how time passes so fast when you're busy. weekends flew past me ;P
chance upon this article in business times about matching clients to their investment portfolio. it generally shows how mismatch most people are, i.e. people with low risk actually buying high risk products! accordingly to the article, having knowledge to products does not necessary means you are gear towards high risk investment. worth a read at your own time (:
Wed, September 30, 2009,
Getting to know all about you
Risk profiling is a standard and important part of the 'know your client' process but arguably, too little thought and resources are invested into the design of the questionnaire, reports GENEVIEVE CUA
IN THE aftermath of the damage wrought by the financial crisis, the accusation most often hurled at bankers is that they had pigeon-holed clients into the wrong risk profile.
That is, clients were ushered into investments that were allegedly a poor match with their actual risk appetites.
Risk profiling is a standard and important part of the 'know your client' process, regardless of a client's net worth. But arguably, too little thought and resources are invested into the design of the questionnaire - typically a cursory five-question exercise. Do risk profilers actually give a fair picture of your risk appetite?
Barclays Wealth has tapped psychometrics - a blend of statistics and psychology - to develop a risk profiler that it hopes will lead to meaningful discussions on risk preferences and portfolio allocations. The exercise should ultimately help clients to stay on track through fair and foul winds.
Barclays Wealth director (investment and product office) Greg Davies says: 'Classical finance says tell me your level of risk tolerance and I'll put you on the efficient frontier that maximises return for a level of risk. It assumes that once you invest in a rational and optimal portfolio, you're able to stick with it . . . You invest, fall asleep and wake up 10 years later to get the benefits. But that doesn't happen.'
In reality, investors have 'emotional interactions' with their portfolios, thanks to easy access to portfolio valuations as well as media bombardment, he says. 'It's not just about the end goal. It's about the journey. The journey is extremely important. Not only is it capable of making you happy or miserable;
but if you are emotionally involved with the journey, you're also liable to making short-term decisions that are harmful to your long-run financial goals.'
Investors are their own worst enemy
There is a wealth of data showing that investors are their own worst enemy. US-based Dalbar, which has tracked the effects of investor behaviour on portfolios for some 15 years, finds consistently that investors in equities, bonds or asset allocation funds fail to beat inflation as emotions cause them to buy high and sell low.
Barclays' new tool comprises two sections. The first is a series of 36 questions that Dr Davies reckons should take five minutes to complete. The second comprises standard questions on one's objectives, financial circumstances and assets, as well as liquidity needs.
The result is a profile of a client along six dimensions of risk. These are: risk tolerance, which refers to the long-term rational trade-off between risk and return; composure or one's emotional reactions to uncertainty; market engagement; perceived financial expertise; delegation, which reflects the desire to reduce the effort of financial decision making by taking advice; and belief in the skill of investment managers.
'The test tries to measure how much you can psychologically cope with downside risk over the long term,' says Dr Davies.
With this profile, it is then possible to put together a portfolio with allocations that take into account where the investor stands along the six dimensions. This is in contrast to the normal 'pigeon-holing' approach where most clients end up with a 'moderate' risk level even if their reactions to short-term fluctuations and investment horizon may be on opposite ends of a scale.
'You can have as much brain power put into a better asset allocation but unless you help clients stick with that portfolio, it's not going to do them any good.' The goal is to try to smoothen the path for investors so that they can achieve their goals and suffer less emotional trauma along the way.
As an example, a hypothetical client who scores very lowly on composure could be recommended a relatively higher allocation into absolute return strategies. One's score on the market engagement dimension - which measures the degree to which an individual is comfortable with risk in financial markets - is linked to one's allocation to cash and liquid assets. A low score suggests that one is likely to avoid financial markets, and hence the portfolio could be structured to limit negative surprises.
The tool has been rolled out in Europe and the US and has just been launched in Singapore. To date, between 3,500 and 4,000 clients have used it.
Falling short of the standard
In a newsletter, Optimal Behaviour, Dr Davies points out that it is mandatory in Europe to assess clients' risk preferences. But there is no guidance on how to assess risk appetite accurately. 'Accurate measurement requires a carefully designed, objective and statistically robust risk tolerance questionnaire using established psychometric techniques. The overwhelming majority of risk tolerance questionnaires used by banks simply do not meet these standards, and frequently fall foul of pitfalls long known to experimental psychologists. And yet they satisfy the regulatory requirements.'
