[chipmunk]

Originally Posted by MeDiC

piang...u keep track of your stocks but not your life insurance??at least get to know his name and contact number....and do a reassessment of your policies lah..

I dont know much abt insurance mah. Then the policy paper also not with me.

[MeDiC]

Originally Posted by diorsnow79

Yes!~~

any examples to show??including the factor that the holder cashes out the bonus every year also..BTW, are you working for any insurance company?

[chipmunk]

Bought the AIA prime life when i was in primary sch lor. Not sure of the ridership thingy.

[chipmunk]

By the way when can i stop paying the premium of the prime life policy? There is no maturity period unlike endowment plan rite? So i have to keep paying till kick the bucket?

[chipmunk]

Originally Posted by diorsnow79

If since primary sch started, already 10+ yrs liao.. got cash value inside. Call AIA customer service 1800-248 8000 n enquire how much have you paid for the premium so far n how much is the cash value inside.. Then u decide whether you want to continue paying (since so cheap cos u bought since primary sch) or u wanna take another plan which can meet ur needs better.

Oh ok thanks for ur help.

[quarian]

Basically life insurance there are two types.

Whole life and term life.

As long as you can save your own money regularly, forget whole life. Whole life means you get a sum back at a certain older age. But if you read or ask your agent, you will realise that the so called percentage interest you earn is never guaranteed. They only guarantee you your principle. And for the same price as what you're paying, you get less coverage than term life.

Term life, you don't get anything back at the end of it. But you can pay less for the same coverage. It's purely for health and major illnesses etc. That's how my colleague explains it. He's been working for years, bought insurance ages ago, his aunt is an agent so he sat down with the aunt and read all the policies and asked all the questions. As he says, by the time you're 65 or 70, if you really get ill or die, you don't have to worry about your dependants coz they'll be old enough.

Another thing is most agents except your actual friends will push you towards whole life not term because...they get more commission. I had this agent who kept calling me and I said "ok, send me a term life policy and I will look at it when I'm free."

She was like "oh but there's a lot of words (or something like that)". I said ok, I will read when I'm free.

She sent me....a whole life policy. Called me some time later...

I said "you sent me whole life. I asked for TERM".

Agent: "Maybe you don't understand, term means you don't get anything bad at the end."

Me: I know that. If I buy whole life, what do I get if I die?

Agent: 100k

Me: (Bloody hell?!! My life worth more than that! Some more it's a 150 a month policy) What do I get back after the investments? Is it this supposed 5% thing here? Is it guaranteed?

Agent: Er...no...

Me: What is guaranteed?

Agent: Er, nothing is guaranteed..(might have said principle is but I can't rem.), depends on the returns after investing.

Me: What do you all invest the money in?

Agent: Equities....


Ended the conversation soon after. Some more try to let her down more gently by saying "eh, sorry, you sound nice but I don't know you so I don't trust you more than my many friends who relatives are agents...". She still try to be clever and say "oh lucky my customers don't think that...".

Strike three!

Oh yeah, I have not bought yet myself but I always think I won't buy from AIA unless someone I know. Coz my office is in AIA building and most of their staff are very very lazy. They refuse to press the lift door to close even though they are always on the lower floors. They will just stand there like stone even when 1) their floor is next 2) they are near the button.

[quarian]

Oh, I think my colleague has that. Basic insurance with a term rider, I rem he mentioned he bought a "rider" but I don't know the details.

Term covers only terminal and TPD everytime or depends on the terms of the Term Life policy?

[KevinChua]

Brothers and friends, if i may humbly put myself at service.

My name is Kevin, i'm an insurance advisor with Prudential.

Please give me a call @ 98324630 to arrange an appointment at your convenience so I can see how I can best serve you and answer your queries.

[quarian]

I'm not asking you what my colleague bought. I'm just commenting lor. That yeah, heard of those things before.

My question on term...everytime, I think you misunderstood. I'm not asking how long term is. But the way your original post stated, you make it sound like basic insurance is for major illnesses. Term you said is for death and total permanent dis, so you give the impression that term ONLY is for death and TPD, NOT major illnesses. That's what you made it sound like, so I'm just asking did I read you right.

Please, when it comes to legal rights, my colleague will know better than the insurance agent himself who is in the right. The insurance agent can only ask his company to consult loss adjusters or lawyers and just repeat what he is told.

