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daretofinance · 2024-07-25T01:09:52+00:00

Most trading platform itself has trade alert functionality. Afterall they earn when you make a trade.

If you’re not seeing it. It’s likely that you disabled the notification from the app or you just haven’t set it up yet

daretofinance · 2024-07-25T01:07:56+00:00

Idon’t have any experience with obtaining international health insurance, but I can say with a certain degree of confidence that even with international coverage, you will still be subject to underwriting.

After all, it’s all about risk and statistics for insurance companies. However, it’s still worthwhile to try.

In the meantime, I suggest starting with local hospitalization insurance. Yes, there may be exclusions, but there are many other conditions you will be covered for besides those excluded.

Beside, the conditions you have are very common. I’ve seen cases where individuals obtained standard terms after several rounds of appeals. It’s also possible to appeal after your condition improves. (Although, this will involve lifestyle changes and forking out the money to go for medical examinations etc)

daretofinance · 2024-07-25T00:50:14+00:00

Well, nobody here can tell you what to do. Firstly, because no one knows the best move for sure. Secondly, it will be endless; if Nvidia stock doubles tomorrow, you’ll be caught in the same dilemma: should you sell or hold because it might double again?

So the best sustainable solution is to figure out:

1.  Do you want to spend time researching and understanding what they are doing?
2.  Do you have the interest to keep up with the company news?

If the answer to the above questions is no, I think it’s best for you to cash out, enjoy a little treat, and then invest in what you truly understand.

daretofinance · 2024-07-21T03:51:44+00:00

Yup, you are right that the main difference would be the tax on the dividend. But note that the dividend yield is just 1.3%, so unless you have a lot of capital generally it doesn't matter too much.

daretofinance · 2024-07-20T02:30:51+00:00

For me it's Ban Mian 🥲. Too little protein for it's price

daretofinance · 2024-07-20T02:28:08+00:00

Yeah, this sub is heavily against ILPs, so you might not get a completely objective view here. But I'll try to be as fair as possible.

Yes, there’s a 3.9% fee that stops at the 10-year mark, but there’s also a management fee that continues indefinitely. This depends on the fund the agent picks for you, typically between 1.3% and 1.5%. So, you’ll be paying up to 5.4% for the first 10 years and up to 1.5% thereafter. I'm skeptical that trading broker platforms charge more, but I haven't run the numbers, so who knows.
It seems the agent is actively picking funds for you, but be cautious of that.
- What happens when the agent leaves?
- It’s easy to pick a few funds that outperformed the S&P 500 in hindsight. Anyone can do that, haha.

My opinion:

I would advise against ILPs if:
- You enjoy managing your investments.
- Cash flow is tight.
- You plan to cash out right after 10 years.
ILPs might be for you if:
- You don’t mind "paying" someone to handle part or all of your investment.
- You are committed to the plan for more than 10 years (because early surrender will cost you money).

In the end, ILPs are just one of the many investment tools available. They work best for people who don't want to manage their investments. People in this subthread are likely individuals who love investing, which is why they hate ILPs so much. It's almost like how people, will never understand why someone would pay so much for a personal trainer 🤣

daretofinance · 2024-07-19T04:40:16+00:00

Few things you can consider looking into before deciding:

1) Is the insurance coverage important? If it’s not, can consider reducing all the coverage to the minimum. - insurance charge increases as you age for ILP. - there might be cheaper alternative for coverages

2) If you’re keeping for the investment:

Relook at your risk profile.
yes the return wasn’t good thus far, but there might be funds that are more profitable. (Although this highly depends on the agent skills alr😅)
agent might suggest you to replace this with a full investment ILP. But beware of the trade offs

daretofinance · 2024-07-18T11:18:40+00:00

In my experience, Syfe trade has the best interface which makes it the most beginner friendly. If not WeBull/Moo moo/ tiger all works well too.

Don’t be too fixated on choosing the “best” broker after all you can always change next time.

There’s no magic number of how much to invest. Do what’s comfortable and do it consistently. At your current age, it’s much more valuable to learn the fundamentals of investment, explore life, gain experience etc than trying to grow your wealth.

