Hi all,

I was wondering if anyone can advise on the following:

1. I would like to find out how much a reducing term life insurance would cost. Assuming the following parameters :
-> 100% protection only, ZERO cash value, ZERO returns, ZERO savings
-> Sum Insured RM1 million
-> Reducing term over 25 years or 30 years
-> 35 year old male, non smoking
-> Option to include critical illness cover (payout if diagnosed with the critical illness)

2. Children education insurance
-> Are there products which insure the life of the parent instead of the child? i.e. if the child dies, no payout but if the parent dies/TPD then payout to the child
-> If insuring the life of the child, min sum assured e.g. RM10k or 20k or whatever lowest possible value
-> Maximum premium per year RM3000
-> MUST BE income tax deductible (education insurance RM3000 tax relief)
-> No medical card, maximum participation on company bonus or returns (but yet, not ILP)

Appreciate if anyone with info/experience out there can share.

Thanks!

This post has been edited by poolcarpet: Dec 21 2009, 01:52 PM

hi solarwing,

rather than just look for an insurance package, have you thought about how much coverage you need? questions that you might want to ask yourself:

1. do you have any dependents? parents who are not working? married with kids? any homeloan? if you have homeloan, does it include MRTA?
2. does your company provide insurance coverage? and medical coverage? some companies provide adequate life+accident coverage so you may not even need one. if medical is covered as well, then there isn't much point to get any extra, unless you are looking for one of those ILP programs.
3. since you have just started working, i assume that you don't have much financial commitments? if so, what do you intend to protect by getting insurance?

most large companies provide term life and personal accident cover, and also medical. so check out details of your company package then decide whether you need additional insurance.

i'm not an insurance agent, just very interested in personal finance matters. you are still young, so look at overall picture including the option of investing now for future returns (shares, unit trusts, properties, there are a lot of investment vehicle out there).

hope this helps.

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Added on December 25, 2009, 9:26 ami guess ask:

1. where is it documented the amount put into funds? if it's ILP by name, but yet so little put into funds - what is the use? isn't it possible to go for non-ILP then or ILP with greater contribution?
2. do you need 3D + PA + income replacement?
3. not familiar with medical card, so can't comment here
4. what's the difference between this and the traditional plans? what does the traditional plan offer that this doesn't and vice versa?
5. if you need (need, not want...) the income replacement/surgical/outpatient, then it does sound good
6. the 10% put into funds (i guess unit trust) is not guaranteed. unit trust can go down and up. if it goes down, will it still cover the premiums?

note: i'm not an insurance agent, so the reasoning/advise above may not be the best.

with insurance, hindsight is always 20/20. if something happens, one would look back and say "i should have gotten that policy......" so think carefully what need then go get it. but if you have evaluated and decided not to get it, don't go thinking "i should have gotten that policy.....".

insurance is about protecting current wealth and if you have dependents, their livelihood in the future in case you are not around anymore. i personally DO NOT believe in any returns from insurance. i think if one reads up more about investing, one can easily get similar or even more returns without needing to be locked down with a certain policy. personally for me, insurance should be 100% protection only, and make sure it's something you NEED and not WANT. it's very tempting to make a coverage of RM2million for example, but evaluate how much you need. i've read that coverage of your next 10 years annual salary is a good start, but again, i'm not an expert in these matters.

just something to bring out to discuss.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!


This post has been edited by poolcarpet: Dec 25 2009, 09:26 AM

you mean join them as agent or buy insurance from them? why the Xs ? is the full word censored here? sorry, just wondering

Is anyone familiar with TuneMoney's Takaful PA? It's underwritten by CIMB Aviva, and coverage for Class 1 occupations for RM1m + some medical expenses (RM10k, plus some other accident related claims) is only RM494.40

Is this the cheapest PA out there? What's the catch??

Thanks HH. I'm just wondering why the premiums are so low compared to other PA (some which are 2x the premiums for same coverage). I'll read up more on the certificate, thanks again.

This post has been edited by poolcarpet: Dec 29 2009, 09:49 AM

Anyone here bought Maybanks YippieCare2 or Premier Education Savers? YC2 seems to have more guaranteed returns while PES is more ILP. Are these 2 income tax deductible? (RM3000 education insurance). I've heard that some of the education insurance in the market with investment component may not be tax deductible. Anyone has experience or knowledge in this area?

