintro.php?area=ba, channelnewsasia.com

Basic insurance plans

I have posted a lot of information about insurance, current news and trends and testimonies from news article.

Now that you know all that, some of you might be interested to plan.

So what plans should you have?

To me, to get you started just make sure you have these 2 plans:

1. Hospital/medical coverage. Why? It is because the risk of getting sick is the highest compared to other risks, such as dying or being disabled. Being sick and hospitalised can cost a lot of money, really! It cause many people to become bankrupt. So make sure you have enough hospital coverage, so that you can have peace of mind and be sure that your savings is always protected from unexpected medical bill which can cost hundreds of thousand dollars.

2. Life coverage that includes disability and critical illness. Why? It is because your life is always precious. You have abundance opportunity and earning potential into your future. But many people are now in financial hardship because they do not protect them self. Tragedy may happen to anyone. It is wise to protect your earning ability, because you and your loved ones may depend on that. So this plan will make sure that you and your loved ones have peace of mind. Because no matter what, your financial future is secured.

These 2 plans will really help you and your family. You may not see it now, but maybe in the future. What is so hard of having these 2 plans? Nothing! It's so simple and affordable and it can save you. But many people choose to think of many useless things, such as they are invincible and that bad thing only and always happen to other people. They always think about the premium they have to pay, but they never think about the cost that they have to pay if something happen to them.

Just imagine that your life is a ship and insurance is your life boat. You may not need it now, but don't you think it's better that you have it?

Cheers! Have a great day.

Singapore Medical Tourism

Please read the full article at http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/1156836/1/.html

In summary, tourism receipts from medical travellers last year hit an estimated S$940 million, a jump of about S$200 million compared to the year before. What this means is that more people are getting sick and the medical bills are getting higher and more people are coming to Singapore for treatment. This explains the big jump only in the span of 1 year.

The article also showed you that treatment such as liver transplant can set you back by S$300,000. This may happen to people who like to drink lots of alcohol.

Can you imagine if you do not have insurance? It does not matter whether you have the money or not to pay the bill. Don't you think it's better that we, the insurance company pay your bills? So that you can have peace of mind and focus on your recovery when you are sick, rather than focusing on the high hospital bills.

With just a small premium each year, you can get a very good hospital coverage. You are actually maximising your money to work harder for you.

If you don't have insurance, you don't even know how much you have to save for in times of emergency. Because medical bills can range from few thousand dollars to hundreds of thousand dollars. But with insurance, you only have to pay the fixed premium each year and you know that you are covered.

So make sure you have the right hospital coverage. You will have peace of mind, you will not worry about any medical bills and your cash flow will also improved.

Cheers! Have a great day.

Colorectal cancer

Read the full article at http://www.parkwaycancercentre.com/healthnews/article/64

Prevention is always better than cure. Don't you think so?

In the news article, it said that people living in big cities such as Jakarta, Surabaya and Medan are more prone to colorectal cancer. No body knows for sure why. But part of it is genetics.

Colorectal cancer is the top killer for men, and is the most common cancer in Singapore. In the states, it is the third most common cancer. The risk of getting colorectal cancer in our lifetime is about 5%. The good news is that the death rate have been dropping. It is because more people are aware of this disease and they more often do screening, so that the polyps that are found in the colon can be removed before it develop into cancers. Other treatments and medicines have also improved over the years and it is now more effective in treating the disease.

Never forget to do your part in being healthy. Eat right, enough exercise, rest well and do check up every now and then as advised by your doctor. Like I said, prevention is better than cure.

Cheers! Have a great day.

More people here getting cancer

http://web.singnet.com.sg/~straj/articles/More%20people%20here%20getting%20cancer.html

This article is actually written in 2008, but looking at the trend and according to ministry of health statistics, the number is increasing year after year. So in 2011 is actually even worse. Some people have not realise this and some people choose to ignore this facts.

Once I was in a conference with more than 100 people and the speaker on the stage asked us "Do you know anyone, whether its family, relatives, friends or colleagues, that have suffered cancer before? If you do, please stand up". Guess what? Everyone of us stood up. Which means the risk of cancer is very real. Everyone of us in the room knew someone who got cancer! Yes I know it happens to other people, but looking at the probability, do not be surprised if something happens to us in the future.

