I increased my term + accident insurance policy with Aviva Skip to main content

I increased my term + accident insurance policy with Aviva

I recently maxed out the SAF Aviva group term insurance on both term life plan for $1M and accident plans for $600k, which costs me $47.42 and $77.37 per month respectively. This is on top of my existing whole life plans. I did this to ensure adequate insurance coverage in times of need. The only downside of this is that Aviva pays out a maximum of $20M per event, and it's prorated accordingly, so don't bet your house on this and have some other backup.

Term covers up to age 65-70 (your income generating years), and whole life covers your whole life (including your retirement years). In general whole life plans are alot more expensive per $ of coverage, compared to term plans, so you have to utilize both to get adequate coverage at a reasonable cost.

In Singapore where voluntary death isn't an option, it could really bankrupt a family.

Some say to purchase a $1M term plan that covers you up to age 99. That means you can't live past 99, but such plans are expensive, in the range of $3k/year. Let me explain why such policies are a big scam.

Starting at age 35, using a discount rate of 2.5% (CPF rate) for 64 years, the PV of the $1M portfolio is $206k. Which means if I had $206k today and put it into the risk free CPF account, I'd have $1M when I'm 99 years old. In this method, my funds will outlive me and will not goto a zero value if I live past 99yo. Why would anyone purchase such a term policy? Perhaps it's the allure of paying the $206k in installments and whatever story the insurance agent tells you, but the numbers above tell the tale.

Don't fall prey to such policies. Stick to the regular term insurance that'll cover you during the years your family depends on you, and critical illness coverage that's sufficient to not bankrupt your family when your health fails.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Trade wars, Hong Kong riots

Be greedy in times of fear. That's the investment mantra I live by. Recently there's been a huge spat on trade wars and the Hong Kong riots, which took a toll on the stock markets.  This was a great opportunity to load up on my existing positions as their prices have come down to more favorable levels. There no reason to explore other stocks unless a super attractive opportunity arises, like hongkongland. That counter was hit extremely hard by the riots, since they derive 50% of their revenues from HK.  Other than such events where opportunities present itself, I prefer to average up or down into my existing positions... No need to perform the due diligence again, unless fundamentals have changed. I'm enjoying the opportunities that the markets are presenting in the past few months.  Simply keep calm and aim to collect more dividends by increasing your stake when frivolous sentiment changes. Market entry is a psychological battle against yourself. Another post on this la

Baby Bonus, Child Development Account (CDA), CPF

"When I'm old and my memory fails me, this post serves as a reminder on what to do." Every child born as a Singapore citizen is given a Child Development Account (CDA), with the government having the intent of cushioning expenses related to raising a child.  The CDA funds can be used for certain items like paying for childcare and kindergartens, child related medical expenses, medisave approved integrated shield plans.  I use this account for a different purpose, to build my daughters wealth. The only thing that interested me was the Government's Dollar for Dollar match, up to $6k for the 1st and 2nd child. Baby bonus gave us $3k, I topped up $3k , government matched $3k, and the account began with $9k opening balance.  Since I can't withdraw these funds for cash, I'll treat this as a CPF account and optimize every dollar. The CPF website has a nice illustration on what happens with the account through time: https://www.areyouready.sg/YourInfoHub/Pag

BCIP 2018 - Singtel, Capitamall trust

I started building my child's college fund when she was 6 months old.  All her 红包's are channeled straight into this OCBC account, and I registered for their Blue Chip Investment Plan (BCIP).  It's a monthly investment scheme into a blue chip stock of choice.  Both Ms EOR and myself contribute monthly to this BCIP account, which is an excellent way to force us to invest. I invest in 2 stocks at any given month, with Singtel being the base investment and the other being a cyclical. Singtel Telco's are considered a defensive sector, with a relatively stable income stream.  What I like about Singtel is that they are the market leader in Singapore, and also derive 50% of their profits from investments in other country telcos, thereby reducing the country risk.  They are trading at around their 52 week lows in 1H 2018, hence the dividend rate is 5+%, but I see the sustainable rate to be about 4+%.  I'm doing dollar cost averaging, so it doesn't matter that much