Hmm...hmm...personally, I agreed that term policy is very useful as it covers death and TPD for a very small sum each month. For consumers whose need is to protect family from the event of one's death or PTD, then term is definitely for you as one will not need the coverage after say 65yrs old. Anyway, do note that savings and insurance are two different things....it is weird to think that since bank interest rates are low...so one decided to buy wholelife policy as the effective return on the cash value at say age 65 will be higher.

However, critical illness coverage is essential. It SHLD NEVER be purchased using term but rather...go for the whole life coverage. In addition, for such coverage, it is best to go for the 10yr or 20yr limited payment plans as the total savings in life time premiums will amt to over $10,000 plus (at least) as compared to a traditional policy where U pay premiums for 60yrs. In addition, I wld strongly discouraged pple from buying these kind of 60yrs plan (such as NTUC Income's Living Policy) as it means paying for premiums even after you retire.

But saying that, if one is a savy investor, then such 60yr traditional policy will be more appropriate as the monthly premiums are very cheap and it will enable one to set aside more cash for investment.

I wld say that critical illness policy should be top of pple's priority list...followed by H&S plans (which pays from the 1st dollar..) and disability income coverage. In shopping for insurance products, pls do go to Independent Financial Advisory firms as they represented a wider range of products. Only after that should one go talk to agents from AIA or Great Eastern etc. From personal experience, tied agents knowledge of products is strictly limited to their own company...and you may not get the best deal in the market.

Originally Posted by quarian

.....
Another thing is most agents except your actual friends will push you towards whole life not term because...they get more commission. I had this agent who kept calling me and I said "ok, send me a term life policy and I will look at it when I'm free."

She was like "oh but there's a lot of words (or something like that)". I said ok, I will read when I'm free.

She sent me....a whole life policy. Called me some time later...

I said "you sent me whole life. I asked for TERM".

Agent: "Maybe you don't understand, term means you don't get anything bad at the end."

Me: I know that. If I buy whole life, what do I get if I die?

Agent: 100k

Me: (Bloody hell?!! My life worth more than that! Some more it's a 150 a month policy) What do I get back after the investments? Is it this supposed 5% thing here? Is it guaranteed?

Agent: Er...no...

Me: What is guaranteed?

Agent: Er, nothing is guaranteed..(might have said principle is but I can't rem.), depends on the returns after investing.

Me: What do you all invest the money in?

Agent: Equities....


Ended the conversation soon after. Some more try to let her down more gently by saying "eh, sorry, you sound nice but I don't know you so I don't trust you more than my many friends who relatives are agents...". She still try to be clever and say "oh lucky my customers don't think that...".

Strike three!

Dear Quarian,

haha....that's a very true and typical picture you painted of the many rogue agents out there in the insurance line....I agreed...most agents always promote whole life plan as they earn the most premiums there.....so they will heck care your actual needs. Saying one dun get anything back for term plan is extremely misleading. For example, for death and PTD coverage, one will be able to beat the wholelife policy (say by age 65) if I get more than 4.5% return per annum from investing the difference in premiums. By investing in bonds and high dividend stocks over 20 to 30 yrs for risk averse pple, it is actually very easy to get annual effective returns of over 5%. But most insurance agents will tell you investment is difficult.

Saying that, for those more willing to take risk, given the time horizon of 20 to 30yrs for investment, one shld invest fully the difference in premiums saved, on equity funds...will not have much problem hitting over at least 7% in the long term. Hence the protection and cash values (from investment) from buying term policy will definitely beat wholelife plan.

Originally Posted by KevinChua

Brothers and friends, if i may humbly put myself at service.

My name is XXXXX, i'm an insurance advisor with Prudential.

Please give me a call @ 98324630 to arrange an appointment at your convenience so I can see how I can best serve you and answer your queries.

Hi pple,
I notice an interesting advertisement from an insurance agent on this thread. No offense, but the interesting thing is that once I saw the P company, I will automatically associate it with investment link products (ILPs)....whahaha.....just like to warn consumers out there....pls refrain from buying stuff that operates in a complex manner...

Jus to add another point....pls read up the recent news (or rather scandals) on ILPs before making any decisions.....I for one will not buy things that I dun understand....enough said.....

