Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Hidden charges in Investment-linked policies

Read my letter published in the Straits Times.

I call on insurance companies to be transparent in their charges to commuters and not hide them from customers. If the charges are too high, they should reduce the charges and give better value to their customers.

2 comments:

  1. According to Dr. Money more than 2.5 years of premium go down the drain or into the pockets of insurance salesmen or women.
    However,the good news is regular ILPs can see light at the end of the tunnel faster whereas with a wholelife the light is the light of an on coming train.
    It is comparing 2 evils and the better of the evils is regular ILPs.
    Today , limited payment wholelife seems to be in the spotlight. However, under the light this limited payment animal is an illusion, a bullshit to con consumers.You can design a better limited payment WL with a regular ILP with all the flexibilities and superiority.With regular ILPs you can decide when to stop paying the premium, the amount of coverage, adjust the coverage whereas the traditional limited payment WL is cast in solid concrete, left to the mercy of the insurer.
    Yes if regular ILPs have lower total charges as low as 40% to cover the commission of insurance agents for form filling, and for "you cannot claim without me" service of the agents, profit for the company and admin expenses, regular ILPs will be a fantastic product that will put traditional WL out of business and make it look like scam.
    As long the charges are high consumers should avoid them, including WL and endowment.Another scam product is anticipated endowment disguised as cashbacks or coupon or dividend or whatever. If you are ever sold one the first thing is to report to the nearest police station for cheating.

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  2. Avoid regular ILPs and avoid paying the insurance agents commission they don't deserve .
    Go for the lesser evil, the RSP. Although RSP has hidden charges they are NOT as high as the regular ILPs which rob you of at least 250% of your premium. How can the return of the fund overcome the hefty 250% in reasonable time? The traditional wholelife is one example which also takes 250% of your premium.
    Don't let these rip off products sold by insurance agents ruin your financial life..
    Look for an honest planner.

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