Jonathan Chua

If you're concerned about being able to afford care when you get old, long-term care insurance can help. Long-term care helps you if you become chronically ill or disabled. Some long-term care is medical care, but most long-term care is what's called "custodial care." For example, long-term care can help you with personal tasks, such as: Eating Grooming Getting out of bed It can also help with household tasks such as: Housework Preparing meals Managing your money You can receive long-term care in different places, such as: Your home An assisted-living facility A nursing home How Can Long-Term Care Insurance Help? Long-term care can be costly. But long-term care insurance can help cover some of your bills. If you're thinking about buying coverage, follow these tips: Start planning early. The best time to start thinking about buying coverage is when you're between 55 and 65, says Jesse Slome. He is executive director o...

Think you don’t need life insurance if you don’t have kids? Think again. It may seem like an unnecessary expense. But there are many reasons to have life insurance, even if you’re not supporting a family. 1. Mortgage protection Whether you live by yourself, with a spouse or significant other, you may want to buy life insurance as mortgage protection. Think about it − you don’t want the person you live with to be homeless if you pass away unexpectedly, do you? Term life insurance can be used to pay off an outstanding mortgage balance. Just select a term that matches the length of your mortgage payment period. Some companies even offer decreasing term insurance, which means the death benefit decreases along with your mortgage balance. 2 Income replacement You and your significant other may have planned for a future based on two incomes − but what if one of you passes away unexpectedly? Life insurance can be us...

Leave a legacy for your loved ones Take Care of the Future: Legacy planning is no longer just for the rich and famous. As long as you desire to make a difference to someone financially, a legacy plan is for you. Your Finances We all want our loved ones to be well taken care of, even after we're no longer around. One way to do that is by passing on one's wealth to the next generation through a legacy-planning-specific insurance policy. But what does the concept involve and how should one decide on an appropriate, purposeful plan? My Paper spoke to Ms Michelle Teo, a financial-planning director at Tokio Marine Life Insurance Singapore, and asked her to shed some light on the topic. What is legacy planning? In the financial-planning arena, the term "legacy" commonly refers to the money or property bequeathed to a party in a will. Legacy planning involves a process of identifying, defining, preserving and distributing or transferrin...

Help ease your financial burden should you contract a serious illness Sometimes, an event happens that has the potential to alter your way of life. Every day, 28 people in Singapore are diagnosed with Cancer+. If you are struck by a critical illness, the medical treatment you require may not be covered in part or in full by your hospital expense plan, and any prescription medication that you may need could amount to a lot of money. You may also wish to seek pioneering or experimental medical treatment. What’s more, the combination of the illness, treatments and medications can often prevent one from being able to work or care for family, resulting in loss of income and unanticipated expenses such as childcare support. Critical illness plans usually offer larger, lump sum cash payments and it’s up to you how you spend the money. Basic critical illness plans in the market provide coverage for 30 common critical illnesses such as cancer, stroke, heart disease and kidney disease, and...

Critical illness (CI) cover  and its complex medical definitions can be confusing, never mind that the conditions and their exact nature are clearly listed in the policy. But then, how many people really understand the meaning of “carcinoma in situ” or “non-invasive cancer”? Most people simply take it that as long as they have bought CI insurance, they will receive cash if stricken with cancer. That wrong assumption can, obviously, cause unnecessary distress. Read on to better understand the role of CI policies in healthcare-insurance planning. FINDINGS: AIA HEALTH MATTERS SURVEY In March this year, the AIA Health Matters survey, pulling together responses from 508 Singaporeans, aged between 40 and 70 years, uncovered alarming findings: 35% 1 in 3 believes they will need to downgrade their standard of living should they be afflicted with a critical illness in the future. 30% 1 in 3 does not have CI cover. Of those who do, almost half bought it more than 10 years ago....