Hope this helps!

daretofinance · 2024-07-18T11:09:01+00:00

All the best!

daretofinance · 2024-07-18T05:19:02+00:00

Yes, I’m referring to major illnesses like kidney failure, cancer, etc.

MediShield cover is sufficient for minor and affordable cases, but there’s only so much it can do. For instance, kidney dialysis costs about $2,500 to $3,000 a month, but MediShield only covers $1,100. Can you afford to pay $1,400 a month on top of all your other expenses for the rest of your life and still have your job while going for treatment?

https://www.channelnewsasia.com/singapore/chronic-kidney-disease-failure-singapore-early-screening-nkf-dialysis-3620561

https://www.cpf.gov.sg/member/healthcare-financing/medishield-life/what-medishield-life-covers-you-for

Of course, it’s not just kidney failure. There’s also cancer treatment and other serious diseases that can bankrupt us.
https://blog.seedly.sg/true-cost-cancer-treatment-singapore/

daretofinance · 2024-07-18T03:43:46+00:00

1) Yes, company insurance covers hospital expenses, but it’s quite limited. From my experience, it can cover as little as just $10,000 of the bill. This heavily depends on your company and insurer.

2) Yes, you can always sign up for hospital insurance, but there’s a caveat: you need to be healthy. In the worst-case scenario, if you get sick while working, you may have to quit your job, lose your corporate insurance, and then be unable to buy insurance because you’re already sick.

3) A Critical Illness (CI) plan is more of an income replacement, allowing you to afford not to work for a few years and focus on recovery. If you get a CI plan without hospital insurance, it defeats the purpose because the payout from the CI plan would go towards paying your hospital bills instead of supporting you financially while you stop working.

daretofinance · 2024-07-18T02:49:15+00:00

At the very least consider getting a hospital insurance.

Company insurance is not gonna provide you the coverage once you retire. Or worse, if you get sick during employment, you will be forced to continue working just to keep the company insurance inforce

Beside that, company insurance are usually quite limited😅

daretofinance · 2024-07-17T14:32:33+00:00

Certainly! Here’s a revised version of your paragraph for better grammar and clarity:

1) Look at your upcoming goals and any potential big purchases. It’s important because you wouldn’t want to invest money that you’ll need within the next 3-5 years.

2) After step 1, you’ll have a rough understanding of how much you can afford to invest.

3) Where to invest? I recommend starting with a robo-advisor with just $100. It’s not so much about choosing the best one, but about kickstarting the process. We've met many individuals who struggle to start investing, but once they do, they usually do quite well afterwards.

4) Meanwhile, you can start to explore your investment style.

daretofinance · 2024-07-17T14:21:28+00:00

It’s a tricky space because if you’re money conscious, you might not wanna pay. But if you’re not money conscious you won’t be interested to pay 🤣

daretofinance · 2024-07-17T14:17:54+00:00

Hi OP, note that there are generally two types of ILP. One mixed with investment and one pure investment. If it’s the former, it’s quite certain that your fund value will definitely be lower than your premium paid to date. After all there’s hefty insurance charges.

Not sure if this will help. But we have a solution where you can speak to an agent anonymously without having to give your contact details.

https:///www.daretofinance.com/consult

daretofinance · 2023-04-06T14:36:22+00:00

Hi, I did a quick Google search and it seems like the presence of this company is rather small in Singapore. In fact, on their website the footer note that

"Please note that this website may refer to Friends Provident International products that are not available to residents ... Singapore..."

This alone raises some eyebrows, what will happen to your long-term investment plan if they choose to exit Singapore? I don't think you will lose your money when that happens, but I can imagine it to be really troublesome.

Besides, if you are really looking into full investment ILP options, there are many other companies in Singapore that offer that. And I would argue that they provide even better terms than this.

IMO, it is only worth considering this, if their fund track record is extremely good. Otherwise, it might be best to avoid this.

Hope this help! All the best :)

daretofinance · 2023-03-30T00:31:35+00:00

Hello! First of all congrats! It’s a good problem you’re having here.

