Do we ever need insurance? Is it ok not to buy?

It's ok not to buy, not everyone needs insurance. For example, if you don't have any dependents, then technically you don't need life insurance. And in case you suffer from a major illness, but you have enough of your own money to seek treatment and also potentially take a break from working for a few years, because you have enough savings, then you don't need critical illness poilcy. If you become disabled permanently, but you are already financially independent, then work is optional and you also don't need disability income insurance.

Insurance is a must once you are an adult. Depending on your dependents, you would need different tiers of inaurance.

​

for instance if you are single and dont have any dependents, a life plan may not be as important to a critical illness plan.

It’s ok, if you do not have dependent (kids, non working spouse, old age parents), if you have deep enough pockets to pay for potentially massive hospitalization bill, or support your lifestyle when you no longer are able to work.

Some insurance are there as a safety net, others are good to have.

Given the wide array of insurance products in the market now, the term insurance in your qn is very broad so I'll streamline my answer to only hospitalisation plan :)

I find insurance very important and it is not ok to me to not buy insurance. First and foremost, I think insurance is more than just to give me a peace of mind, it serve as a shield on many levels - to our wallet by cushioning the shock from medical care expenses; to our emotion by serving as an assurance when an illness strike, knowing that there is a plan that can be fall back to; to your loved ones as well so that they don’t have to fret for your med bills. Secondly, life is uncertain and it cannot be guaranteed whether you will ever need insurance or not - so why not try to find out more now in order to make an informed choice for yourself!

Speaking from experience, I have an exclusion from my hospitalisation plan and it happened that I needed medical treatment for that excluded condition. It is at that point that I realised the importance of having a hospitalised plan and regretted not purchasing my hospitalisation plan earlier before I found out that I had a pre-existing condition. I eventually had to use my emergency funds for medical treatment and albeit medishied life and medisave is of some help, my emergency funds has been depleted by quite a fair bit.

I would therefore say that getting an insurance is important so if it is possible for you to get insurance at an early stage with no exclusion and at a cheaper price, why not and it can save you the agony that I face at the time :)

On a side note, I purchased a hospitalisation plan for my aunt who is 50 plus this year with no medisave and I am glad that I did so, it is never too late to consider purchasing an insurance plan so I’m glad you asked this question because it means you have taken the step forward to trying to make an informed decision :)