Thanks!!

solarwing,

i think it's impossible for anyone to advise without knowing further details about your financial standing.

1. what are your commitments? homeloan? carloan?
2. do you have dependencies?
3. what coverage do you want? against accidents? against medical/illness?
4. how much savings do you have now?

personally my believe is throw investment out of insurance, treat them separately. investment is investment. insurance is insurance (protect life, protect against medical expenses). so any insurance which promises you returns after x years, do your own calculation and see if it's worthwhile. insurance agents will not like me, but i have yet to come across any insurance whose returns which can give me more back compared to even simple FD over the same number of years. of course, insurance will have protection component which FD/savings don't have. agents, please correct me if i'm wrong. give me an insurance savings plan and i'll work out the similar returns from FD and see which is higher.

over the years, the requirement for life insurance should decrease as you build up your investments. e.g. if by the time you reach 50 yrs old you have 3 fully paid up houses with rm1m, savings, then is there a further need for life insurance?

however, one thing i feel is necessary would be medical insurance, as you don't want to end up using all your hard earned savings on medical fees. so i feel this is a must if your company is not providing cover for this.

so it depends on your stage of life now. single? no dependencies? then perhaps a simple protection + medical insurance will be enough? is your company providing medical coverage? if yes, have you checked if the amount covered?

what does the RM140 per month cover? what plan is it under this prubsn? what is the sum assured? i assume it covers death and TPD and critical illness? what is the detail about the savings/investment component?

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Added on December 30, 2009, 10:58 amHi HH,

Thanks. Well, I have this doubt as I've heard that if IRB sees any investment component (e.g. PruSAVER in Prulink Education Plan) then they will say that is not claimable. You know how they work.......

Thanks again - I will do more research on this before committing.


This post has been edited by poolcarpet: Dec 30 2009, 10:58 AM

Hi RioDJ,

I know Pruhealth does offer coverage up to age 100
http://www.pruhealth.com.my/

Look under Pruhealth Premiums. But look at the premium, say for someone aged 30-35 signing up till 100, the annual premiums are RM2222. That's excluding the life insurance itself as based on my understanding, this Pruhealth is a rider and not standalone.

But do we really need coverage till 100 years? We are 'betting' that we will live that long AND will need medical attention/costs.

The annual limit is RM50k and lifetime limit is RM500k. Based on inflation, who knows what RM50k can treat in 30-40 years down the road and that's still not even halfway through the policy till 100 years old. If we take coverage till 70 years old, the premiums are only RM861 per year, about 2/3 cheaper than the one that covers till 100. Makes sense.

Anyway, you mentioned your company covers till 80 years old? Is that assuming you are still an employee? If so, kind of weird right - who will work till 80 with a company??

is this true? if i buy a medical insurance from one company, then finish the limit and i won't be able to buy another medical insurance? what about if it's with the same insurance company?

may have finished up the limit due to a one off accident right? and not medical problems.

Happy New Year!!

say someone bought the lowest medical coverage, just take pruhealth 100 for example. coverage is rm50k annual, rm500k lifetime. coverage till 70.

say this person is 30, but someone is very unfortunate and encountered 3 accidents (nothing work related, say maybe road accident) before he's 50. and say the surgery and related costs came up to RM510k.

assuming he could make claims more than 50k annual (pru has some option for that, i understand) and he finished his lifetime rm500k and wanted to get another medical insurance at age 50.

are you guys saying insurance companies may not want to accept him? and prudential itself may not accept him? can't be, right? yes, maybe he has to go through medical checks, yes, maybe the premiums will be higher due to his history of claims. but surely he will still be able to get some cover?

if this is the situation, everyone will be scrambling to get the highest possible medical coverage, e.g. pruhealth 400 (1.5 million lifetime).

just wondering out loud

ok thanks all for the feedbacks and points. i have gained further insight on this. i have not bought any medical insurance yet, and i don't need it at the moment as company does provide cover, but these are good points that i can take if i decide to get later. thanks again!

would you mind sharing more about this? what is it exactly, how much per month, how much returns?