He says that questions to assess risk tolerance must be free of 'confounding factors' - which are incidental factors that can cause the risk tolerance score to be systematically biased upwards or downwards.
Risk tolerance should not be confused with investment objectives. Factors such as annual income requirements, time horizon and liquidity requirements are not psychological factors, says Dr Davies. Risk tolerance, if properly measured, is quite stable. 'It's not that investment objectives should be ignored, but rather that they should be considered separately from risk tolerance.'
A second principle is not to confound risk attitude with other personality dimensions. For instance, health risks, participation in dangerous sports or taking risk in a gambling environment are unrelated to financial risk attitudes.
Knowledge of finance or investment or mathematical ability should not feature in risk profilers. 'It is equally important that a measure of risk tolerance reflects an investor's innate ability to cope with future risks, rather than their reactions to past investment performance.'
----------------------------------
ps. always make sure you know what you're buying! investment is good only if it's made wisely and with appropriate considerations. DO NOT jump into investments. what can go up can come down. know your own risk and you're one step closer to smart investment (:
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Thursday, October 1, 2009
children's day!
Children's Day!!! (: happy children's day to all!
medical insurance will be the topic this morning. was just running through a medical insurance for a friend the other day. looking through the benefits, all seems well until the terms deductibles and co-insurance appeared!
i must say, medical insurance (e.g. HealthShield/ PruShield) are all very good and essential plans. why? 1st they can be paid by your medisave, 2nd it provides coverage for hospital bills!! and you know hospital bills nowadays just gets higher and higher.. no matter how much medisave you have, it might not be enough to pay for your hospital bills, instead, taking out a small percentage to get this medical insurance will really help in the long term.
back to my story.. hmm . oh ya deductibles and co-insurance.. for medisave paid medical insurance products, all comes with these 2 clauses, a deductible of about $1k to $3k and co-insurance of approximately 10%. What does this means? basically, for you will be liable to pay for the deductible amount or your complete hospital bill whichever is lower.
example. deductible is $1k. hospital bill is $800, thus you cannot claim insurance but instead would need to pay for the $800 completely.
but if your hospital bill is $2k, you would need to pay the deductible of $1k and the reminding $1k is claimable. THEN comes in the co-insurance part.
if the bills is higher than the deductible amount, you will also need to pay 10% of the amount reminding. taking back the same example above. after paying for deductible, you would still need to pay 10% of $1k = $100. Thus the actual insurance claim amount will be $900.
it is important that such clauses are made known to you. do not assume insurance is able to cover the full amount at any point of time. also some plans have a limit on the total claimable amount. do check. there are other insurance plans available with can be bought to cover the deductibles and co-insurance. that means you would basically need 2 plans, 1 bought using medisave to cover your main hospital bills and 2 bought using cash to cover for the deductible and co-insurance. if both plans are purchased, you can be assure than you have your hospital bills covered COMPLETELY! (:
time to start the day! cheers! enjoy children's day to all the children out there!!
medical insurance will be the topic this morning. was just running through a medical insurance for a friend the other day. looking through the benefits, all seems well until the terms deductibles and co-insurance appeared!
i must say, medical insurance (e.g. HealthShield/ PruShield) are all very good and essential plans. why? 1st they can be paid by your medisave, 2nd it provides coverage for hospital bills!! and you know hospital bills nowadays just gets higher and higher.. no matter how much medisave you have, it might not be enough to pay for your hospital bills, instead, taking out a small percentage to get this medical insurance will really help in the long term.
back to my story.. hmm . oh ya deductibles and co-insurance.. for medisave paid medical insurance products, all comes with these 2 clauses, a deductible of about $1k to $3k and co-insurance of approximately 10%. What does this means? basically, for you will be liable to pay for the deductible amount or your complete hospital bill whichever is lower.
example. deductible is $1k. hospital bill is $800, thus you cannot claim insurance but instead would need to pay for the $800 completely.
but if your hospital bill is $2k, you would need to pay the deductible of $1k and the reminding $1k is claimable. THEN comes in the co-insurance part.
if the bills is higher than the deductible amount, you will also need to pay 10% of the amount reminding. taking back the same example above. after paying for deductible, you would still need to pay 10% of $1k = $100. Thus the actual insurance claim amount will be $900.
it is important that such clauses are made known to you. do not assume insurance is able to cover the full amount at any point of time. also some plans have a limit on the total claimable amount. do check. there are other insurance plans available with can be bought to cover the deductibles and co-insurance. that means you would basically need 2 plans, 1 bought using medisave to cover your main hospital bills and 2 bought using cash to cover for the deductible and co-insurance. if both plans are purchased, you can be assure than you have your hospital bills covered COMPLETELY! (:
time to start the day! cheers! enjoy children's day to all the children out there!!
