Enjoying your retirement is possible if you take the time to assess your financial needs. Start by working out a protection plan that covers you adequately in the event of income loss or an unfortunate incident. A general yardstick is to have a life coverage of at least six times your annual salary or more if required.
Within your overall protection needs, you should focus on your medical coverage. With rising medical costs, it pays to be financially prepared.
Plans to help you secure your protection
Protection
Whole life plans
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Provides protection against death and total permanent disability (TPD)
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Typically used as a basic plan for life protection
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Offers cash value* accumulation after a predetermined period
Provides protection against critical illnesses, hospital stays and other medical conditions
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Helps to lower financial burden in the event of a health crisis, eg lump sum cash payouts upon diagnosis of a critical illness and daily coverage for hospital room and board costs
* Cash value is the amount of money that is paid out should the plan be cancelled.
The average hospital bill size per day in a public and private hospital within the same ward class can vary by as much as 270%.
Source: Ministry of Health, Singapore. Based on average per day bill size on surgical specialties of Alexandra Hospital (public) and Mount Elizabeth Hospital (private) between January and December 2006 for Class A (1-bedded) wards.
Find out what Singaporeans think in HSBC Future of Retirement global research on attitudes towards ageing and retirement.
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