Is it better to get Critical illness protection when you're younger or older?

You get a small sum that you can afford (premium wise) at young.

The younger you are when you start your Critical illness, the cheaper the premium

but don't over buy too... i have seen friends who are so worried about critical illness that they paid so much monthly, it affect their quality of life.

most importantly, take care of your hospital insurance (use CPF medisave to buy private medishield plans). you should be covered if you go hospital because of accident, any illness (not just critical types) minor or major....

Younger. You buy insurance with health first. Money second. Health will be significantly different between age 25 and 70.

Hi there, in general its better to get health insurance - be it a 1. typical healthshield or 2. critical illness is when one is young and healthy. this is to allow yourself to have coverage and not to be subjected to pre-exsiting illnesses health underwriting exclusions.

Premium is based on entry age. in general, its cheaper when you buy at a younger age for critical illness plan. Also do note that the definition for CI will be revised wef 26 Aug 2020 this year, so its good to get yourself a CI plan before this new definition kicks in. reach out to me for a no obligation details here

Hi Anon,

In regards to most insurance other than hospitalisation insurance, you are right to say that payment is at the same rate, but that rate is determined at the point of purchase, so meaning what you are paying at 25 and what you are paying at 70 is likely very different.

Also, with that nature of certain policies, if you purchase at 25, you can choose to pay for 20 - 30 years, which would help to ensure the premiums are affordable, and also manageable as during those years you are most likely still having a constant income.

At 70 if you do decide to purchase, you might meet with certain issues;

1) Premiums might be unaffordable, cause at that age you might not have an income and are unable to sustain the paying of premiums because at 70 your payment term can be cut short to 5 - 10 years and also the higher risk of mortality also definitely means a higher premium.

2) You might no longer be in the pink of health. One main reason why it's always recommended that you purchase an insurance policy at a younger age is because you are highly likely healthy, so the premiums will be offered to you at a standard, healthy rate. If you purchase at a latter age, there might be common health issues that have developed, like high blood pressure for example. And once that has occured, there will likely be loading to the premiums, and if the health condition is too serious, insurers might not even insure you at all.

Hope that this will shed some light in why it's recommended to purchase insurance in your younger, healthy years.​​​