Is Aviva's Living Care (and/or Plus) sufficient for CI coverage for a recent graduate stepping into the workforce? How about whole life insurance?

Hi anon,

To answer your questions:

1) Aviva's Living Care/Plus will only cover you till 65 (technically 70, but no one would renew that long as the main plan's premium is extremely high after 70). Also, you are bound by their restrictions and terms. For example, renewals for Living Care after July 2020 will follow the new CI definitions. Also, if you are looking at early CI coverage, Living Care Plus only covers 10 of them.

However, it is quite cheap for basic CI cover when you are young, due to premiums being calculated by age band. But to ensure CI coverage into old age, you will still probably have to look at a limited payment whole life plan, which will ultimately be more cost effective.

2) A limited payment whole life plan will still be a cost effective way to cover CI and early CI at this point in time, especially as you are still young. The premiums won't be excessive and you would be able to finish paying your premiums during your working years, but retain whole of life coverage. You can add on more CI coverage later through term or multipay if you have the budget. If not, I'd suggest you settlle your basic CI coverage first.

As you already have a whole of life 100K plan with CI, then you might only need a small whole life plan to make up the shortfall, e.g. a $50K x 3 = $150K plan. At your age, it will likely still be cost effective compared to a term.

Hey there!

Will probably need to look at your budget to see what will not burst your budget and what is considered as comprehensive.

Aviva Living Care provides a lump sum payout for 37 common critical illnesses, however many of them would probably be classified as late stage CI. Even with Aviva Living Plus, the ECI coverage is limited to 10 ECI.

Whether thats something you should get depends on what is the level of coverage you're comfortable with but in general, many people might want to opt for a multi-pay CI plan that is more comprehensive since there can be other CIs, special conditions (diabetic complications, osteoporosis) that are covered in it. Also, muti-pay CI standalone plans allow for multiple claims for relapses, different CI occurrences etc. But of course on the budget side, they tend to be pricier since they allow for multiple claims and its way more comprehensive.

I'll suggest you to get a WL insurance later on when your finance pick up instead since you already have an on-going WL plan and for starters, to decide on what level of CI coverage do you want and settle on your CI portion. Also, there are many term plans out there that offer way higher coverage that won't cost an arm or leg.
Side note, CI coverage should be approximately 5x of your annual income. If that may be too pricey, at least aim for some coverage so you can lock it in at an earlier age at least since it'll be cheaper. Do consult a financial advisor to find out about your options but there are many options out in the market ;)

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