Where to buy Term Insurance?
April 18th, 2008
Much has been said about the benefits of term insurance.
However, even though I’m a proponent of term insurance, I find it hard to buy term insurance.
Why?
I’ll explain in a moment.
Meanwhile, did you read the recent Sunday Times article that was sort of promoting term insurance?
It’s a good article (read it here if you haven’t), BUT the author completely misses the mark when she said “changing mindsets (of customers) is not easy”.
Come on. It’s the mindset of insurance agents that needs changing!
When I asked about term cover, all my agents seemed uninterested in selling these low cost products. They either talked about the downside of term insurance (no return, temporary protection, blah), or happily ignored my queries and continued marketing their investment-linked products with high projected returns.
I literally had to force my agent to sell me term insurance. Why is it so hard?
Do you think these agents genuinely care for you when they say term insurance is not as good as life or endowment policies?
Come on. 9.5 out of 10 agents care about their commissions more than anything else. The other 0.5 will learn that naivety leads to nowhere.
That’s why term policies are still not common. People who don’t do their own research won’t get such info from their commission-driven agents, and these agents won’t volunteer such info unless forced to.
And Sunday Times writers wonder why consumer mindsets are so fixated…
You don’t believe that insurance agents are reluctant to sell term policies? Want proof?
Here’s a comment on the Sunday Times article from an ex-insurance agent (link):
“I once used to be an insurance sale rep.with one of the major American ins. company.WE were told to emphasize mainly on whole life ins. policy to our clients than term ins. policy even though the latter is much cheaper and has a higher coverage.This is because,we could have earned a much higher commission for myself if we sell more of the previous.After a thorough research and analizing the difference Btw. whole-life and term life,I myself and my family members are also sold to the idea of term ins.”
Want more proof? Try asking your own agent about term cover.
If you know where to buy term insurance easily, let me know.
tc Says:
April 18th, 2008 at 6:08 pm
I went directly to NTUC Income and skipped the insurance agents. You can try this site as well http://www.insupermart.com/term_ins...
Kevin Says:
April 19th, 2008 at 2:05 am
My last good insurance agent told me that term insurance became very popular. I bought it from him from 2001.
Term insurance is only good if you are investing the leftovers.
JC Ho Says:
April 19th, 2008 at 1:05 pm
Aviva has an SAF-Aviva scheme too
SP Says:
April 23rd, 2008 at 10:55 am
Just for the info.
Ex-agent comments:
Insurance companies are operated on their agency levels & each agency have their own way of operating. MAS also step up the regulations on insurance. Hence, the past agent comment may not be the whole correct at this age.
Term vs whole
Term is good for protection but not good for attaching riders as the chance of lapsing policy is high (rider follows term). It would be sad if the the riders lapsed when you need it most. It would be even better to buy some ILP products which offer coverage similar to whole life but give the freedom to the owner to increase or decrease the sum assured during required period. Do not place high hope on the Non-guaranteed portion with big surrender return.
Each insurance company favour to different markets just like Ferrari vs QQ cars. Both could bring us to the same destination. Backpack hotels vs 5-star hotels which also offer place to rest & sleep at night. Or closer to life insurance, just compare the claim procedures & times on your car insurance.
Colin Says:
April 29th, 2008 at 12:47 am
There are people out there who are good and bad. For me, as a real professional, it’s our duty to highlight the pros and cons of each product and recommend the plan that fulfill the client’s most. Unless the client know exactly what he wants. Individuals needs are varied from each other. Some know how to invest and they have discipline in their investment planning. Of course,buy term and invest strategy will work. However, Need to bear in mind that, the rest of the money invested are meant to provide the coverage when the term plan is no longer in force.
Some don’t want to pay till old and want coverage for life. then whole life is suitable for them. Well my company never trained me to promote particular products and in fact Manulife has strict policy to advise on client’s need. Planner have their own professionalism to advise the client needs, thus in my point of view it’s unfair to hold the old school perception for planner.
Personal banker are the one whom are forced to sell the product without having analysis of client’s need and no one complain that much. Thus, it’s time to change the perception of client.
Gene Says:
April 29th, 2008 at 6:43 pm
I guess it’s a matter of client’s preference and that as professional, we have to outline the pros and cons and they themselves decide. I don’t think it’s fair to say the 0.5 percentile who does sell term insurance will learn that naivety leads to nowhere. I personally will buy term for myself but only in certain short term situation whereby I feel my family needs it during those important period. I have many clients about age 40+ who rejected term insurance when i offered to them to at least cover till age 70 because they felt it is just washing money down the drain. When they saw the high premium for Whole Life, they also procrastinate. I guess educating the clients is more important in these aspects. They must understand that delaying the idea of insurance will only lead to heavier premium in older age and they have to accept that if they want some cover.