No one knows who is going to get cancer, it can be anybody. There is only 1 thing that you can be sure, the cost of treatment for cancer is very expensive. That is why, now there is a critical illness coverage, where they will give a lump sum payout if you are diagnosed with one of the critical illness.

If you read my previous article about cancer, you know that many people are foregoing treatment because they don't have money left. I will not want to be in that position. Do you? It is always good to have more financial buffer to protect ourself. Because if you got critically ill, you may not work anymore, but you need even more money for your daily and medical expenses. This is where a critical illness payout can be useful.

Cheers! Have a great day.

More young people hit by chronic illness

http://www.straitstimes.com/BreakingNews/Singapore/Story/STIStory_715108.html

As you can see, as time goes by, people who are getting sick are getting younger. This is a very serious problem. I certainly don't know for sure why it is happening, but I'm guessing that it is from our current life style. Such as drinking too much, sleep too little, never exercising, eating too much of the wrong kind of food, smoking, etc.

The research shows that 2 out of 5 people aged 20 years and above are already suffering from chronic ailment, such as diabetes dan high cholesterol level. That means there is a very high chance for you to be diagnosed with such conditions.

Despite of that, people are still not changing their life style. On top of that, many are still uninsured. I know that most people like to save money. But do you know that 1 illness can wipe out your entire saving? That is why saving money is good, but protecting your money is even more important. Why do you even want to save but risk to lose all of it?

Now you know that the risk of getting chronic illness is high, please insure your self and your family. Protect your loved ones and your hard earned savings.

Maybe you don't know, but if you have even 1 chronic illness, it is very difficult to insure your self. I know many of my prospects who are only in their 20s but they are practically uninsurable because they have pre existing conditions. If you are still young and healthy, please don't take it for granted.

Cheers! Have a great day.

Education cost

Plan early!

That is what I want all parents do when they have children. I believe you love your kids so much, that you will want to provide the best in bringing them up. Start planning when they are just born is essential, especially if you want them to have a good education. The cost of higher education in the future is not cheap, really! I am sure you want to give your kids the best education they can get right? So start as young as possible, as it gives you more time to save for them. The longer the period till they enter university, the smaller amount you need to save every year.

How much do you think is the cost of education in the future? Let's take a look.
All figures based on 4 years university degree.

1. Singapore.
Cost at year 2010 = $33,803.
Inflation at 3.5%.
Cost at year 2020 = $47,682.
Cost at year 2030 = $67,261.

2. United States.
Cost at year 2010 = $121,017.
Inflation at 4.8%.
Cost at year 2020 = $193,401.
Cost at year 2030 = $309,080.

3. United Kingdom.
Cost at year 2010 = $95,550.
Inflation at 5.2%.
Cost at year 2020 = $158,361.
Cost at year 2030 = $263,357.

4. Australia.
Cost at year 2010 = $61,710.
Inflation at 5.9%.
Cost at year 2020 = $109,475.
Cost at year 2030 = $194,211.

Now you know, what do you think about the cost? It is not that cheap right?
That is why you have to plan early for your child. Start thinking, where do you want your kids to study. Because the above figure is only the university cost, that is not including living cost! So if you are thinking of sending your kids overseas, you got to save even more.

Simple ways to start saving for your kids:
1. Make a new account in your bank and set aside some money every month to be put there and you can't touch it. Let it earn interest from the bank. This the safest way to plan. But overall you will still lose the value of your money, because the bank interest rate is far less than the inflation rate

2. Do a regular investment saving plan, where you can invest every month to enjoy dollar cost averaging (The point of this is to lower the total average cost per share of the investment, giving the investor a lower overall cost for the shares purchased over time). It is more risky than putting your money in the bank, but over the long run, it has potential of better return.

3. Start an endowment plan. It is almost the same like putting your money in fixed deposit in a bank. But endowment plan from insurance company give you at least 2 advantages. First,they will give bonus every year until the end of the endowment period (which may be more than the bank interest) and second, if something happens to you, the payor, the premium will continue to be paid by the insurance company. So that your child education fund is secured, no matter what. The downside of endowment is that you can't take the money until the policy matured. If you do take, there will be penalty.

It does not matter how you plan, just do it. Even combinations of all 3 above can work. Plan early!

Cheers! Have a great day.