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
F1!!!!
so sorry for not updating recently. had been too tied up by F1. i must say: IT HAD BEEN A FUN AND HAPPENING AND EXCITING WEEKEND!!!!!!!
a GREAT team at turn 19L with a WONDERFUL mentor too! (: i'm so wear out by it but i enjoyed it! haha talking about contradiction yeah.
just completed another appointment yesterday. explained to her the policies she had purchased previously and we spoke about some insurance issues, updating her about some changes (esp. on the beneficiaries portion). guess this is known as servicing ya. its really nice at times cause some of them, do not have much education and thus do not really read much english. in contrast, all policies they purchase and related letters they received are all in english! they are dependent on the agents to really give them a clear picture of what they are buying and the contents of the regular letters they received from the insurance companies! I must say, agents play a VERY important role in giving clear, accurate and honest explanations about insurance.
with this, i urge all agents to go call up clients whom you had not met for more than a year, its time to just pop by and give them a good update. remember, its not all about sales, but its all about helping your clients!
cheers!
a GREAT team at turn 19L with a WONDERFUL mentor too! (: i'm so wear out by it but i enjoyed it! haha talking about contradiction yeah.
just completed another appointment yesterday. explained to her the policies she had purchased previously and we spoke about some insurance issues, updating her about some changes (esp. on the beneficiaries portion). guess this is known as servicing ya. its really nice at times cause some of them, do not have much education and thus do not really read much english. in contrast, all policies they purchase and related letters they received are all in english! they are dependent on the agents to really give them a clear picture of what they are buying and the contents of the regular letters they received from the insurance companies! I must say, agents play a VERY important role in giving clear, accurate and honest explanations about insurance.
with this, i urge all agents to go call up clients whom you had not met for more than a year, its time to just pop by and give them a good update. remember, its not all about sales, but its all about helping your clients!
cheers!
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Chingay 2010!
received this email today ;P
interested parties feel free to join in ya (:
PAYM @ CHINGAY PARADE SINGAPORE 2010
- Be Part of the PAYM Float Contingent “Harmony in Diversity”
Chingay Parade Singapore 2010 is coming soon and the People’s Association Youth Movement (PAYM)
is now recruiting performers for its very own Float Contingent!
Showcasing Asia in wondrous ways beyond your wildest imagination…
Themed ImaginEast, Chingay Parade 2010 will be held on 19 and 20 February 2010 and will see a total of 6 performing segments along the new route as we move over to the F1 Pit Building for the FIRST time! Be Part of the Excitement and be dazzled at Chingay 2010!
Energy Blast!
PAYM will be forming a 300-strong float contingent for the Grand Finale segment for Chingay 2010 called "Harmony in Diversity". This will be the GRANDEST Finale in Chingay’s long history! The PAYM Chingay Float 2010 will showcase a new dimension of height, as some of our performers execute exciting gravity-defying acts. The PAYM Float will also incorporate the novel use of drums and ladders. These drums reflect all the different ethnic groups in our society whilst the ladders signify progress and continuous strive upwards. Let YOUR ENERGY set the stage ablaze!
Recruitment is NOW ON for enthusiastic and energetic YOUths as performers of the PAYM Chingay Float 2010! NO pre-requisites (such as dance background) are required as training will be provided for you to learn the steps and the coordination as a contingent. In case you are concern about the height element, no worries, we have got other performing roles minus the height. =)
The tentative training & performance schedule (subjected to further confirmation) is as follows:
Training: Saturday sessions 28 November 2009 5, 12, 19 December 2009 2, 9,16, 23, 30 January 2010 6(am session), 13 February 2010 Wednesday evening sessions 6, 13, 20, 27 January 2010 | Rehearsals @ F1 Pit Building: Full Dress Rehearsals: 6 (pm session), and 18 February 2010 Combined Rehearsals: 2 sessions to be confirmed. (One between 2 - 5 Feb 2010, and one between 7 - 12 Feb 2010) Performance: Chingay Preview – 19 February 2010 Actual Chingay Parade – 20 February 2010 |
To register, please complete the Registration List in the following attachment:
<< PAYM Chingay Float 2010_Volunteer Registration Form>>
On the 1st training day, we will require you to complete an indemnity form. We will follow-up on this at a later date.
