SG Life Insurance

Just a few days ago,  The Life Insurance Association, Singapore (LIA Singapore) announced that the life insurance industry in Singapore will lower the caps of illustrative investment returns used in Policy Illustrations (PI) for Singapore-dollar denominated Participating (Par) policies, effective 1 July 2021.  The upper illustration rate will be capped at 4.25%, down from the current level of 4.75%. The move is hardly unexpected. In fact, since the LIA standardized the policy illustrations across local life insurers in 1994, the upper cap allowed for Par policy illustrations has steadily fallen from a high 7% to the 4.75% now. Still, the recent adjustment will have a large impact on the local insurance business, as the most common whole life, endowment and annuity plans all fall within the category of Participating insurance policies. In this article, we talk about what the reduction from 4.75% to 4.25% means and discuss whether the actual Par policy returns will be affected. ...

Yes! With the right annuity plan and when you take on financing, we can achieve higher than 7% annualized return. People familiar with the insurance industry in Singapore are usually aware that insurance companies here adopt a more conservative approach to investing their participating funds.  Participating products in the market (i.e. your annuity or endowment plans or whole life plans), though are highly stable and consistent in distributing projected bonuses, generally do not give us high returns.  As a reference, the long term annualized returns of Singapore dollar annuity plans normally range from 3.5% to 4%. Even products with the highest projected returns hardly ever go above 4.5%. Still, there are a number of financial tools available in Singapore that can help us significantly enhance the actual return we can get from participating plans, the most common of which is "premium financing". What is "Premium Financing"? Simply put, "premium financing" ...

Integrated Shield Plans (IPs, in short) are perhaps the most popular type of insurance products in Singapore. According to statistics released by the Life Insurance Association (LIA) in Febuary 2020, approximately 69 per cent of all Singapore residents are protected by IPs and riders. Still, many are unsure what exactly IPs cover and have little clue when it comes to choosing an IP product for themselves or their family.  In this article, we seek to provide you with a comprehensive understanding of this type of insurance plan. We start with the basic MediShield Life, which is implemented by the CPF Board for all Singaporeans and PRs and forms the foundation of all Integrated Shield Plans. We then move on to talk about IP products in the market, what coverage they provide on top of MediShield Life, and some important considerations when choosing among all the IP insurers. 1. MediShield Life: The Foundation As most of us should know, MediShield Life is a compulsory health insurance s...

In our  previous article , we divided our retirement into 3 stages according to the life trajectory of most Singaporeans. That is: Stage 1: age 55 to 64 ("Semi-Retirement") Stage 2: age 65 to 74 ("Full Retirement") Stage 3: beyond age 75 ("Post Retirement") We briefly analysed the changing financial needs and some problems we could face at each stage, as well as the implications on our retirement planning. This article continues the discussion by introducing 3 common financial instruments used to accumulate retirement savings in Singapore, their respective characteristics, and how they could help us to navigate and meet the financial needs as we come to the different retirement stages. Instrument 1: CPF LIFE - Laying The Foundation In Singapore, CPF is the cornerstone to most people's retirement savings. It is also often the basis for further planning. When a Singapore citizen or permanent resident reaches the age of 55, the balance in hi...

Looking at the title, most people may start to have some questions in their mind... "Why to nominate beneficiaries for my insurance?” “What is a nomination?" "isn't my family supposed to receive the proceeds if I die?" Most policyowners have never taken the steps to nominate the beneficiaries for their insurance policies. However, the fact is, nominating your beneficiaries make a huge difference when it comes to claims. The claim settlement process for a policy with nomination can be much smoother, faster and ensures that your intended beneficiaries' will receive the insurance proceeds. Please take note that beneficiary nomination applies to all life policies that involve death benefits, such as your whole life and term plan, PA plan, UL, as well as endowment and investment-linked policies.   1. What happens to claims when there wasn't a nomination? According to  Section 61 of Insurance Act ,  an insurance company is only allowed to pay up to $150,000 to...