Source:
1.Tuition Fees based on:
Estimated average cost of a 4-year (non-clinical course) university degree as of August 2010 • British Council website (www.britishcouncil.org) • US
College Board website (www.trends-collegeboard.com) • Study in Australia website (www.studyinaustralia.gov.au) • National University of Singapore
website (www.nus.edu.sg) • National Technological University website (www.ntu.edu.sg) • Singapore Management University website (www.smu.edu.sg)

2.Inflation Rate based on:
UK Office of National Statistics July 2010% change in Consumer Price Index for Education from July 2009 • US Bureau of Labour Statistics July 2010%
change in Consumer Price Index for Tuition, Other School Fees & Childcare from July 2009 • Australian Bureau of Statistics June Quarter 2010%
change in Consumer Price Index for Tertiary Education from June Quarter 2009 • Singapore Department of Statistics July 2010% change in Consumer
Price Index for Tuition & Other Fees from July 2009 • The respective inflation rates are used to calculate the projected tuition fees in Year 2015, 2020,
2025, 2030, 2035 and 2040.

Deposits and insurance in Singapore

In Singapore, people enjoy a good financial system. Supported by strict law and regulations under the watchful eyes of the MAS (Monetary Authority of Singapore).

People from all over the world put their money in Singapore because we believe it is safe. We trust the financial institutions here, from banks, insurance companies, investment banks and etc.

But how safe are you? How much of your money is protected under the law here?

MAS aim is to supervise and ensure stability of the financial system. However, MAS does not guarantee the soundness of individual financial institutions. Therefore, you must know what will happen to your money in case of failure of a financial institution.

There are 2 schemes which will protect your money.

1. Deposit insurance scheme.

In the event a Deposit Insurance Scheme member bank or finance company fails, all of your eligible accounts with that member are aggregated and insured up to S$50,000. Trust and client accounts held by non-bank depositors are insured up to $50,000 per account.
Moneys held in bank deposits under the CPF Investment Scheme and CPF Minimum Sum Scheme are aggregated and separately insured up to S$50,000.

2. Policy owner's protection scheme.

This scheme protects existing and future policyowners should a life insurer, which is a Member of the PPF Scheme, fail. Policyowners receive 100% protection for the guaranteed benefits of their life insurance policies, subject to maximum caps where applicable. (The PPF Scheme also provides 100% coverage for general insurance policies that are covered under the Scheme; no caps are applicable.)

These 2 schemes are administered by SDIC(Singapore Deposit Insurance Corporation).
SDIC is a company limited by guarantee under the Companies Act. The board of directors is accountable to the Minister in charge of the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS).

Please visit https://www.sdic.org.sg/index.php for more info and details.

In simple terms, your money in the bank is protected only up to $50,000 but your benefit in insurance policy is 100% of the guaranteed sum assured and surrender values. Subject to terms and conditions. So never take anything for granted, that is your hard earned money. Always be cautious. You never know what's going to happen, such as the bankruptcy of Lehman brothers.

Cheers! Have a great day.

Not so fun facts

Some interesting facts that you may never heard before:

1. 1 in 4 (currently age 20) will not live to age 65.

2. 1 in 4 men and 1 in 5 women will contract one of the critical illnesses before age 65.

3. In 95% of countries, the medical costs grew faster than general inflation.

4. In the last 5 years, medical cost grew more than 10% per year in Asia.

5. You are 7 times more likely to suffer from critical illness before reaching 65 than you are to die.

6. Heart diseases, cancer and accidents are 3 of the top 10 conditions for medical cost.

7. 1 in 9 women will develop breast cancer.

8. 1 in 2 men at risk of cancer by 2022.

9. In past 10 years, costs for higher education grew by 200% or 160% above inflation.

10. Only less than 3 in 10 would likely enjoy a gracious retirement.

11. 62% of personal bankrupties were caused by health problems and its associated cost.

12. Almost 30% of death is caused by cancer and almost 20% of death is caused by heart disease.

Source: Towers Watson, office of national statistics, swiss reinsurance, trends in college spending, harvard research, ministry of health.

Cheers! Have a great day.

You must have insurance if...

Like I said before, not everybody need insurance but everybody can benefit from insurance. It does not matter you are in the low, middle or high income category, you can take advantage of insurance to complement whatever financial portfolio you have in place.