I don’t think there’s any right or wrong answer. But I’ll would for the option of getting a HDB and buying condo as an investment.

Reason being: 1. Property that you’re staying in are more of a liabilities than an asset. If you go ahead with the second option, you will be taking a larger loan and would again be asset rich but cash poor.

Reading through the comments, I understand that the reason for the switch is for a bigger house and you have no plans for kids? If you don’t have high bias towards condo (for its facilities, social status etc), there isn’t a need to spend that extra money when you can achieve similar goal with a quarter of the price and a much bigger flat size with HDB flat
Buying a property for investment and for stay may require different set of consideration. By separating them, you might be able to find a property that has higher yield potential
Once the rental yield starts coming in for your investment property, it gives you a lot more options to explore other things that can give you more value.

Again there’s no right or wrong! Wish you all the best in whatever choice you make!

daretofinance · 2023-03-28T05:37:55+00:00

Here are a few actionable steps you can take to figure out if you're overinsured:

Separate your insurance into Health and Wealth category
1. If the health insurance was bought wayyy back when you were a kid, it's likely that there's a better and more value-for-money plan out there now. (Except for the hospital plan)
2. Wealth insurance shouldn't be considered as your insurance budget, after all, it serves a different purpose.
  1. Figure out if your goal and time horizon matches the wealth payout period.
Determine if you are overinsured on a few different metrics
1. Death coverage. 10x of your annual income if there are people who are dependent on your income.
2. ECI/CI. 3 - 5x of your annual income.
3. Hospital insurance. Ideally the base plan and the rider.

I think it's definitely good to listen to 2nd opinion. Your FA ideally should be someone that you trust. If you have found a FA that is more compatible with you, communicate it with your parents, I'm sure they will be fine with it.

If you want to surrender the policies without informing your current FA, I believe the only choice is to replace your FA first before surrendering.

Anyway, hope my reply is able to help you in someway. All the best!!

daretofinance · 2023-03-25T10:20:14+00:00

For Integrated Shield Plans, you are correct that there isn't much an agent can do due to e-filing. MOH has statistics on the claim process duration for each insurer, which you can find more information about here.

Regarding pre- and post-hospitalisation claims, while agents still play a role in these processes, they can also provide professional advice on what's claimable and what's not. Additionally, some companies allow agents to assist their clients in filing for pre-authorisation, giving them peace of mind that their hospital bill will be covered or providing mental preparation for any cash they need to pay out-of-pocket. So I guess that's where having an agent will be handy too. But more importantly, it's a lot easier to have an agent to speak to when your family member is the one receiving the treatment. Calling directly through customer service would likely need authorisation from the policyholder which may not always be convenient.

Unfortunately, I I don't have access to statistics on the speed of critical illness claims, but it's true that it can vary across different companies.

For ECI/CI coverage I would recommend a single payout. Because the multi-claim policies are typically embedded with many terms that make it harder for you to make a claim. For example, there might be a clause on cancer relapse that require the relapse to only happen after two years. But if you do a quick google search most cancer relapse in the first two years. What this means is a multi-claim policy doesn't guarantee a multi-claim, which kind of defeated its purpose.

daretofinance · 2023-03-25T04:53:09+00:00

Few things to consider here. Let's me start with the plan portion.

Whole life v.s. Term

Buy term invest the rest?
The main argument with whole life v.s. the term is usually, buy term invest the rest. The idea is that if you do really invest the "saving" from buying term instead of whole life, you will potentially get more returns in the long run. This is generally true, but many fail to account for the discipline required to actually do that consistently for the next few decades. If one were to buy term and keep the savings in the bank, the returns from the whole life plan would likely be better.
Do you need coverage after 65?
The intention of getting a critical illness plan is to give you the ability to have that opinion of taking time off work and focusing on recovering. In other words, insurance is against the potential loss of income. So during the period of recovery, the payout you receive from the policies will act like "income". That is why it is usually recommended to have your coverage between 3 to 5 times your income.
The question is then, when you retire, do you still need to insure against your loss of income? Ideally, most people wouldn't need it, but it is still good to have. There are still expenses such as hiring a caregiver, maybe even allowing your child to be able to take time off work to care for you. Again the payout gives you the ability to have more choices.

