Lowyat.NET: Latest topics by Colaboy

All about PRUDENTIAL & insurance updates!

Colaboy — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 14:03:14 +0800

The 4 Important area to cover in your personal life insurance policy!

1)Medical Plan - Previous Pruhealth vs brand new Pruvalue med

OR

Been sometime since i last update my post here. . . . Well company had remove the previous Pruflexi med plan in replace of the new Pruvalue med. As a consumer you still have the option of either Pruhealth / Pruvalue med. So which card is better or suite you best?? There is no doubt that a medical card is a MUST to have for anybody even if you are cover under your company medical insurance . . . below will be my personal opinion & base on my experience as an agent for nearly a decade now. Majority people purchase their 1st insurance policy will seek for medical coverage as no 1 priority compare to life, 36 CI or PA as i notice. This is true & very important to understand the terms & condition because the insurance cost for medical coverage will be nearly 40% or sometimes even higher of the total premium you have paid.

1 thing i like about Pruhealth is the plan is very straight forward. Choose between plan PHL100 - PHL400 according to your suitability & budget. Plan 500 & 600 are specially for attached rider PRUmedic auto upgrade only. If you feel that the annual coverage is not enough you could always attach PRUannual limit waiver / PRUmedic overseas rider.

This plan is very suitable for working adults which currently hold an existing medical plan (bought many years ago) & feel their existing plan coverage is not enough or currently working & under cover by group medical plan provided from company. You could choose the deductible RM3,000 or RM10,000 option to further reduce your insurance premium while having a great coverage for yourself.

As for Pruvalue med, it is either 1MIL, 1.5MIL or 2MIL coverage. This plan does not have an annual limit as Pruhealth & even if used up the coverage limit Prudential still pays 80% out of the total bills. It's highly recommended for child policy or young working adult which are seeking for their 1st insurance policy.

Other important areas to take note on a medical plan:
*the term coverage (example expiry on age 70, 80 or 100)
*any co-insurance involve or limitation during admition or for specific illnesses treatment
*what items is excluded (usually agent will tell you all the included )
*what is the renewal term
*the insurance charge for now & maybe next 20-30 years

For further information you'll require to check with your servicing agent or the policy itself.

2)36 Critical Illnesses

Okie, let’s move on to the critical illnesses coverage. In Malaysia, the critical illnesses coverage comes in 3 dozens- that’s 36 illnesses. I have no idea why is that so. This product is somehow like a jackpot with a choice of 36 terminal illnesses. Hit either one, and you will be “rewarded” with the total sum. Say if your critical illnesses policy has a coverage of RM 500,000, that’s the full amount you will be compensated upon diagnosed from a specialist.

While if your critical illnesses policy is insured for RM 25,000, that’s too bad. That amount of RM 25,000 is all you are going to get to get you through the tough period. A simple rule of thumb guide is 1 shall have a minimum of 2-4 years of their annual expenses as a 36 CI coverage.

Below are the TOP 4 critical illnesses & their cost of treatment which account more than 60% from the claims statistic.

(I) Heart Attack - RM30,000 - RM100,000
(II) Stroke - RM50,000 - RM150,000
(III) Cancer - RM30,000 - RM300,000. Chemotherapy can also range from RM2,000 to RM6,000 per session
(IV) Kidney Failure - RM150,000 & above. Haemodialysis is estimated at RM2,000 / monthly

1) Stroke
2) Heart Attack
3) Kidney Failure
4) Cancer
5) Coronary Artery By-Pass Surgery
6) Serious Coronary Artery Disease
7) Angioplasty And Other Invasive Treatments For Coronary Artery Disease*
8) End-Stage Liver Failure
9) Fulminant Viral Hepatitis
10) Coma
11) Benign Brain Tumor
12) Paralysis Of Limbs
13) Blindness
14) Deafness
15) Third Degree Burns
16) HIV Infection Due To Blood Transfusion
17) Full-Blown AIDS
18) End-Stage Lung Disease
19) Encephalitis
20) Major Organ / Bone Marrow Transplant
21) Loss Of Speech
22) Brain Surgery
23) Heart Valve Surgery
24) Loss Of Independent Existence
25) Bacterial Meningitis
26) Major Head Trauma
27) Chronic Aplastic Anemia
28) Motor Neuron Diseases
29) Parkinson’s Disease
30) Alzheimer’s Disease / Severe Dementia
31) Surgery To Aorta
32) Multiple Sclerosis
33) Primary Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension
34) Medullary Cystic Disease
35) Cardiomyopathy
36) Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE) With Severe Kidney Complications

3)Life Insurance

Over the years, I've seen that there is a lot of confusion around this topic - from what type of insurance is best to how much you need and where to get it. With that in mind, below are the five most common mistakes people make when it comes to life insurance. Hopefully, through this list, you'll be able to get a better understanding of how life insurance works and why it's a good tool for you and your family. At the end of the day, we all just want to know that our loved ones will be taken care of after we're gone.

Mistake #1 - Having no life insurance at all

Many people simply overlook the importance of life insurance. It doesn't appear to be something they need and it can be viewed as an added expense. But take a second to stop and consider all the important people in your life. If you weren't there, how would they be impacted financially? It's not fun to think about, but by "playing dead" you can begin to understand that life insurance is a critical tool to ensuring your family feels financially supported should anything happen to you. For instance, if you have any outstanding debts or other financial obligations, a life insurance policy will help to ensure that those burdens do not fall entirely on your family members. Remember, it is also important to get life insurance sooner rather than later because the cost can increase exponentially as you age.