Sharon Says:
May 4th, 2008 at 11:30 pm
I do not agree on the remark where insurance agents are trained to sell whole-life or ILP over term insurance. Nowadays, MAS & companies emphasize on providing client centric service where client’s needs are at top priority over our own interest. As part of the sharing, a good mix of term and life insurance would be better than putting all of your $ into just term OR whole-life/ILP insurance. This ensures sufficient coverage throughout your life stages (with term expiring at age 70) and your whole life plan can provide you with suffice coverage from age 70 till your demise. I am currently covered for $250k life and $400k term and I am from Manulife.
Happy insuring!
Joy Says:
May 20th, 2008 at 3:38 pm
I went to ur recommendation http://www.insupermart.com and found that it is quite easy to buy term insurance online. I am pretty surprised how easy it was going thru the steps…
Joe Says:
June 18th, 2008 at 3:35 pm
Yeah… good recommentation…
Me too went to http://www.insupermart.com to buy my term insurance. Realised that they also sell Travel insurance and went there to buy my Travel insurance for my recent trip too… Quite a hassle free process
Kelly Says:
July 20th, 2008 at 3:22 pm
I’ve bought insurance online at the NTUC Income website too. It was relatively easy, although it did take a while for the policy to be mailed.
Wayne Says:
July 20th, 2008 at 4:38 pm
I’m from an IFA, and I know even within the IFA spectrum, there are “ethical” and “not-so-ethical” (for the lack of a better word) agents.
For me, my practice is always letting clients make the informed choice. As in, let them know the pros and cons of the financial/investment tools they are going into. One example: http://www.waynekoh.com/2008/07/bti...
Personally, I prefer a balanced mix of Whole-Life + BTITR.
That’s why it’s good to be in IFA, coz there are a variety of tools that we can mix & match, although it is impossible for us to know everything.
TermTerm Says:
August 4th, 2008 at 5:58 pm
I used to work for one of the largest insurance companies in the world based in the UK, HK and Singapore.
Basically, insurance agents get their commission upfront. So if a customer is paying $500 per month for the next 20 years, I get the commission upfront for the next 20 years.
TEA ENG PENG Says:
August 4th, 2008 at 11:04 pm
Whoever who cannot find any agent to sell you term, please email me at teaengpeng@gmail.com stating your name, date of birth, sex, smoker or non-smoker follow by the amount of cover and years to cover. I will be able to provide you the lowest term cover you can find in Singapore beside group term insurance like the SAF, SAFRA or Civil Servant plan. – http://teaengpeng.blogspot.com
TEA ENG PENG Says:
August 5th, 2008 at 12:37 am
Oh by the way, you can also buy term directly at https://biznet.income.com.sg/Online...
Just remember to put my name TEA ENG PENG before clicking on the calculate premium.
Wayne Says:
August 11th, 2008 at 2:12 am
I have done a comparison between SAF GTI and 2 other insurers’ term plans, posted at http://www.waynekoh.com/2008/08/saf...
SAF’s may not be the best value for money.
Feli Says:
September 15th, 2008 at 1:02 pm
hey have some pretty good ones that my friend referred. If you still need em, let me know.
Book of Wise Investors » Buying Insurance 101 Says:
June 1st, 2009 at 4:18 pm
[...] weighting off the plus and minus of whole life and term insurance, consumers find it difficult to buy term insurance even though it is more suitable for some, especially if you are the sort of disciplined person to invest the cost savings left over from [...]
adrian Says:
August 1st, 2009 at 12:56 pm
Well, I am a strong supporter of term insurance
as term cost is low but it will meet the cost of living for a family for a good numbers of years.
if an agent do not wish to sell it then it must be for their own personal interests..as mentioned
earlier by a reader or a ex agent working for a
american company.
low commission..But my point is our stands and
our code of ethic is to place our client’s interests before ours…
if you do not have term insurance..it is definitely that you do not have enough money for
providing to meet your family obligation for a period long enough….if an agent only talk about their commision then they are putting their clients and their love ones at higher risk.
drop this agent and move on to another one..
before it is too late…..
leonard Says:
August 1st, 2009 at 2:36 pm
the problem is that good agents don’t make much and will disappear in no time. it’s the same with all relationship managers, personal financial consultants in banks, and property agents. however the root cause is that singaporeans are mostly stupid, so unethical agents and even unethical monks can continue to exploit them. that’s why you see hello kitty queues and condo queues and they cry when the monk climbs buildings. ethical agents don’t last and they give up after losing a lot of business to the unethical ones. sometimes in this strange world the madoffs and ming yis are the winners for a long long time, long after you can sustain yourself with your miserable ethical commissions.
adrian Says:
August 1st, 2009 at 9:37 pm
I PERSONALLY KNOW OF AGENTS THAT ARE ETHICAL AND LASTED MORE THAN 20 YEARS.
