SG Life Insurance

  Before we go into the main topic proper, let's first look at a set of statistics: According to MOH prediction, 1 in every 2 healthy Singaporeans aged 65 could become severely disabled in their lifetime. Claims stats by Aviva shows stroke, cancer and degenerative diseases to be the top 3 causes of severe disability. Based on MOH estimates, t he median duration that Singaporeans could remain in severe disability is 4 years, and 3 in 10 could suffer for 10 years or more. A study by Aviva estimates that people with severe disability would need an average of $2,324 per month to cover daily living expenses, care-giver costs, medications, etc. By "severe disability", we mean the inability to independently perform at least 3 of the following 6 Activities of Daily Living (ADL). The situation is grave, considering the ever increasing life expectancy and percentage of elderly population in Singapore.  The implementation of CareShield Life is a major step in the government's ef...

Everyone in Singapore with CPF should be fairly familiar with the different accounts and how each individual account works. It is also common knowledge that the Singapore government provides risk-free guaranteed interest rates for everyone's CPF deposits, with a current base rate of 2.5% pa for Ordinary Account and 4% for Special Account and Medisave Account.  Considering that the 12-month-tenure fixed deposit interest rates in local banks are only around a pitifully low 0.5% pa, it is fair to say that the government does keep Singpaporeans' interests closely in mind. Still, if we look at it from the perspective of an investment, the annualized rate of return of CPF, especially OA, appears much less appealing. As a result, the CPF Investment Scheme, or CPFIS in short, is put in place to allow Singaporeans to invest part of their CPF savings in a range of investment instruments. The hope is to earn investment returns higher than the current CPF interests, to accumulate more fund...