But insurance is definitely a must if you are in the following situations:

1. When you know that tragedies such as sickness, disability, critical illness, accident or premature death happens, you or your family will be in financial ruin.

2. When you have debts, such as home loan, car loan, credit card debt, education loan, personal loan, etc. These debts must be paid regardless of your situation. Imagine if you can't work due to disability or critical illness, who is going to pay these debts? Are you going to burden your loved ones?

3. When you and your dependants, such as your parents, spouse and children depends on your earning ability. If something happens to you, what will happen to them?

So please, if you are in the above situations, make sure you have adequate coverage. If not, you are gambling your and your loved ones well-being. Do not risk it.

Cheers! Have a great day.

Mistakes that people make when buying insurance

I am so glad if you have made the decisions to buy insurance, to protect yourself and your loved ones. I can guarantee that you will never regret it if you buy the right insurance.

Now, make sure you don't make the following mistakes when buying insurance:

1. Not enough coverage.
You have to make sure that your coverage is enough to provide what you intended. Consider your current and future expenses such as household, education, children, leisure, home loan, car loan, credit card, investment, health coverage and etc. Be sure that the insurance payout is enough to cover all these expenses for many years to come.

2. Period of coverage is too short.
For example: if you have a 1 year old son and you want to cover yourself until he finish university and start working, go and get at least a 25 years term plan. If you buy a 5 years or 10 years term, then you will have to renew it and during renewal, your premiums will go up. In the end, your total cost will be higher. Of course if you have the budget, you may consider a whole life plan which will cover you throughout your life.

3. Not reviewing your insurance every now and then.
People changed, their income changed, their situation changed, their life changed. So it is good to review your insurance policy every 1 or 2 years, because you may need more coverage or you may need less coverage. You will also be updated with the insurance industry progress which may have new products that can complement your existing policies and give you even more comprehensive coverage.

4. Procrastinated buying insurance.
Some people have made the decisions to plan, but in the end it never go through. They will think of so many things that is unimportant and keep delaying of buying insurance. If you know you need it, the longer you do nothing, the more vulnerable you are. As time passed by, you grow older, the premium increase, the health risk increase leading to no coverage at all.

5. Relying on employer coverage.
I always said this to my clients, "Never rely on your group company coverage, it is never designed to suit your individual needs, just consider it a bonus coverage". Please have a personal plan which covers you all the time because a company coverage will be terminated when you leave the company, leaving you with no coverage. I believe you will never work for your employer until age 100 right? You will retire someday, and if you wait to buy the insurance when you retire, you are making a very big risk because your health may not be good anymore.

6. Only buy insurance for the breadwinner.
Many people have the perceptions that only the breadwinner of the family need to be insured, because he is the one who is earning the income. But do you know the person who is looking after the home and the family has as much financial value? For example, besides giving spiritual support, a housewife provides her family with the services of child care worker, tutor, cook, dishwasher, chauffeur, laundry worker, maid and more. In the absence of such person, do you know how much you need to take care your family?

Now that you know some tips on buying insurance, do what is right.

Cheers! Have a great day.

Why should you buy insurance now?

Many people are faced with financial catastrophe because they simply plan too late.

There is a saying, "People don't plan to fail, but they fail to plan". It's so true.

You have to plan now! If you are not cash rich with no liability, you better have insurance in your financial portfolio. You also have to make sure you buy the right insurance with the right coverage.

So why do you have to plan now?

1. It is because you never know what is going to happen in the next moment. You can predict, you can hope for the best, but you simply don't know what is going to happen next. Try going to hospitals, ask the patients if they expect to get sick or accident or dying. Believe me, no one expect themselves to be in the hospitals. But it just happened.

2. It is because tomorrow you get older. Tomorrow you don't know what is going to happen to your health. Once you are older, the insurance will become more expensive. Once your health deteriorate, you may have to pay more premium or there may be exclusions in the coverage or the insurance company may not even want to give you the coverage.

So now is always the best time to plan. Please don't wait until it's too late.

Don't leave things to chances. Plan to the best that you can, for your sake and your loved ones sake. I believe you want to save, protect and grow your money right?

Just remember this, insurance is like a lifeboat. You must have it before you need it! You must have the life boat in place before the ship set sail. Because once you sail and something happen to the ship in the middle of the ocean, how are you going to get a life boat? It may be too late.

