Jonathan Chua

Dear friends, How much do you know about Critical Illness? And why is it so important that we need adequate coverage?  Here are some alarming facts and figures: 1.    There are 30 Critical Illnesses, with Cancer and Heart Diseases topping the list 2.    Every day in Singapore, 28 people are diagnosed with cancer* 3.    1 in 4 men and 1 in 5 women will contract one of the Critical Illness before age 65 ^ 4.    1 in 9 women will develop Breast Cancer and 1 in 2 men a risk of Cancer by 2022 ^ 5.    Critical Illness hits young and old alike and an increasing number of younger people succumb to cancer these days 6.    With the advances in medical science, many survive a critical illness - but could face financial difficulties. One inevitably will be without a job when contracted with an illness and will be living off savings during the recuperation period. Upon recovery, getting back to the workforce may be ...

A recent internal study showed that many Singapore home owners still harbour a significant misconception on the purpose of mortgage insurance. Only 43 per cent of the respondents were able to correctly identify that mortgage insurance helps to ensure the dependants are not financially hampered if an unfortunate event occurs to the home owner such as diagnosis of a critical terminal illness permanent physical disability or even death. Whether the residential property that you are eyeing is meant for own or family stay some factors you should consider when taking up mortgage insurance include • Tenure of the home loan commitment • Sum assured on mortgage insurance • Affordability and • Comprehensiveness of the mortgage insurance coverage required. If the property is for your own stay you can choose to stretch the home loan repayment schedule to the maximum term in order to better manage your cash flow. As a rule of thumb the mortgage insurance term should match...