Recently, my 8 years old nephew and niece received their NASSA (National Survival Swimming Award) Gold award. I feel happy for them because at such young age, they are able to swim very well. They are definitely better than me in terms of speed and stamina. Now they are heading to the next level of the swimming lesson - to get Gold star.
How I wish I am still as young and energetic as them!
Well, time really flies. While the kids are growing up, I am growing old daily. I can feel that I am not young anymore. After sitting in front of the computer to do work for some hours, my back ache and I have to get up to walk around, prepare and sip a cup of thick hot coffee, letting my eyes and body to take a short break.
Everybody has 24 hours a day, no more and no less. It is up to us how to make good use of the time we have. Yes, treasure and make the best of the present.
Thursday, January 31, 2008
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
The Four Pillars of Good Financial Health
Income Protection
No one can predict the future. Being prepared is the best defense you can have to guard against uncertainties in life, especially in the area of Income Protection.
A sound financial plan is your best assurance for the sustainability of yours and your family's livelihood. With higher standards of living, you need more funds than ever before to maintain your desired lifestyle. What's more, if you have just started a family, you would need to ensure that you have sufficient savings to fulfil your new commitments. Think about the housing loan, household bills and daily expenses. You would like to be assured that you and your family can continue to meet these financial commitments should anything unexpected happen to you.
Medical Coverage
Your health is your wealth. It is important to have the means to take care of any health or medical problems that might unexpectedly arise in your life.
Preserving your health through sound medical insurance coverage is something you do, not just for yourself, but also for your loved ones who count on you. With escalating medical costs, you need to ensure that you are adequately covered with medical insurance plans, such as critical illness, hospitalization and personal accident plans, so that you can receive treatments and recuperate in peace without worrying about the medical bills.
Children's Education
Your children are the joys in your life. Help them achieve their dreams by planning for their future.
It is never too early to plan for your children's education. In fact, it is best to start planning as early as possible. This gives you a headstart to build as much funds as possible. With rising education costs, it takes savvy financial decisions to ensure that you can give your child a good education and financial future. You may even want to be financial prepared should the unforeseen happen to you, such as a critical illness, an accident or a disability. With adequate funds, you can ensure that your loved ones can afford to maintain their standard of living and that your child's education is assured.
Retirement Planning
To get the best of your golden years, it is important to have the financial resources that will allow you to live the kind of life you deserve.
After a lifetime of hard work, you deserve a comfortable retirement. Besides maintaining your standard of living during your retirement years, you should also ensure that you have sufficient funds for your medical and long-term needs, which are especially important as you age. To build a retirement nest egg in order to sustain your lifestyle means planning ahead with sound financial planning. It never fails to plan early. In fact, you should start planning for your retirement today.
(source: www.aia.com.sg)
No one can predict the future. Being prepared is the best defense you can have to guard against uncertainties in life, especially in the area of Income Protection.
A sound financial plan is your best assurance for the sustainability of yours and your family's livelihood. With higher standards of living, you need more funds than ever before to maintain your desired lifestyle. What's more, if you have just started a family, you would need to ensure that you have sufficient savings to fulfil your new commitments. Think about the housing loan, household bills and daily expenses. You would like to be assured that you and your family can continue to meet these financial commitments should anything unexpected happen to you.
Medical Coverage
Your health is your wealth. It is important to have the means to take care of any health or medical problems that might unexpectedly arise in your life.
Preserving your health through sound medical insurance coverage is something you do, not just for yourself, but also for your loved ones who count on you. With escalating medical costs, you need to ensure that you are adequately covered with medical insurance plans, such as critical illness, hospitalization and personal accident plans, so that you can receive treatments and recuperate in peace without worrying about the medical bills.
Children's Education
Your children are the joys in your life. Help them achieve their dreams by planning for their future.
It is never too early to plan for your children's education. In fact, it is best to start planning as early as possible. This gives you a headstart to build as much funds as possible. With rising education costs, it takes savvy financial decisions to ensure that you can give your child a good education and financial future. You may even want to be financial prepared should the unforeseen happen to you, such as a critical illness, an accident or a disability. With adequate funds, you can ensure that your loved ones can afford to maintain their standard of living and that your child's education is assured.
