My parents do not have any form of insurance at all and I see this as a possible problem in the future. Any advice?

Went through similar exercise about 6 years ago.
Prioritize hospitalizations and medical cover stuff like integrated shield plans and elder care.

I was fortunate to be able to still get my parents on board the plans (with exemptions around pre-existing conditions) around four years back, and the medical plan really helped me out a lot when one of them was diagnosed with cancer last year.

Of course we don't hope to see them with illness or other ailments, but it's more likely than that they may get something requiring medical attention.

2nd point if your parents are around 50+, then cpf contributions will help. You probably have the 10 year time frame for compounding to still have an effect. If their combined cpf balance (for either parent) is less than 60k, definitely go for some top up to get the most out of the bonus 1% interest. Beyond that it's up to them, but considering the time frame is less than 20 years, cpf and the high almost risk free rate of 4% at no fees will be hard to beat by any insurance plan.

Hi anon,

Insurance is about the protection value and the risk transfer. If something unexpected happens and may lead to a financial burden, insurance will help to mitigate the costs.

Your parents will at the minimum require a shield plan to increase their coverage for hospitalization bills. Medishield Life, while decent, is subjected to a limit of $100K on the claim limit per year and this might not be enough. Also, the follow up costs (pre/post hospitalization)are not claimable, and you are subject to the deductible and co-insurance costs as well. A rider will help to defray these costs.

After that, you will want to look at long term care costs. Your parents will be on Eldershield if they did not opt out, but you will want to increase their coverage with a Eldershield supplement. Long Term Care provides money in the event they are severely disabled in old age and require physical assistance to do their activities of daily living.

Critical illness is also a consideration, as they still have another 10+ years to work, but it may be costly in view of their age. This will really depend on their budget.

You can also look at personal accident plans for them, which can be relatively cheap.

If there are no more liabilites such as mortgage, then they won't need death/TPD coverage.