Tan Kin Lian's Blog: Adequate Life Insurance

Monday, July 02, 2012

Adequate Life Insurance

Often, you read articles in the newspapers stating that Singaporeans do not have adequate life insurance. They are often published by sources connected with the life insurance companies. The purpose is to get people to buy more life insurance coverage. What is an adequate amount of life insurance needed by the breadwinner of the family? Article

7 comments:

Tan Kin Lian said...: Here is a recent survey
http://www.todayonline.com/Business/EDC120702-0000011/Spores-rising-rich-inadequately-insured--UOB; July 02, 2012 8:42 AM
Anonymous said...: The insurance companies and the agents are the cause of under insurance.They are the perpetrators.; July 02, 2012 10:04 AM
Anonymous said...: The probability of dying for a young person is very low.

Insuring 11 times your annual income is too much. My belief is that there should be sufficient money for 2 or 3 years of expenses. After that, the family should go on with life as best they can.

Insurance should not replace income for life. Its ridiculous.

Newspapers should report, print such articles with balance. As it stands, it actually is an advertisement.; July 02, 2012 11:46 PM
Jeremy Ow said...: I think one of the reasons why Singaporeans may be under-insured is because people buy the wrong mix of insurance products. Paying too high premiums for whole life insurance policies may not be suitable for some people. A low cost term insurance may in fact be more helpful as it saves the cost of insurance and helps one to be adequately insured for a larger amount. I think we need to be careful not to fully believe the advice of insurance agents or financial advisers as there is a conflict of interest between them earning their commissions from the type of insurance products they sell and the interests of their clients. They may claim that a particular product is suitable for their client but it may not really be the best option possible for the client if the client is ignorant about how the different types of insurance products work in terms of their benefits and costs. I feel the best insurance agents or financial advisers are the ones who can help their clients plan their insurance coverage in such a way to help them maximise their insurance coverage to be adequately insured at a low cost according to the client's financial situation. However, it is a bread and butter issue. Which insurance agents or financial advisers will be willing to earn much lesser commissions by helping their clients save on cost of insurance while achieving adequate insurance coverage thus putting the interests of their clients above self?; July 03, 2012 12:10 PM
Anonymous said...: Jeremy,
the law should step in to ensure that and it is going to happen soon.
At least 8000 insurance agents will have to leave because they are not qualified, honest and competent in this job.; July 04, 2012 6:10 PM
Unknown said...: insurance companies will helps you to get the right refund of your paid premium, they get a commission is well after the selling of insurance policy.

EZ Quote; July 08, 2012 5:54 AM
Anonymous said...: Hi all, i pay $20 per month for $100,000 coverage under the SAFRA living and critical illness scheme. its a term insurance. Is this too much? Mr Tan mentioned $10 per 100k insurance

Thanks; July 19, 2012 4:28 PM