Should I buy disability income insurance?

You can add them depending on your appetite for risk.

If you do not like to retain the risk, transfer it to the insurer. If you are okay with taking in the risk, you do not have to get it.

I classify DI insurance as supplements, not core insurance products. Death, TPD, and CI are core events. If your premiums for insurance (excluding endowments) are above 10% of your income without medical conditions; it is likely that your core protection is covered adequately. As such, the above guideline of personal preference for risk will apply.

Follow me here.

Hi Anon, just wanted to reiterate the answer by Lee Wee Siong, that Disability Income (DI), and Total and Permanent Disability (TPD) are used for different purposes and even the claim criteria is very different as well.

To add on to this, Long Term Care (LTC) which also follows the Activities of Daily Living criteria is also different from the 2 above.

TPD is a lump sum payout that usually follows and accelerates (eats into) your death benefit. It is meant for income protection.

LTC is a monthly payout meant to cover the cost of nursing. Usually LTC is expected to be claimed in old age as 50% of Singaporeans above the age of 65 would be disabled before death.

Own Occupation DI is less serious than TPD and pays a monthly as well to replace a portion of your income. "Permanent" is also not a requirement as temporary disability can also trigger a payout.

It is my opinion that everyone needs TPD and LTC, but not necessarily DI. Only if your job requires you to have specialised skills or education, or you're in higher management, then you may want to consider DI.

An entry level desk bound position doesn't have a strong case for "material duties of your occupation". Unlike a cancer payout that has a very specific black and white on what it means to have cancer, DI is less clear on what it means to not be able to do your job.