When did you purchase your life insurance? Is 21 years old a good age? Do you recommend specific insurance such as PruLady?

Hi anon,

You'll get death coverage if you have liabilities to cover.

You'll get critical illness coverage if you need to cover for loss of income and take care of out of pocket costs in the event of a diagnosis of a CI.

So there's really no specific age to get one. If you need it, you'll need it. I have seen parents buy for their children to enjoy a lower premium right before they start their university studies, and I have also seen people in their 40s who realise the importance only because someone close to them passed on or was critically ill. No matter what happens or when, you don't want to be caught off guard by the unexpectedness of life when something happens. I'd say the earlier you can get it (provided you need it), the better.

Gender specific insurance is a really niche market (not too many insurers carry it) and they do have some features not found in standard CI plans (or WL CI), but you'll want to make sure you have coverage on the key stuff first (such as the standard CIs) before topping up with such coverage.

You purchase life insurance when you have an income or assets to protect.

I'd suggest you work with an advisor you trust to help you plan this out.

Some rules of thumb you can consider would be to purchase 10 X Your Annual Income in the event of death and 5 X Annual Income in the event of Critical Illness so that your financial dependents can continue life as per usual should you were to prematurely die or fall ill.