Tan Kin Lian's Blog

Wednesday, February 20, 2008

Mr. Tan,
I was about to sign up a long term saving plan & ILP with an insurance company when I saw your article in Mypaper. I read your blog and found it to be really helpful. The concept of 'buy Term & invest the rest' is really impressive and make a lot of senses.

I have always been told by insurance agents to spend 15 - 20% of income for insurance. I plan to stop some of my insurance plans and change it to Term. Can you recommend a good insurance agent?

I come across many agents who always ask me to buy life & ILP. Is NTUC income different from them ?

REPLY

I believe that most agents, including those from NTUC, will try to sell ILP and life products, as they earn higher commisison.

I suggest that you visit the business center of NTUC Income and talk to the salaried consultants. I hope that they will be different, as they are not paid a commission on the sale.

5 comments:

hongjun said...: Now it looks like there are 2 standards in NTUC :(; February 20, 2008 10:55 PM
Anonymous said...: if you are looking for some good term plans to cover you till 100 years old
you can try AXA but invest in NTUC's
funds.In fact you don't need to cover till 100 years old. 65 years old should be good enough. Review your needs when you arrived at 65.; February 20, 2008 11:01 PM
Anonymous said...: Buy Term, Invest the Rest, is a concept that has been popular in North America, particularly the USA for years. It brought about the "Term Wars" and premium levels for term became very cheap for the consumer. It is a very good concept, PROVIDED that you have the discipline to invest the rest. That is the heart of the matter.

To help ensure you are sold the correct product, ask for a Needs Analysis, this will look at your assets and liabilities, income level, future needs, etc, and determine how much insurance you need.

As Term premiums for the equivalent face amount are cheaper than Whole life premiums, agents will most likely push for Whole Life as they will make more money (depending on the commission structure). Agents need to pay the bills too.

But the difference between a good agent and an excellent agent, is they realize if they sell you the right product, you will tell all your friends about him/her, and the referrals will more than the extra amount of commission they made from selling you the wrong product.

Jill; February 21, 2008 9:18 AM
Anonymous said...: I agree agents need to pay the bills but not at the expense of the clients.Some agents rob their clients in broad daylight.This is dispicable.
Financial advisers' job is to add value and look after the clients' finances.If you have done well, the clients will be most willing and confident to refer you cases.
This is earned.; February 21, 2008 10:57 PM
Khiat Han Hwee Adrian said...: It is an unfair comparison between mobile Consultants and Salaried Consultants as if Mobile consultant are not for the interest of clients.

No one have statistics to show that direct businesses like bancasurrance and NTUC Income Business Centres do not market Endowments or Whole Life Policies. Company have a cost to run and Consultants a high quota to hit to justify their salary.

Sometimes, don't be surprise that the salaried consultants can be more cunning because of their pressure to hit quota and they know they will not probably be staying in the industry for long.

Of course, don't misunderstand. I'm only describing the black sheeps, not everyone.

Adrian Khiat
http://akhiat.blogspot.com; February 22, 2008 11:19 AM