Let me suggest some help here with these questions. If you have answered no to any of these questions, suggest you consider just leaving it there .
1. Have you done trading before ?
Rationale : Everyone thinks they win big in stock market and investing. But if you have done it before , seriously, do u think u will win big ?
2. Are you really confident that you can get better returns than your insurance plans?
Rationale : Cos if you are, then sure, by all means . Some added thoughts here you may also want to think about . In your case , it seem the amt is not really big ie below S$10 k. Honestly, unless have a very good return on your trade ie above 7% and are using brokerage accounts like SCB, your trading fees is going take a significant swipe on your capital due to min. commission fees.
3. Have you got a independent insurance agent to review your insurance needs.
Rationale : I sense you have read up quite a bit.. Insurance has several goals and these goals must be clarified clear ie capital protection vs health needs vs medical etc etc. To me, insurance coverage is just a tool. Like all tools, there are limitations and benefits. While the general advise of using term insurance may save on cost, there are times that these cost are really negligible in the whole scheme of things.
4. Have you applied your financial knowledge to determine what kind of returns your insurance products is giving you ?
Rationale : Check for yourself by applying your knowledge of returns and risk /reward trade off. The advantage you have is you can see past performance . check if the provider has been giving you the consistent returns as per plan. Then check with your insurance agent if you are to buy this plan at your current age and as a new plan... does your existing plan offer better returns ? Do all these kind of analysis / cost /benefit before your decide. Because yours is an "old" plan, there is a likelihood that any current plan will not be able to match your existing. So aside for the outright cash loss of $4k, you might also want to consider the gaps in your loss in future earnings between your existing vs new.
Ok..said enough..
Quote:
Originally Posted by Unregistered
hello ppl, wanna ask for some advice here. related situation to thread, although not rly a bad situation, just wanna streamline some cash so tt i can give more to parents and make better decisions. so just throwing out to ask
my parents bought a whole life policy for me 4 years back. premiums are 32k for a coverage of 100k. they very generously paid 13k of it and this is something i am forever thankful for.
they also passed on the remaining 19k to me and have advised me of the importance of insurance. so i'll have to finish the remaining 19k over the next 6 years myself, which i see as within my ability.
now the thing is i know of the whole cynicism towards WLPs and i also have that cynicism. just that my parents bought it when i was young, so i didnt really have initial control over the buying. i would consider myself financially aware now and above average in investment knowledge so buy-term-invest-rest works better definitely. right now im considering converting it to a paid up, reduced sum-assured. means that i stop paying premiums, the insurance company will scale down their coverage. i will then save this remaining 19k over next 6 years -- this premium saved up, i will then give a larger monthly allowance to my parents, or invest on their behalf.
although if i do this, cash value wise i lose is abt 4k if i cash out the policy.
thing is - do you feel that itd be better to pull the plug, stop the policy and start investing myself? as a new workforce entrant (drawing mid 3k) i foresee that 250 a month can be better spent elsewhere and i want to give back to my parents. but losing the 4k also feels like im wasting their hard earned cash (they consistently paid for me every year) through such a decision, and although less immediate, the symbolic value behind it.
my parents themselves are quite okay with whatever i choose to do, although my father keeps reminding me that by 30 i'll have paid up all premiums -- and that's something quite rare. so i'm at a bit of a loss now, since 6 years to compound 19k can actually make a better return. what wld you do?
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