Manulife SmartRetire (III) - Any Reviews?

Hi - I recently met with the RM of a local bank which offered me this plan. It looks like it is an insurance/retirement plan, so is this a good option for me if I already have a Hospitalisation Insurance, the usual Medisave, and no other insurance plan?

I feel like I am missing something here but cannot put my finger on it.

Thank you.

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Rock Lee

20 Oct 2022

I should have visited here before signing up for this policy just this 30 September for 8 years at 1k per month. :( Should I cancel now, but lose all 1k?

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Elijah Lee

13 May 2022

Senior Financial Services Manager at Phillip Securities (Jurong East)

Hi anon,

SmartRetire (III) is an ILP.

Although I am not certain what your age is, or what life stage you are at, I generally do not recommend ILPs.

In general, investment based ILPs may entice you with bonuses, but there are lock ins, charges, early surrender penalties etc, that eat into your investments. Those vary from product to product, but in the end you may be better off investing on your own, or at least investing via advisory routes which do not have lock ins.

You have to first ask yourself what your goal is. If you wanted to grow your monies, there are plenty of ways to do it. Some entail risk (equities, ETFs, UTs), some don't (endowments, CPF, SSB, FDs).

You have to look at your own preferences and needs, and decide what you are looking for. That is a very broad question that can't be comprehensively answered in the confines of an online forum, but there are plenty of instruments out there that can make your monies 'work harder' for you. You just have to decide which one you prefer.

Lastly, I note that you have no CI coverage. Do give a thought to that.

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