Please send the completed Registration List to Miss Eileen Goh at paym.chingay@gmail.com by Friday 30 October 2009, 5pm.
For further enquiries, please feel free to contact
Mr Kenneth Wong, Member of the Organising Committee of PAYM @ Chingay Parade 2010, at wongchongwai.kenneth@gmail.com
Mr Kenneth Wong, Member of the Organising Committee of PAYM @ Chingay Parade 2010, at wongchongwai.kenneth@gmail.com
Join us now for a memorable experience with People's Association Youth Movement @ Chingay 2010 and together, we will make another success story for PAYM @ Chingay Parade 2010!
Monday, September 21, 2009
hari raya!
to all Muslim readers, Hari Raya Puasa! (:
really enjoy holidays, seeing everyone dress up, looking great and enjoying the day. It really brings out the joy in everyone!
once again, here i bring you some updates from the insurance industry.. not so much of an update but instead, i think its a promotion (:
few weeks back, AIA launched a coverage for H1N1. a quick summary of the benefits:
1) Providing H1N1 compliments cover of 12mths protection against Influenza A (H1N1) virus infection. Free with any purchase of selected life/health policy.
2) Valid till 8Nov09
3) 3 types of benefits depending on the corresponding plan purchased. benefits covered are
a) death benefit (ranging from 10K to 50K)
b) daily hospital income benefit ($50/day max 15 days)
a snapshot of the corresponding plans,
interested to get coverage for h1n1? contact your respect agents today! (note that in this case, its AIA thats offering the plans)
meanwhile, enjoy the holidays!! cheers!
ps. where's my green packet?? hmm.....
Friday, September 18, 2009
online submission
cool stuff today, never did i realise that most insurance agencies had implemented online submission! i believe it had been some time since it was implemented (:
good news i would say, as i see much benefits it provides to both clients and agents. clients are able to have a more interactive appointment and doing away with paper really helps to clear much clutter from your desk! agents are also able to provide a more efficient service by having tons of information at their fingertips (rather notebook, in this case ;P).
it was also the last day of my course. looking back, i felt like i had completed a crash course on insurance haha it had been a fun, enjoyable, motivational 4 days with a wonderful class of course mates! looking forward to putting what I had been through into practice. course mates, if you see this post, i'll be calling you guys up prob early oct for a cuppa yeah (:
its TGIF! go go go!
good news i would say, as i see much benefits it provides to both clients and agents. clients are able to have a more interactive appointment and doing away with paper really helps to clear much clutter from your desk! agents are also able to provide a more efficient service by having tons of information at their fingertips (rather notebook, in this case ;P).
it was also the last day of my course. looking back, i felt like i had completed a crash course on insurance haha it had been a fun, enjoyable, motivational 4 days with a wonderful class of course mates! looking forward to putting what I had been through into practice. course mates, if you see this post, i'll be calling you guys up prob early oct for a cuppa yeah (:
its TGIF! go go go!
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Benefit Illustrations
Have any of you read through any of your policies' benefit illustration (BI)?
There is so much information in 1 benefit illustration! next time, instead of just scanning the document, try reading it line by line. You will know so much more about your policy. e.g. do you know that the investment performance percentage generated in the BI does not directly relate to the figures shown?
Also do you know what are the true benefits and conditions attached to any payout by your policy? If your answer is 'no', I strongly urged you to take out your policy and run through the BI. If need be, drop your agent a call. He or she will be more than willing to go through it (:
remember, always make sure you know what you are buying.
someone told me tonight that now is the right time to hit the stock markets and property. What do you think? Personally, I think it's worth a try (: time to do my stock analysis!
ciaoz
There is so much information in 1 benefit illustration! next time, instead of just scanning the document, try reading it line by line. You will know so much more about your policy. e.g. do you know that the investment performance percentage generated in the BI does not directly relate to the figures shown?