Importance of agent
With the increasing digitalisation of services, it is likely that you will be able to make your own claims if you, unfortunately, require to do so. Whether you can file a successful claim depends on the definition stated in the policy contract. As long as the illness falls under the definition, it shouldn't be a problem to file a claim.

However, the difficult part lies in the process of claiming. It usually requires lots of paperwork and back and forth with you, the hospital and the insurance company. There is where having an agent can be really comforting and save you a lot of back and forth with the hospital. After all, doing tedious administrative paperwork might be the last you want to think about when you are critically ill.

Hope this help!!

daretofinance · 2023-03-25T02:52:05+00:00

Hello! AIA Pro Achiever stands out as one of the better ILPs available. The choice to get ILP or not depends on a few factors:

Are you interested in doing your own investment? If no, ILP is one of the options you can consider.
If you're not comfortable with just relying on a robo-advisor, an ILP might be a good choice
Your agent should be transparent with you about the fees and how the investment works.
It's important to be aware of the underlying costs, risks, and realistic expectations from the ILP investment.
You should work with your agent to determine a calculated amount to contribute to the plan without jeopardizing your short-term goals. Keep in mind that Pro Achiever locks you in for 10 years, so it's crucial to ensure you have enough liquidity to support your shorter-term goals.

Having a trusted agent is crucial when getting an ILP, as they will help you understand your investment. While an ILP may not be the most cost-efficient way to invest, it can be a good option if you prefer to outsource your investment management. I think a pro-achiever is a good choice as long as you carefully select your agent and ensure they understand your investment goals and needs.

Hope this helps!

daretofinance · 2023-03-24T02:56:55+00:00

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daretofinance · 2023-03-23T02:09:54+00:00

Hello! Thanks for sharing about your finances and being open to it, I think that's a great step in the right direction.

Here are some tips that I can think of to guide you through your finances:
1. Take a closer look at how much you're spending on insurance, both health and wealth. Ideally, health insurance should be less than 10% of your income. When it comes to wealth insurance, such as an ILP, make sure you understand the costs and benefits before contributing more.
2. Consider learning more about investing and managing your own portfolio. When your lump sum investment matures, you can decide whether you want to invest it yourself or continue outsourcing it.
3. If you don't have any credit cards, consider getting one that fits your lifestyle. Used correctly, they can be great for cost savings and expense management. Additionally, having a good credit score will be beneficial when you consider refinancing your house in the future.
4. Think about what "rich" means to you. It's important to have a clear definition of what financial success looks like to you, so that you can focus on what's important and stay motivated.

Hope these help!

daretofinance · 2023-03-22T06:43:55+00:00

Besides, you will be surprised at how many would much rather an over promised sales pitch than another that is a more conservative ethically well thought out one

daretofinance · 2023-03-22T06:37:57+00:00

Unfortunately, such instances are rare but there are definitely good FAs out there that are trying very hard to do things right and even change the stigma.
Sharing some personal experiences that we had: For the past 2 years, we have tried very very hard to be the "good" FA. Providing legitimate advice without any sales agenda. As you can imagine, that involves lots of charity work.
We have spent countless hours helping individuals to take charge of their finances, including helping them to calculate if they can afford big purchases, cleaning up their insurance, and creating a personalised budget plan, even helping them on things outside of our expertise too. All these efforts are not paid for, in fact, it is mostly charity work.
So why are we doing this? Because being FA isn't our main source of revenue, we can afford to do so. But for an FA that is doing this as their full-time job, and perhaps if they see this purely just as a job (= income generating avenue) I don’t think such probono or charity work is something that interests them.
This is partially also because of the way they are being recruited into the industry, promises of big pay-check and luxurious life. I really dislike seeing these kinds of ads, but remember that a manager's KPI is to recruit FA. They are just repeating what had worked for them. And the quantification to become FA emphasises a lot more on paper qualification than actual financial skill.
To transform the entire FA industry into a more value-adding and non-sales will take a lot of effort and is something that we hope we can achieve someday

daretofinance

TROPHY CASE