I increased term + critical illness coverage further with Manulife

I recently increased my term and critical illness coverage by another $1M and $300k respectively.

I checked around with many providers and ended up with Manulife as it's what I need, without all the bells and whistles. AIA offered total coverage for recurrent illnesses, but I figure if I get the same cancer twice, I'd probably be dead by then. So there's no need to pay a premium for that type of policy. Sometimes plain vanilla is the best.

I also considered disability insurance where they pay you an amount on a monthly basis. While this sounds like a great idea, the insurers will make it difficult for you to claim this, with strange delay clauses and exclusions. It's much cleaner to receive a large lump sum payment and manage it from there.

Why these figures for critical illness? I based it on annual family expenses. Most insurance agents will tell you like 5-10x of your salary, just to get you to buy a bigger policy. An agent that looks out for you will tell you to look at it from an expenses point of view (my agent is a good agent). For example if my annual family expenditure is $100k, then this policy takes care of 3yrs of no pay leave or me not working.

On the term portion, the premium delta between $500k and $1M was $400/yr and it was pretty negligible in the grand scheme of things, so I opted for the higher figure.

Disregarding the SAF group policy, since that's a group term one, I have about $1.4M coverage for death and tpd, $720k for CI of which $150k is ECI. I think this is sufficient for the rest of my working life. I plan for most of the insurance coverage to end by age 65 anyway, as I plan to be financially free and dependant free by then. The integrated shield plans will be enough to cover my medical bills from then onwards.

Comments

Hotel Review: Sheraton Grande Sukhumvit, a Luxury Collection Hotel, Bangkok

As I travel quite often for work, I’m going to keep a record of all the hotels I’ve stayed in, to serve as a reminder of what works and what doesn’t. It’ll make future bookings much easier. Location: Right at the Asok BTS, across from Terminal 21 and the Westin. I think traffic in this area is too jammed, and will likely avoid in the future. Room: The bed is very comfortable, but the decor is quite old school. The room feels like parts of it has been modernized, but parts of it are still the same as when the hotel was built. The whole scheme doesn't gel. The bathroom is also dated and in need of upgrade. Who uses small tiles like this in bathrooms nowadays? This is so 1990s. Gym: It has a couple ellipticals and a couple treadmills. Not much selection of weight machines and the space is rather crammed. The decor is seriously old school 1990s, but I think all Sheratons are like this. Breakfast: The selectio...

Hotel Review: Novotel Halong Bay

As I travel quite often for work, I’m going to keep a record of all the hotels I’ve stayed in, to serve as a reminder of what works and what doesn’t. It’ll make future bookings much easier. Unfortunately there was no SPG/Marriott hotel in Halong Bay area, so i ended up with Novotel. Location: Along the western side of Halong, right across some ongoing construction. Room: Decor is dark wooden, taking a spin on modern Chinese. Wood flooring and a huge king size bed that's abit hard and uncomfortable. I like the decor though. Gym: This has got to be the saddest hotel gym i've ever seen. I decided to run outside instead. Breakfast: The selection is so limited, and it's not even that good. Nice decor though. Would I return? Definitely not to this 4 star hotel. Thankfully I was only here for 1 night. Although the place is filled with Korean tourists, you can eat some basic Korean breakfast here, but that's not my preference.

Max out your Medisave account in Jan

Effective Jan 1, 2019 the Basic Healthcare Sum (BHS) has increased from S$54,500 to S$57,200. Funds in the Medisave Account (MA) and Special Account (SA) earns 4% p.a, while funds in the Ordinary Account (OA) earns 2.5% p.a. Assuming you have hit the $54,500 limit in 2018, we can take the opportunity to top up $2700 to our Medisave Account by this month using cash to leverage on the following benefits: Tax deductions if you use cash to top up your MA. Note the $7000 annual cap on CPF deductions, so the SA top up in FY2019 will be $4300. When your MA has been maxed out, your monthly CPF contribution from your salary and employer will flow over to your SA. This account also earns you an interest of 5% p.a. Once your SA has met the met the Full Retirement Sum (FRS), the funds will flow over to your Ordinary Account, which earns you a 3.5% interest rate p.a. In summary, whenever the government increases the Basic Healthcare Sum, quickly max out your MA i...

Eyes On Retirement

Search This Blog