Retirement Planning
To get the best of your golden years, it is important to have the financial resources that will allow you to live the kind of life you deserve.
After a lifetime of hard work, you deserve a comfortable retirement. Besides maintaining your standard of living during your retirement years, you should also ensure that you have sufficient funds for your medical and long-term needs, which are especially important as you age. To build a retirement nest egg in order to sustain your lifestyle means planning ahead with sound financial planning. It never fails to plan early. In fact, you should start planning for your retirement today.
(source: www.aia.com.sg)
Time Value
Many clients asked whether it would be better to pay "premiums for the whole life" or choose the limited premium which is "pay premium over a number of years" and then enjoy life-long coverage.
If we compare the premiums for both such plans on the same assured amount, we can easily see that we will pay more if we have chosen the former. So limited premium looks more attractive at this moment. However, for the same assured amount, the limited premium plan requires a much higher premium upfront than one which requires to pay whole life.
Why is this so?
Well, we can easily imagine that today's $1 is never of the same value ten years later. So today's $1000 is usually worth lesser ten years later. Then maybe it is better to choose a plan which requires to pay premium for whole life, since we will be using "cheaper" money to pay during the later years.
What the above showed is "time value of money".
There are plenty of discussions on the pros and cons on limited premium vs whole life. I shall probably go into them later.
If we compare the premiums for both such plans on the same assured amount, we can easily see that we will pay more if we have chosen the former. So limited premium looks more attractive at this moment. However, for the same assured amount, the limited premium plan requires a much higher premium upfront than one which requires to pay whole life.
Why is this so?
Well, we can easily imagine that today's $1 is never of the same value ten years later. So today's $1000 is usually worth lesser ten years later. Then maybe it is better to choose a plan which requires to pay premium for whole life, since we will be using "cheaper" money to pay during the later years.
What the above showed is "time value of money".
There are plenty of discussions on the pros and cons on limited premium vs whole life. I shall probably go into them later.
My sister's worry
My sister became paranoid with dread diseases as she entered age 40. We know, with the multi-roles women are juggling today, stress is inevitable and this may expose them to a greater chance of diseases. In Singapore, Cancer is the number one killer; 28.5% deaths are due to Cancer in the Principal Causes of Death. In fact, Cancer, Cardiovascular diseases and Stroke together accounted for about 60% of the total causes of death. (source: www.moh.gov.sg, last updated in June 2006)
She is covered with an “as-charged” SHIELD plan for hospitalization and surgical bills. She has coverage against the 30 Critical Illness or Dread Diseases, which are clearly defined in the policy contract.
After discussing and fully understood her concerns and budgets, I recommended AIA Glow of Life. This is a female-related critical illness and disease term plan specially designed for the protection needs of women.
Its Benefit Schedule includes:
a) Female Cancers – 100% of principal sum,
b) Systemic lupus erythematosus (S.L.E.) with lupus nephritis – 100% of principal sum
c) Rheumatoid arthritis – 100% of principal sum
d) Osteoporosis – 30% of principal sum
e) Carcinoma-in-situ of the female organs – 20% of principal sum, etc
You may ask, why my sister needs an extra layer of coverage against these female-related illness? She is extremely concern with the rising inflation and escalating medical costs, especially during her old age. She does not want to become a financial burden for her family, should she suffered from a serious illness, which usually requires a long-term care or treatment. It is better to be well-insured than under-insured.
If she has been younger and without much coverage against Critical Illness, I would recommend AIA Woman of Wisdom, which includes Maternity Benefit and 26 Critical Illness Benefit. In addition, a free medical check-up is included once every two years for both plans, to ensure any early detection of potential medical problem.
Is your beloved wife, mother, precious daughter or even yourself (lady friends) protected against these diseases or illness? For a peace of mind for all your loved ones, don’t delay and then later procrastinate, please feel free to call or email me to find out more about these plans.
(For age 36-40 & $25,000 coverage in Glow of Life, the monthly premium starts as low as $25.15)
Now I hope that a similar plan meant for men would be available in the market soon, so that I can get my father, brother-in-laws and of course, myself covered.
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