What should you do if you find yourself suddenly needing a large sum of money? Unplanned, non-medical. Any advice?

If the large sum of money concerns debt with the banks e.g. credit card payment defaults, you can go to Credit Counselling Singapore to seek help to clear with the banks: https://www.ccs.org.sg/

If it is gambling debt, you can approach https://www.ncpg.org.sg/en/Pages/home.aspx

If it is payment for medical issue, the social workers at the hospital will be able to refer you to the correct avenues to seek help.

Alternatively, you can get assistance from the nearest Family Service Centres https://www.msf.gov.sg/policies/Strong-and-Stab...

I certainly hope it's not one of these. However, because since you didn't want to mention the amount and what you need it for, even though you are anonymous, I'd think it could be something embarassing. Yet hopefully, by listing these here, it could help if it is true.

Another way you could do to find a large amount of money is to sell off your flat if you're the owner and downgrade to a smaller one or rent in the time being.

It will tide you over but do note that going forward, you will need to think and plan for your and your family's future.

Hope this helps.

Seek advice from a financial advisor (FA) to go through your available options in raising funds.

For endowment policies, if your FA recommends that you give them up as part of raising funds, you can either surrender them to insurers, or sell them to resale brokers for up to 10% above surrender value.

Disclaimer: I run a business trading insurance policies.