Originally Posted by magicland79

Hi pple,
I notice an interesting advertisement from an insurance agent on this thread. No offense, but the interesting thing is that once I saw the P company, I will automatically associate it with investment link products (ILPs)....whahaha.....just like to warn consumers out there....pls refrain from buying stuff that operates in a complex manner...

Jus to add another point....pls read up the recent news (or rather scandals) on ILPs before making any decisions.....I for one will not buy things that I dun understand....enough said.....

Hi,

I just like to highlight some of the good point about ILP. A need analysis will be able to tell if the product suit a person or not. But generally, it is not suitable to attached Critical Illness for people who are 40 age and above.

For younger person, you will find it provide higher protection for the same dollar, even higher than term policy.

Cash value is available immediately, you dont have to loan from your policy just need to sell off part of your investment.

Flexibility in varying premium and protection over the years.

Single - you're young and forging your career or business, needing a smaller amount of protection coverage. Accumulating waelth and growing your investment are your priority

Married - Just got married and brought a home. You would increase your insurance protection to cover your new responsibilites.

Parent - You need maximum insurance cover to give your family and children the financial security they need.

Empty nest - Once your children become independent, you may decide to reduce your insurance cover and concentrate on building your investment nest eggs for retirement.

Retirement - You're ready to live your golden years in comfort. You may want to withdraw a regular income to cover your expenses. You may choose to stop paying premium but maintain a basic level of coverage.

ILP is just like buy term and invest the rest. Can be good for people who does not have the descipline to invest. Many people who wanted to buy term and invest but end up not investing and spend the money instead.

Originally Posted by darren_leong

.....ILP is just like buy term and invest the rest. Can be good for people who does not have the descipline to invest. Many people who wanted to buy term and invest but end up not investing and spend the money instead....

Hullo Darren_Leong, you seems to know a lot abt ILP...are you a financial advisor? If so, may i know whether U are a tied agent or an IFA?

Basically disagree with the rosy picture painted by the last posting regarding the good points about ILP which can mislead consumers jumping into ILP without 2nd thoughts. Main reason being the lack of transparency. For example, dun U agree that the idea of converting monthly premiums into buying units and then selling the units at the same time to pay insurance premiums ridiculous? The difference between the bid ask spread implied loss of premiums for investment portion. Why can't ILP just apportion the insurance deudction and the investment portion at the point of receipt...then there is no need to buy and sell units at the same time. This way of earning commission is not fair to consumers. REALLI do not understand why ILP so silly....must use all the premiums buy into units then sell away immediately after buying to pay insurance portion.

For pple without discipline to invest the difference, isn't it the duty of the financial advisor to ensure client does so? THis problem can easily be solved by investing reguarly in unit trusts.

Another reason, huge sum of commissions go into the pocket of insurance agents from ILP. If you buy term policy and invest the difference using unit trusts, then the cash value at the end of say 30yrs will definitely be higher than the ILP. The additional savings that wld have gone into the agent's pocket can grow to be pretty substantial due to simple concept of compounding of money.

In addition, isn't the universe of unit trusts products more in variety than the funds offered by insurance companies?

Last but not least, I believe that there are other costs involved for ILP. ILP sellers shld disclose them properly.

Also do not understand abt the previous posting...with regards to building retirement nest egg...why does one need an ILP to do it? You can do it with a term policy and unit trust. Is the previous posting suggesting that the ILP after deducting all the costs such as agent's commission will definitely beat unit trusts? In my opinion, answer is unlikely...cos ILP already suffered a "loss" at the inception due to a huge portion going into the agent's pocket.

Next, IMHO, insurance and investment should be separated.....if insurance is water and investment sand...then you will get mud if you mix them together as an ILP.

Dear Darren_Leong,

Another question: Dun you agree that for a time frame of 20-30yrs, obtaining a effective return of 5.0% - 7.5% for investment in the long term as something attainable and suitable for consumers who are not willing to take much risk?

Last question, since we are talking about ILP, for very risk averse consumers, are you going to recommend only bond funds? I got a friend who bought ILP from a famous P company and recommended bond funds as she is risk averse.....do you dare to guarantee in black and white that the returns from bonds funds will be enough to cover all the cost of the ILPs and at the same time ensure a decent return? Wun a term policy and bond fund unit trust offer a higher chance of a decent return?

I can guarantee a minimum return of at least 2.5%...even without bond fund.....SGS bonds...no additional cost except for a few dollars of custody fees.