Also do you know what are the true benefits and conditions attached to any payout by your policy? If your answer is 'no', I strongly urged you to take out your policy and run through the BI. If need be, drop your agent a call. He or she will be more than willing to go through it (:
remember, always make sure you know what you are buying.
someone told me tonight that now is the right time to hit the stock markets and property. What do you think? Personally, I think it's worth a try (: time to do my stock analysis!
ciaoz
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Many Tests day
Its many test day today. Think I took 2 short tests within 4 hours and another 1 test at the end of they day. Lucky all pass haha rushing off for another meeting. busy day.. wednesdays are always busy, esp at night.. i'll update again tomorrow (:
ps. Its all about products and compliance today! Money Laundery, Terrorist Funding, and what have you..
ciaoz
ps. Its all about products and compliance today! Money Laundery, Terrorist Funding, and what have you..
ciaoz
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Settlement Options
Settlement Options, an option that is available to most (note not ALL) policies during the time of either death, maturity or upon surrender. I was told that its a common practice that during the cash out of a policy (i.e. death/maturity/surrender), a cheque will be sent to the beneficiary of the policy or policy owner.
What is not known is that there is actually this 'Settlement Option' whereby the beneficiary or policy owner can choose not to encash the cheque but instead to opt for any of the available settlement options given. Normally (NOT applicable to all) there are 4 different types of options given:
1. Received interest on proceeds with minimal withdrawal amount
- this means that instead of cashing out the payout amount, the money is place back to the insurance company and the beneficiary or policy owner is able to received interest on the amount regularly.
2. Received a fixed amount for a certain period of time.
- this means the beneficiary or policy owner is able to indicate how much they want to received and base on the amount of payout, the disbursement of money will be done regularly in the amount stated till the entire sum of amount is fully paid.
3. Received a certain amount for a fixed period.
- this means the beneficiary or policy owner is able to indicate for how long they would like to received a regular payout. The duration of this payout will be computed base on the amount of payout and amount to be received regularly.
4. Received life income.
- this is similar to taking the payout and converting it into an annuity.
In any case, DO check on your policy's terms and conditions for the exact Settlement Options available. Each policy is different in terms of the available options and interests rates. To exercise such an option, contact your Financial Service Consultant. You will need to write in formally to the insurance company to exercise your option.
**Policy must be in force for more than 5 years, the total payout amount must be more than SGD$5000 or the monthly interest paid out must not be less than SGD$100.
An interesting finding (:
What is not known is that there is actually this 'Settlement Option' whereby the beneficiary or policy owner can choose not to encash the cheque but instead to opt for any of the available settlement options given. Normally (NOT applicable to all) there are 4 different types of options given:
1. Received interest on proceeds with minimal withdrawal amount
- this means that instead of cashing out the payout amount, the money is place back to the insurance company and the beneficiary or policy owner is able to received interest on the amount regularly.
2. Received a fixed amount for a certain period of time.
- this means the beneficiary or policy owner is able to indicate how much they want to received and base on the amount of payout, the disbursement of money will be done regularly in the amount stated till the entire sum of amount is fully paid.
3. Received a certain amount for a fixed period.
- this means the beneficiary or policy owner is able to indicate for how long they would like to received a regular payout. The duration of this payout will be computed base on the amount of payout and amount to be received regularly.
4. Received life income.
- this is similar to taking the payout and converting it into an annuity.
In any case, DO check on your policy's terms and conditions for the exact Settlement Options available. Each policy is different in terms of the available options and interests rates. To exercise such an option, contact your Financial Service Consultant. You will need to write in formally to the insurance company to exercise your option.
**Policy must be in force for more than 5 years, the total payout amount must be more than SGD$5000 or the monthly interest paid out must not be less than SGD$100.
An interesting finding (:
Foundation Day 1: Lunch
Ending my 1st day 1st half of the training. not bad! interesting training (:
took a small look into the FHC (Financial Health Check) and also saw the typical sales process/steps involved. Glad to hear that the trainers focused a lot on helping clients be more aware of their financial status instead of telling us to go for sales. this is really in tune to helping people realize their dreams instead of the usual sales and hard-sell..
end of lunch.. i'll be back with more updates!
took a small look into the FHC (Financial Health Check) and also saw the typical sales process/steps involved. Glad to hear that the trainers focused a lot on helping clients be more aware of their financial status instead of telling us to go for sales. this is really in tune to helping people realize their dreams instead of the usual sales and hard-sell..
end of lunch.. i'll be back with more updates!