I am not going to sail without a lifeboat. How about you?

Cheers! Have a great day.

Even rich people have insurance

Many people said to me, "rich people don't need insurance, since they have so much cash already in the bank. Even if something bad happened, they can pay whatever medical bills and even if they can't work anymore, they can continue to live without worrying about money". I can say yes, that is partly true. Rich people don't need insurance, but I can tell you that insurance can give so much benefit to them.

First, they are rich because they know how to properly plan and budget their money and business. They know how to protect and grow their money. Who said that rich people do not want their medical bills to be paid by the insurance company, who said that rich people do not want huge insurance pay out if they are disabled or critically ill, who said that rich people do not want to leave a huge legacy to their loved ones if they passed away? The answer is most of them want.

Second, it is simply about leveraging their money. Rich people know how to use their money to the fullest potential. Insurance is one way they diversify their financial portfolio. Insurance can do what his stocks, bonds, mutual funds, unit trust, precious metals and businesses cannot do. With so little premium, they can create a huge estate.

Third, in some country there are inheritance/estate tax. So when rich people passed away, the tax that need to be paid to the government from his final estate can be very huge. Only the balance of the estate will be given to the family. Life insurance will help to pay this cost and the family can get the full amount of the inheritance.

Let's have a look at this news article from Singapore Straits Times. A Singaporean has more than $20 million insurance coverage.


He said that he do not want his family to be saddled with any debt whatsoever if something happens to him. In a different page he also said that he will want his family to maintain their current lifestyle even when he is no longer around. This shows that he has planned well for him self and his family.

If rich people have insurance, don't you think people who earn less and have less savings in the bank should have too? If you want to be rich, follow what the rich do, as long as you don't break the law.

Just 1 more example of rich people who have insurance.


Yup, that's Mariah with $1 billion insurance. Taken from http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/news/1billion-legs--celebrity-insurance-policies-1958121.html?action=Gallery

Cheers! Have a great day.

How do you allocate your income?

Every one of us is a consumer. We literally spend money every day, guaranteed! be it eating and drinking, enjoying the cable tv and internet at home, handphone, driving your car or taking public transport, enjoying your lovely home, kid's education, etc. All these are expenses that have to be paid with your income. So you have to make sure that your income is more than your expenses. How many of you really do budgeting every month?

Some people have asked me, what is the best way to allocate your income?

To me, there is no simple way to allocate your income to the different expense categories. Because different people have different priorities and some people are just savers type and some people are spenders type.

As your income grows, a fixed percentage allocation may not make sense anymore for some category. For example, if I allocate 20% for food expenses, when my monthly income is $5,000, I will spend $1,000 on food. But if my monthly income is $50,000, that means I will spend $10,000 on food. Don't you think it is unnecessary? You will not eat that much normally, unless you go to a high class restaurant every day.

So how do I plan for myself? Here are the 2 categories and percentage of allocation that I am concern with, they are:

1. Giving (charity, help others in need, church, etc) = 10%.
2. Cash saving, insurance and long term investment = 25%.

The other 65% allocation will goes to the rest, which might be housing, food, services, leisure, transportation, allowances, credit card, etc. If there is money left, that's good, just put more on the savings. These are just my allocations preference. Yours can be different, it is okay.

If you are having some financial difficulty, it just means you might have overstretched your budget somewhere that might be not necessary. Look again.

If you want to achieve financial freedom and live comfortably now and in the future, just try re-arrange some of your priorities. Look at your income, expenses and the allocations. Does it match?

It does not matter what income you have now, you must make sure that you protect your money first and grow your money to achieve financial freedom.

Cheers! Have a great day.

Winston Churchill

Many of you may know him. He was one of the most influential leaders in history. He was regarded as a great wartime leaders and he served as British prime minister twice. To date, he was the only British prime minister to have received the nobel prize.

He had many famous quotes, such as:

- We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.

- A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.

- To improve is to change; to be perfect is to change often.

- The truth is incontrovertible, malice may attack it, ignorance may deride it, but in the end; there it is.