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Added on January 10, 2010, 9:58 amyou have to ask yourself, do you NEED insurance protection? things to ask:

1. what are your commitments? do you have family members who might rely on your future income to survive? e.g. your children?
2. are you married? single? if single, you may not need much insurance as there are not much commitments
3. most companies provide some form of insurance/medical. have you checked if you have enough coverage?
4. insurance is a long term affair (except short term insurance like PA) - think before you commit.
5. for the same amount of money that you are putting into insurance, can you invest in other ways?

personally, to me - the most basic question to ask is if I die -> how much money is sufficient for my beneficiaries to continue living comfortably?
next question -> if TPD/medical problems -> how much money is needed to sustain yourself and family (if any)?

you should also ask the insurance agent - why should you buy a life policy and why from them?

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Added on January 10, 2010, 10:33 amsolarwing, can see from the attachment that you are very young, 24 next birthday. there is a lot you can do with rm150 per month or rm1800 per year over many years. how long do you need to pay for this insurance? till 70? or only x number of years?

i agree with the rest that rm50k is quite low coverage. give it a think, by the time you are 40, RM50k may not be a lot to you but you may be still stuck with this policy (unless you want to cash out, but i don't think you'll get much back).

if you are relatively healthy (non-smoking some more, do you exercise regularly?), is there really a need for life insurance/crisis cover? for a healthy person, i think the risks of accidents would be higher than medical illness. what are the odds of you at this young age getting diagnosed with the 36 illnesses?

also agree with the rest there are too many riders. what is compassionate benefit? rm5k? do you really need that? also accidental medical reimbursement?

and for takaful saver, which unit trusts are you investing in? have you checked out their performance so far (although past performance is not an indicator for future performance, it does give you some idea on how they are managing their investments).

i'm guessing that your premium of RM150 is there because it's the minimum, right? i've met with agents who told me the minimum is rm150 per month, so they add/reduce the components to meet this number. honestly, i'm not happy with this 'minimum' premium, so i have yet to commit.

so give it a good think whether you NEED the protection/coverage as in the policy. it's a long term affair. if you have the discipline to save rm150 per month, say in monthly FD @ 2%, after 180 months or 15 years, you would be looking at RM31k. of course, if you invest in something that gives you an average of 5%, you would be looking at RM40k after 15 years. and if you invest in something that gives you 8% returns, you would be looking at RM51k. by then you would be aged 39. and in my humble opinion, it's still not too late to get insurance then.

personally, if your company provides you some form of life insurance/pa/medical, i think maybe you just need to top up a bit on these components.

disclaimer: please think and decide for yourself, as with insurance, if something happens and you don't have coverage, i don't want you cursing at this lowyat forummer for giving such advise. good luck!!


This post has been edited by poolcarpet: Jan 10 2010, 10:33 AM

yeah agreed. some middle age/youngsters may get hit by one of the 36 CI, but i'm asking - what are the odds? i'm sure insurance companies will have their statistics from the claims paid out. there will always be risks out there, one can't buy insurance to cover all risks. we'd be bankrupt just by paying insurance and at that point i think we will be worth much much more dead than alive

obviously insurance is again a 'hindsight is 20-20' thing. if i know i'm going to get one of the 36 CI when I'm 30, i will get the insurance - but if i don't get the insurance but get diagnosed with one of the 36 CI, then i wish i had bought it.

in a nutshell, it's still about evaluating each of our individual needs for protection and coverage in the event of something bad happening. Not about getting this cover and that rider as there is a chance of that happening.

Just my personal opinion.

This post has been edited by poolcarpet: Jan 11 2010, 05:05 PM

solarwing,

i won't go for either one.
i do not want to get locked down with takafulink dana equiti.
what is the accidental death/dismemberment rm20000 + rm2000 for? is this amount payable if something happens? rm22000 is not a lot.

i would go for a plain PA, then get a non-ILP life insurance + medical card. you should find out how much a non-ILP life insurance + medical card costs.

good luck!!

Fully agreed with you PJusa. Most insurance policies with cash value or returns will show you the 'best case' scenario. I have seen proposals where the return is 9% and 2%. Obviously, the agent will highlight the 9% but I personally always look at the 2% column

No one has yet to show me any insurance plan which can give similar or better returns if i were to invest the same amount in FD, or if i were to buy a cheaper insurance type with same coverage, and invest the difference

hi all, any idea how much a term life insurance (strictly no cash value or investment) would cost? say a 15 year and 20 year term life insurance...