Pre-Foundation
Finally... its time to sit thru the foundation program for new agents. Should be an exciting 4 days of information overload! Keep a lookout. Will post what I'll be learning in the coming 4 days....... (:
Stay insured! ;P
Stay insured! ;P
Friday, September 11, 2009
Changes to Normination of Beneficiaries
With effect from 1st Sep 09, there is an amendment under the Insurance Act which will enable policyholders of life or personal accident insurance policies to nominate beneficiaries under their insurance policies. Making a nomination is not compulsory. However, it provides you with a choice to distribute your insurance proceeds to your beneficiaries.
Basically, there will be 2 types of nominations. Firstly is the Trust Nomination, this takes effect when the nomination is made to the policy owner's spouse or children. Once nomination is made, the nomination is irrevocable, aka NO more changes! For all Muslim friends, according to the Muslim Law, you will only be able to make Trust Nomination.
Secondly is the Revocable Nomination, this takes affect when the nomination is made to a third party other than spouse or children, e.g. charity, relatives, company, etc. Such a nomination can be changed anytime.
For further details, you may refer to the pdf guide released by LIA, NOB Guide Sep09
Do contact your respective agents if you would like to make a nomination today (:
Home Mortgage
Came across this article in the papers and find it useful, thus here it is for sharing! (:
Don't overlook mortgage insurance
Your death could cost your family their home if you are not covered, says JASON ONG
RECENTLY, my client Mr Wong called me for mortgage insurance advice. He had just bought a semi-detached house for close to $2 million. He took a loan of $1.2 million over 15 years, and was looking for a mortgage reducing term insurance that will pay off his mortgage in case of his death or total and permanent disability (TPD) while the loan is not fully paid.
Mr Wong told me that he will never forget the time that he and his younger siblings lost their family home when his father died of a heart attack some 30 years ago, leaving his mother struggling to raise the four of them.
Certainly, he does not want this to happen to his homemaker wife and three children.
'When I pass away, the last thing that I would want to put my family through is to also lose the roof over their heads,' he said.
In Singapore, mortgage insurance is not made compulsory for private property owners and those who are not using CPF to pay their monthly HDB housing loan repayments. However, the Home Protection Scheme, or HPS, is mandatory for HDB/HUDC flat owners who service their mortgage loans with CPF funds.
Many private property owners baulk at mortgage insurance either because of inertia or misconception that it's an unnecessary cost. Without mortgage insurance coverage, however, life could be a lot harder financially for the family if things go wrong.
Over the past years, there have been newspaper reports on households having to surrender their private properties because the sole breadwinner passed away without mortgage insurance coverage. As such, I always advise my clients who own private properties to have mortgage insurance to protect their homes and families.
As the name implies, mortgage insurance safeguards your home and family against the unexpected, so that they will not be burdened with mortgage repayments or face the possibility of losing their home. It is available on a single or joint-life basis. If you and your spouse jointly own the home, you may want to consider a joint-life mortgage policy which pays out on the 'first death'.
You can decide how long you want the policy to cover you, but most people have it to run concurrent with their mortgage.
The premium will increase with the mortgage size and the length of your term. In addition, age, gender and whether you smoke are big factors in determining how much you pay. Smokers pay a lot more than non-smokers, simply because they are more likely to make a claim. For example, based on the quotation from a local insurer, Mr Wong will need to pay around 40 per cent more if he were a smoker.
Most of the mortgage insurance plans are reducing coverage whereby the sum assured decreases annually and the rate of reduction depends on the mortgage interest rate and the policy term.
Some of the common benefits and features:
• Total and permanent disability (TPD) coverage up to age 70. The policyholder will receive the sum assured in instalments or a lump sum up to $2 million upon diagnosis of TPD;
• Single or joint-life coverage is available for joint homeowners;
• Premium payment term usually stops a few years before the end of policy term, while you continue to enjoy the coverage;
• Option to add waiver of premium rider so all future premiums will be waived upon diagnosis of one of the 30 critical illnesses;
• Mortgage insurance does not normally cover critical illness, which means that in the event of a critical illness such as cancer, you will still need to pay the monthly mortgage repayments. Therefore, you may need to buy a separate policy for critical illness cover;
• Most plans will not cover any disability caused by riot, civil commotion and terrorist activities.
Buying a home will likely be the largest undertaking you make in your lifetime, so protecting it should be a key part of your overall financial plan. Mortgage insurance will ensure that your dependants will not have the financial worry of trying to find the mortgage repayments or having to sell the property or downsizing in the event of your untimely death.