But there is 1 more quote that he said but you may never heard before, it was

"If I had my way I would write the word ‘Insure‘ upon the door of every cottage and upon the blotting book of every public man, because I am convinced for sacrifices which are inconceivably small, families and estates can be protected against catastrophes which would otherwise smash them up forever. It is our duty to arrest the ghastly waste, not merely of human happiness, but of national health and strength, which follows when, through the death of a breadwinner, the frail boat in which the family are embarked, founders, and women and children of estates are left to struggle in the dark waters of a friendless world".

Since his time, he already knew how important insurance is. He would want to insure everyone if he could do it. But no, he could not do it alone. You have to take charge and plan for yourself, plan for your family.

The sad truth is since his time until today, not much has changed. I have seen people lost their home, their car, their saving and everything, because tragedy struck. I have seen people begging for help and money. It's all because they were never adequately covered.

Of course the world will still move on. People will move on. People will survive, because survival is basic instinct of creature. But why do you want yourself and your loved ones to survive with so much struggle, so much debt and so much financial problem?

People always think that bad thing will never happen to them, it will only happen to other people. But the sad truth is that it does happen and not always to 'someone else'. This truth is incontrovertible.

Cheers! Have a great day.

Don't think of insurance as an expense

Let me explain this statement.

To me, paying an insurance premium is like putting money into a “protection account”. An account that you may not be able to see, but it is there for you when you need it the most.

Example 1:
Mr X pay $2,000 insurance premium a year.
In Mr X “protection account”, he would have:
-$2,000,000 life coverage.
-$2,000,000 disability coverage.
-$500,000 yearly medical coverage.
Over 20 years, he would have paid $40,000 in premium but he have millions of dollar in his “protection account” that he can access in times of need.

Example 2:
Mr Y set aside $2,000 a year into an emergency account in the bank.
So if something happened, Mr Y can take money from this account to pay let say medical bill.
Imagine for the next 20 years nothing happened, he would have accumulated $40,000 + small interest from the bank. So maybe this money look big to you, maybe not. But no matter what, he can't use the money. Because it's in the emergency account, he can't spend it for leisure. If he use it, then he won't have money in times of need.

Now think really hard, which person is in a better financial position as a whole? Mr X or Mr Y?

If something unfortunate happened in the 20th year, Mr X has millions of dollar that he can access while Mr Y only can have his $40,000.

What if something happens in the 2nd year? Mr X has millions of dollar that he can access while Mr Y only have $2,000.

To me, Mr Y did not do a good planning with his money. He did not use his money to the fullest. He did not leverage it. Even though he has that cash in the emergency account, he is in a worse position financially than Mr X.

So who do you want to follow? Mr X or Mr Y. You choose.

Cheers! Have a great day.

2011 Singapore nationwide protection survey

Insurance company AIA Singapore just recently did a protection survey. It shows a very interesting result about people and their perception and action towards protection. I am quite shocked and surprised.

Lets take a look at some of the findings. Some figures are rounded by me.
For the full survey result, please visit http://www.aia.com.sg/en/resources/ffef9500480ceb16bd7dbdf239f692a9/press-release-2011-Nationwide-Protection-Survey.pdf

1. 6 in 10 people claim to have a clear idea of how much they have to set aside for their dependants should something happen to them. But only 1 in 10 people is adequately insured.

2. 4 in 10 people expect their dependants to downgrade their current living standards should anything unexpected happen to them and they believe that it is fine for them to do so.

3. 1 in 2 people believe that it is acceptable that their spouse to remarry to make up for loss of income.

4. 1 in 4 who currently do not have any life insurance believe that life insurance is expensive and they can't afford the premium. Interestingly, they are willing to spend on vacation, meals at upscale restaurant, entertainment, electronic gadgets and beauty treatments.

5. 1 in 4 has yet to take the step of reviewing their financial protection needs with their spouse.

What do you think? Does the result surprised you as well?
Do you agree with the statements? What will be your answers if you are the survey participant?

To me, some of the answers just reflect how irresponsible some people are. I truly believe that if you are a provider for your family, you must plan and make sure that you have adequate protection. I will not want my family to downgrade their life if something happens to me. I will not want my spouse to remarry just for the money to support their life. I will want to make sure they can live without financial difficulty.

Cheers! Have a great day.

Hefty hospital bills

I live in Singapore, a country where the life expectancy is at number 15 in the world. Males are expected to live till age 78 and females till age 82. It sounds really good.

