Of insurance and investments
Recently, I suddenly have the urge to join this insurance/investment scheme. We all have to accept the fact that we will die some day and Insurance isn’t just for our ownselves, but for our family members who may not be able to afford the medical fees or sustainability of their own life after our departure. We are adults and we should be equally responsible.
Thus, I did ask afew friends (who are agents) to recommend me afew plans so that I could do my planning for my finance for the next few years. My reason for not been able to commit to sign with them is because Im still drawing pocket money from my dad (who is the only breadwinner in the family) with his unstable business. Another reason is because I need to understand what Im buying because it will be a financial lockdown if I bought the wrong thing. 1 good example I read from a blogger ahkiat is that 1 of his customer bought an ILP (investment linked policy) for about 2 years and wants to withdraw after seeing that the funds she bought has raised up above her expectation BUT, something she did not realise was there is a penalty fee if you withdraw within 10years of the contract, which is to surrender the 90% of the fund, thus she will only have 10% back.. She’s making a big loss even if she did earn some at the funds. And ofcourse, not all ILPs are crap, you have to know what you want based on your time horizon.
ILP (investment linked policy) consists of 2 things, Investment and term insurance. If you want to find out more, read here. I wont say anymore further because Im not a trained finance adviser, but what I would say is that if you want your money to work for you, you really have to decide whether you want to take some risk to gain higher returns rather than a stable low return.
And some of the websites I read recommended:
– Investment is investment, don’t get it together with insurance. It can be cheaper in long term but how long is your time horizon?
– Life Insurance is to provide security and finance to your loved ones should anything happen to you. Be responsible.
– Upgrade your health shield, don’t get bind down by the limitations from the default garment insurance. Your hospitalization/medical fee is more costly than death, we have to admit it.
Last but not least, dont buy something from your agent just because he’s your friend.. buy things that are practical and useful to you! He will be drawing commission from you and you are the one who will be keeping him alive in future if you sign with him, so be realistic.