If you are looking for a mortgage insurance policy, do shop around as premium rates and features offered can vary greatly from insurer to insurer.
Extract from The Business Times, 10 September 2009
The last time I bought my new place (which was also my first in fact!), the mortgage insurance was purchased almost immediately. Guess what was running through my mind when I purchase the insurance, was really to prevent myself from being chased out of the house when I'm unable to make my loan repayment in an unfortunate situation.
Getting yourself a minimal coverage is better than none. After all, we better secure the roof over our heads! (:
Don't overlook mortgage insurance
Your death could cost your family their home if you are not covered, says JASON ONG
RECENTLY, my client Mr Wong called me for mortgage insurance advice. He had just bought a semi-detached house for close to $2 million. He took a loan of $1.2 million over 15 years, and was looking for a mortgage reducing term insurance that will pay off his mortgage in case of his death or total and permanent disability (TPD) while the loan is not fully paid.
Mr Wong told me that he will never forget the time that he and his younger siblings lost their family home when his father died of a heart attack some 30 years ago, leaving his mother struggling to raise the four of them.
Certainly, he does not want this to happen to his homemaker wife and three children.
'When I pass away, the last thing that I would want to put my family through is to also lose the roof over their heads,' he said.
In Singapore, mortgage insurance is not made compulsory for private property owners and those who are not using CPF to pay their monthly HDB housing loan repayments. However, the Home Protection Scheme, or HPS, is mandatory for HDB/HUDC flat owners who service their mortgage loans with CPF funds.
Many private property owners baulk at mortgage insurance either because of inertia or misconception that it's an unnecessary cost. Without mortgage insurance coverage, however, life could be a lot harder financially for the family if things go wrong.
Over the past years, there have been newspaper reports on households having to surrender their private properties because the sole breadwinner passed away without mortgage insurance coverage. As such, I always advise my clients who own private properties to have mortgage insurance to protect their homes and families.
As the name implies, mortgage insurance safeguards your home and family against the unexpected, so that they will not be burdened with mortgage repayments or face the possibility of losing their home. It is available on a single or joint-life basis. If you and your spouse jointly own the home, you may want to consider a joint-life mortgage policy which pays out on the 'first death'.
You can decide how long you want the policy to cover you, but most people have it to run concurrent with their mortgage.
The premium will increase with the mortgage size and the length of your term. In addition, age, gender and whether you smoke are big factors in determining how much you pay. Smokers pay a lot more than non-smokers, simply because they are more likely to make a claim. For example, based on the quotation from a local insurer, Mr Wong will need to pay around 40 per cent more if he were a smoker.
Most of the mortgage insurance plans are reducing coverage whereby the sum assured decreases annually and the rate of reduction depends on the mortgage interest rate and the policy term.
Some of the common benefits and features:
• Total and permanent disability (TPD) coverage up to age 70. The policyholder will receive the sum assured in instalments or a lump sum up to $2 million upon diagnosis of TPD;
• Single or joint-life coverage is available for joint homeowners;
• Premium payment term usually stops a few years before the end of policy term, while you continue to enjoy the coverage;
• Option to add waiver of premium rider so all future premiums will be waived upon diagnosis of one of the 30 critical illnesses;
• Mortgage insurance does not normally cover critical illness, which means that in the event of a critical illness such as cancer, you will still need to pay the monthly mortgage repayments. Therefore, you may need to buy a separate policy for critical illness cover;
• Most plans will not cover any disability caused by riot, civil commotion and terrorist activities.
Buying a home will likely be the largest undertaking you make in your lifetime, so protecting it should be a key part of your overall financial plan. Mortgage insurance will ensure that your dependants will not have the financial worry of trying to find the mortgage repayments or having to sell the property or downsizing in the event of your untimely death.
If you are looking for a mortgage insurance policy, do shop around as premium rates and features offered can vary greatly from insurer to insurer.
Extract from The Business Times, 10 September 2009
The last time I bought my new place (which was also my first in fact!), the mortgage insurance was purchased almost immediately. Guess what was running through my mind when I purchase the insurance, was really to prevent myself from being chased out of the house when I'm unable to make my loan repayment in an unfortunate situation.
Getting yourself a minimal coverage is better than none. After all, we better secure the roof over our heads! (:
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)