NOT ONE OR TWO BUT QUITE A HANDFUL OF THEM.
THOUGH THEY ARE RARE BUT STILL THERE ARE SOME.
WHY LET THE AGENT TAKE CONTROL OF YOUR FINANCIAL
SECURITY ? AS A CLIENT , YOU DICTATE AND TAKE
CONTROL OF WHAT YOU WANT TO ACHIEVE.
IF AN AGENT IS NOT CONCERN FOR YOUR LOVE ONES WHEN RECOMENDATION ARE MADE , THEN STOP DEALING
WITH THEM, WHY SHOULD YOU SUFFER AND CONTINUE TO MAKE THEM RICH AND GET AWAY WITH IT..
YOU BUY INSURANCE FOR THE SAKE OF YOUR FAMILY AND NOT FOR THE AGENT’S FAMILY..
adrianna Says:
August 2nd, 2009 at 12:48 am
dearest adrian, will you be my agent?
adrian Says:
August 2nd, 2009 at 6:14 pm
hi adrianna,
how do I get in touch with you ?
I will be please to share with you more.
adrian Says:
August 2nd, 2009 at 6:46 pm
hi my dear all in all
investment is a choice but protection is a need
term insurance offers real high coverage at affordable cost for lost of income needs
where else investment has its limitations.
term plan provides the required amount needed
and it can be determined before hand.
in my point of view…a basic policy provides
for breakfasts for a family..but a term plan will provides the rests for a same cost.
adrian Says:
August 2nd, 2009 at 6:50 pm
a thought to share
Insurance premium should not be seen as
a problem but to be view as a solution
to our family financial security.
adrian Says:
August 3rd, 2009 at 12:49 pm
dear readers,
A friend of mine introduce me to a new
website.
singaporeinsurance.org
pretty interesting
Gene Says:
August 3rd, 2009 at 1:50 pm
saw my last comment a least a year back, did not realise this thread is so active recently. Anyway, I have lots of clients with term insurance and it is really a matter of individual preference and they appreciate my frankness in the differences and that they are willing to accept the fact that the coverage will be temporary only. At the end of the day, I believe that ethical and honest advisor do and will stay long in the business. =)
Gene Says:
August 3rd, 2009 at 1:53 pm
..and really, the most important thing is still the human touch in the insurance industry and not just the cheapest product. IF you dont feel the advisor is being honest, change him/her immediately
adrian Says:
August 5th, 2009 at 9:21 pm
adrianna, where are you ?
ck Says:
November 25th, 2009 at 5:21 pm
Why did pp say term has temp coverage only? And some even say it last only till 70 yrs of age. A good IFA will tell you there are term insurance which cover a person till 99 years old. HSBC do sell them. There is also a decreasing term insurance whereby the coverage will decrease gradually over the coverage period.
CW Says:
June 23rd, 2010 at 6:03 pm
May i know where to get CHEAP AND GOOD term life policy, for at least 25 years?
tks
GH Says:
June 23rd, 2010 at 6:17 pm
I guess cheap and good usually don’t come together and I don’t want to give you false hope. You may want to seek different options before making a decision.
try ntuc income Says:
June 23rd, 2010 at 8:01 pm
try ntuc income. just walk in to any of their offices and ask for a quotation on the spot.
WK Says:
June 23rd, 2010 at 8:05 pm
I recently got Aviva’s Level Term plan. Price better than NTUC Income (to my surprise). Ask around for a few quotes will be good for comparision. Can also get thru an IFA agent.
ys Says:
June 24th, 2010 at 12:35 am
Hi CW, I recommend NTUC, Tokio marine (it absorbed TM Asia Life), and Aviva. I’m not an agent. I myself bought from these three about a year ago.
cw Says:
June 24th, 2010 at 7:36 am
Thanks guys.
I saw in a blog, forgotten the link.A non smoker man , age 33 got a tpd + death coverage for a million, 25 years term for $128.50 p.m.
It is cheaper than NTUC I-term.