But as you know, when people grow older and live longer, people tend to get sick more often. In Singapore, the hospital admission rates is about 100 per 1000 resident population.

So there is 1 in 10 chance of people being hospitalized in any time of the year.

Is the risk low? maybe. But I will not take chances. Because if you are that 1 person that is hospitalized, the bills can be really huge. It may wipe out your savings.

Let me share with you 2 news article.


This is a $300,000 hospital bill.



This is a $147,000 hospital bill.


Of course there are many more medical bills like this and even bigger amount, it's just that it was never mention in the news.

From my own personal experiences, for critical illness, the bill can go up to $300,000. For serious illness, the bill can go up to $100,000. While for minor illness, it may set you back up to $30,000.

If you are still healthy, don't take it for granted. Get a medical insurance while you can, so you can be sure that your hard earned saving is protected.

If you do not have millions of dollars in the bank, it is a must that you have medical insurance. Because if you don't have, even 1 hospital bill can really wipe out your saving. Even worse, you don't have enough money to pay the bill.

Do you know that in many countries, the leading cause of filing for bankruptcy is individual illness and the related medical bills that accompany the illness? It's true.

Cheers! Have a great day.

$1 million for disabled worker

As you can see from the article, this construction worker was awarded $1 million for the accident that happened. That sum is to cover his loss of future earnings.

You may not know, but the average salary of a construction worker is about $1,000 to $1,500 monthly.

If he was awarded $1 million, how much do you think your disability coverage should be?

Do not under-estimate your future economic worth. If you are earning $50,000 a year now, you would have accumulate $1 million in 20 years. That is not including bonuses and pay rise over the years. Can you imagine if suddenly you are disabled? how much do you lose in your future earnings?

You are worth more thank you think.

Cheers! Have a great day.

How much coverage should you have?

Many people that I encounter does not have adequate protection. Even though they have many policies and pay high premium, most of them are still under-insured.

Why? well it might be because they choose the wrong plan or they under-estimate their future economic worth.

Just as a guidelines, I will share some tips with you about how much you should cover yourself.

Tips:

1. For death and disability coverage, look for at least 10 times your annual income. So if you earned $100,000 a year, you should have at least $1 million coverage.

2. For critical illness coverage, look for at least 3 times of your annual income. So if you earned $100,000 a year, you should have at least $300,000 coverage.

3. For hospital coverage, look for at least $500,000 yearly coverage.

4. For premium, we always advise our clients not to pay more than 10 percent of their annual income. So if you earned $100,000 a year, try not to spend more than $10,000 on insurance. As some insurance plans are a long term commitment. So you have to make sure that you can afford it in the long term.

Of course the above is just a rough guidelines, but it is a good start if you want to plan.

The numbers may look big to some of you, but trust me, when things happen, you will appreciate that you have a big coverage.

Cheers! Have a great day.

More cancer patients can't afford care

As you know, in this modern times the advancement and progress in the medical field is very fast and the result is looking good. But with that, it comes at a high price for the patient. As research needs money and lots of it! to produce the technology and the medicine to help cure sick patients.

So this is good news for people who can afford it. But bad news for people who are sick but cannot afford it.

Excerpts taken from CBS news:

In the states according to American Association for Cancer Research, more than 1 million cancer survivors are foregoing cancer care because of cost.

"A growing number of cancer deaths directly attributable to lack of adequate insurance to get the care you need is growing with every passing day," said Dr. John Seffrin, CEO of the American Cancer Society.

The total cost of cancer care can range from more than $2,000 to more than $7,000 per patient each month.

"One in five cancer patients will spend virtually all their life savings to get the treatment they need," Seffrin said.

Read the full article at http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/02/05/eveningnews/main4778543.shtml.


This is a real problem, facing many people all over the world. What we can do now is just plan, to make sure that we have adequate coverage. Do not procrastinate, plan now before it is too late.

I believe that when we are sick, the last thing you want to think about is money. With insurance, you can focus on your recovery and getting better.

Do you want to have to make a life and death decisions based on financial consideration? I don't think so. But that is what happening all over the world.

With insurance, you don't have to make that decision.

Cheers! Have a great day.

Why even healthy people can get cancer?

