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在新加坡如何防备医药费

I realised there is a dearth of personal finance articles for the Chinese-educated and hence I am writing a Mandarin article, hopefully brushing up my language at the same time. People with Chinese-educated parents can consider letting them read this:

新加坡的医药发达,但医药费往往昂贵,难以负担。在这里居住的人民,无论是公民还是从外国来公干的人士,应为自己的财务利益着想,谨慎防备医药费。

就业的新加坡公民每月缴交公积金 (CPF),分为三个户口:普通户口 (Ordinary Account)、特别户口 (Special Account)、保健储蓄户口 (Medisave)。

保健储蓄户口有两大作用:其一,用来交付医疗费。其二,用来交付某些保险保单的保费。这两作用都受于中央公积金局 (CPF Board) 的限制 - 大概是政府担心国人太快把保健储蓄用完。

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Leaving You Underinsured Creates Repeat Business

Imagine having a doctor who purposefully does not treat you completely such that you would constantly remain sick, thus having to visit the doctor repeatedly, each time paying for his services and medication. I am not familiar with the medical fraternity in Singapore and I trust that most doctors do their jobs ethically, but I know for a fact that the local financial industry thrives on this unethical practice.

I recently met a client who bought an investment-linked policy recommended to her by her friend which provided poor coverage while being taxing on her monthly budgeting.

What’s sad was what the agent wrote in the point-of-sale documents to justify the sale of the policy – an ostensibly apologetic “client to increase coverage when financially better”. It shows that the agent was fully aware that such a policy underinsures her client and yet deemed it fit to recommend her friend the policy. It is particularly upsetting since the client had specifically indicated her concern was (quite rightfully, for her profile) insurance coverage with her limited budget.

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Using Effect of Deductions to Measure Insurance Policies

“Effect of Deductions” is a column found in insurance policies with cash values. What exactly is “Effect of Deductions”? It can be summed up in an equation:

Value of Premium Paid – Total Cash Value = Effect of Deductions

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TM Legacy Plus Revision

That was quick – mere weeks after Aviva launched its whole life policy, Tokio Marine has announced revisions to its flagship policy – TM Legacy Plus.

The biggest change would probably be the upgrade in the Minimum Benefit, or Minimum Protection Value, which I have touched on before. The MB factor used to be 2.5 for people 24 years and below, meaning a $100,000 policy will cover the person for $250,000. It was 2.0 for someone between 25 to 29, 1.8 between 30 – 34 and decreases for people in older age groups.

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