Hi all, which option should I take for insurance?

Hi Kelvin,

Welcome to the community. In order of importance, here is what you should be looking at:

1. Hospitalization plan. This covers any hospital bills and associated pre/post hospitalization costs. This would be from an integrated shield plan, with a rider to take care of the deductible/co-insurance. Depending on your budget, you can take a private hospital plan and downgrade later, or just go for Goverment A ward.

2. Critical Illness coverage. This provides a sum of money for you to cover your expenses and other out of pocket costs should you fall critically ill and are not able to work. Usually recommended to cover at least 5 years of expenses and an additional sum to cover out of pocket costs. This is usually via a limited payment life plan, or a term plan, depending on your budget/needs.

3. Death coverage. This provides a lump sum of money should something happen to you. Not mandatory if you have no dependents or liabilities. Usually takes the form of a term plan. For the coverage amount, you could use a multiple such as 10 x of your current income, or calculate based on your current liabilities.

4. Personal Accident. For the minor stuff like TCM claims, etc.

The first two are essential to have at the very least.

Generally, you should not have to spend more than 10% of your income on coverage.

Work with an independent financial advisor who can provide multiple options and explain in detail what you will need to know before coming to a decision, especially with respect to cost effectiveness as well as the minor differences between the plans.

With respect to point 2 in my answer, coverage for CI can be obtained via both term or WL insurance. My view is this: If CI strikes, regardless of age, the financial burden on you and your family will be heavy. It doesn't matter what age it strikes (my aunt had stomach cancer at 84). Thus I'd like to have CI cover for life so that I don't have to liquidate assets to pay for my out of pocket expenses. In view of this, some form of WL insurance to ensure coverage for a lifetime will be beneficial (Limited Payment too, so that I only pay when I am working). With a basic WL in place, term insurance can be considered as a top up to your coverage down the road when your life situation changes such that you might need a boost to your CI cover for another 25 years (e.g. due to increased expenses as you become a parent)

Hi Kelvin,

Personally I think A would be a better choice based on the value it can provide. Just to add, you might also need to look at personal accident insurance, as some incidents that are caused by accidents might not be covered in your hospitalisation insurance alone.

Do reach out if you have more questions :)