Many people do not really understand why everybody is at risk from getting cancer.
Statistics shown that 1 in 3 people in Singapore died from cancer. So imagine if you are in a coffee shop, you are eating with 2 of your friends, you know that from statistics 1 of you will get cancer in this life time. The chance is high and it is scary if you think about it.

I found this answer in the internet which may enlightened you about cancer.

Taken from yahoo answer. Thanks to them.

You would think that most people would notice that . . extremely athletic people who are not obese, do not smoke or drink, eat healthy . . well, they still can get cancer despite all their efforts to avoid it . . there is a misconception among the public that cancer is 'caused' by the environment, smoking, obesity, unhealthy lifestyle, or it's genetic. The misconception continues that if they do not smoke, or drink, or take drugs, eat healthy, avoid carcinogens, exercise regularly, that they won't ever get cancer. However, just the fact that babies and children can get cancer should make everyone pause . . most children are well taken care of, fed well, active . . parents do everything right by having regular checkups, avoid carcinogens, feed them vitamin supplements . . and kids still get cancer.

The truth is that no one, not even healthcare providers, know what causes one person or one child to get cancer while another one does not. That is why you can find lung cancer among people who have never smoked a day in their life . . smoking is rotten for you . . but it is not the only factor that causes a person to get lung cancer.

What people should focus on, of course, is the risks . . if you smoke, you have a higher risk of developing cancer and if you do it will be more difficult for you to survive the disease. This is not the same as . . if you smoke you will get cancer. Because that is not true. Same with all other things . . do not drink to excess, smoke to excess, overeat, or do anything to excess because it places you at a higher risk for developing some types of cancer.

Ironically, the medical community and media spend so much time pointing out the risks of smoking and getting lung cancer that they fail to mention you could still develop a bone cancer or leukemia thats totally unrelated to cigarettes.

People should try to stay as healthy as possible, because no one knows who will develop cancer, which type that might develop. By staying healthy and strong people are than in the best position of all to fight cancer should it develop. Prevention and examining your own body for lumps, bumps or anything unusual should become standard practices at a young age. IMHO.

Reference: http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20070113113030AAlVKG5

Cheers! Have a great day.

Why do people buy insurance?

To me, insurance is the most powerful financial tool that people ever created.

Without insurance, life is much harder than you think. It's just that many people never think about it, don't want to think about it or they are being ignorant.

Tell me, which other financial instruments can give you let say $1 million for just $500? the answer is none. Only insurance can. That is what I paid for a life and disability coverage.

So here are a few reasons why people buy insurance:
1. It's simply leveraging your money. Like the example above, I only pay $500 and I got $1 million coverage in return. If you put that $500 in the bank, it will remain $500 and if something happens, you only get $500.

2. People know unfortunate things can happen to anyone, anywhere and anytime. Death, disability, critical illness, sickness and accident does not discriminate anyone. It does not matter if you are young or old, healthy or not, rich or poor, it can struck anyone randomly.

3. It's because they love themselves and the people around them. Not many people have millions of dollars in the bank when they just started their life. That is why insurance can give them the huge protection they need. So that if something happens, they will not become a burden, especially financial burden to their loved ones.

4. Peace of mind. Knowing that you are adequately covered will make your life better. You can live your life everyday without worry because you know that the financial future of your self and your family are secured. You don't have to worry about hospital bills if you are sick. You don't have to worry if you can't work because of disability or critical illness. You don't have to worry about your spouse and kids future if you are not around anymore.

So now you know why people plan. Have you plan for your self and your loved ones?

Cheers! Have a great day.

What is insurance planning all about?

Insurance planning is about having adequate protection. When you buy insurance, you enter an agreement with an insurer. This is where you pay a relatively small premium to the insurer and you are covered with a relatively big sum assured. So if anything happens to you, the benefit according to the insurance contract will be paid out to you and your loved ones. You are basically transfering your risks to the insurer.

Yes, insurance plan can also serve as a saving, investment, etc. But the most important thing about insurance is always about the protection!

Many people have many insurance policies, but most of them do not have enough coverage. Why? It is because they are concern more with the savings and investments portion of the insurance plan, rather than the protection amount.

So it is not important how many insurance plans you have, but the amount is.

Now that you know, when you want to start planning, always remember, with the budget that you have, focus on the protection first.

Cheers! Have a great day.