Mistake #2 - Relying solely on employer-provided workplace life insurance

Life insurance provided by your workplace is an excellent benefit and can serve as a good starting point for your base coverage. But remember any life insurance provided automatically as a benefit is just that - a starting point. You can purchase additional coverage through your employer or on your own to help fill the gap.

Mistake #3 - Only considering term life insurance

Term life insurance provides a "death" or "survivor" benefit, which is the amount beneficiaries receive if you pass away, for a certain period of time (15, 20 or 30 years are common increments), after which the coverage ends. An alternative solution would be to adopt cash value life insurance, which similarly provides a death benefit, but will grow over the years as long as you continue to fund the policy. Furthermore, cash value life insurance can help with financial obligations in a tax-advantaged way, whether it is paying for college, a business venture or retirement. These policies are generally more expensive, but can make a lot of sense if you are able to commit to regularly funding the policy.

Mistake #4 - Leaving retirement savings vulnerable

If you do not have any/enough life insurance, your family is likely to look to your retirement savings for financial support. This may seem like a safe solution for finding additional resources, but I would advise against using funds saved specifically for retirement for another purpose. If you are the higher earner in the family, your spouse may have been relying on those savings for his or her own retirement. Similarly, if your spouse is forced to liquidate or take large loans from the retirement account, it will hurt the potential long-term investment gains that would have benefitted your family down the road.

Mistake #5 - Guessing on how much life insurance you need

CHECK out our latest PRUWealth ==> provide High coverage + Loyalty Bonus & Loyalty Booster + Flexible cash flow/return
+ most important Pay up to 400% of your coverage if accidental death occuring out of Malaysia

RM1,000,000 ==> RM4,000,000 p.m for quotation - everyone can afford to have a high coverage now

4)Personal Accident

Most people will have two types of insurance cover: life insurance and health insurance. The purpose of life insurance is to cover the risk of early death and the purpose of health insurance is to act as a cushion against hospitalisation expenses. However, personal accident cover is equally important as compared to life and health cover. Firstly, it will provide financial support to the policyholder if he is disabled after an accident. Secondly, the magnitude of the mishap doesn't matter. Even minor ones like falling off a bicycle and breaking an arm, or fracturing a leg while playing football are covered by the policy. For merely RM150 yearly, 1 shall be easily covered for RM100,000.

36 Illnesses

Colaboy — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 18:09:42 +0800

I like to start this topic to build some awareness on 36Illnesses due to the increasing number of it in the market.
I have just recently done a claim for my client which had a mouth cancer which are age 37 now . . . . . well the defination of cancer is as below
He manage to recover after done a surgery & 2 months of radiotherapy treatment . . .

Cancer
Cancer is defined as the uncontrollable growth and spread of malignant cells and the
invasion and destruction of normal tissue for which major interventionist treatment or
surgery (excluding endoscopic procedures alone) is considered necessary. The cancer
must be confirmed by histological evidence of malignancy. ==> in order to make a claim

The following conditions are excluded:-
(a) Carcinoma in situ, including of the cervix
(b) Ductal Carcinoma in situ of the breast
© Papillary Carcinoma of the bladder and Stage 1 Prostate Cancer
(d) All skin cancers except malignant melanoma
(e) Stage I Hodgkin‟s disease
(f) Tumors manifesting as complications of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome.

Carcinoma in situ: Cancer that involves only the place in which it began and has not
spread. Carcinoma in situ is an early-stage tumor.

Cancer treatment can be very subjective, since it very much depends on the phase of the
cancer when it‟s discovered. Hence, the range can be within RM5,000 and RM150,000.

The cost of each chemotherapy can also range from RM800 to RM2,000 per session.

Radiotherapy is estimated at RM1,500.

Sony Viao VGN-FJ68GP

Colaboy — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 03:43:07 +0800

anyboddy out there could help me get the driver . . .
it would be great

New Fund AmStaples, AMBANK

Colaboy — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 18:29:55 +0800

AmStaples (“the Fund”) is designed specifically for investors who are concerned with prevailing market volatility. You can now benefit from contracted fixed income distributions and potential additional income* linked to the lowest performance of an underlying basket of food staples assets**. The underlying basket is expected to remain resilient in recessionary times.

BENEFITS:
It is capital protected and the fund is
contracted to pay 6% at the end of the 12th month &
2.75% at the end of the 33rd month plus additional returns

Minimum returns will be 8.75%! How much is the FD rate now? 3.5% p.a.?

If you take 33 months average FD will give you 9.62%

So, the risk that you are taking is less than 1%!

The Fund’s value propositions are appended below:

􀂃Contracted fixed income distributions, potential additional income** (if any) and 100% of the Notional Amount at maturity (all in AUD)*
􀂃Access to food staples investment
􀂃Benefit from potential appreciation of AUD against MYR
􀂃Relative low cost of investment, one – off 3.25% front end load and no annual management fee
􀂃Leverage on the expertise of fund managers from AmInvestment Bank Group
􀂃The investment return is tax exempted*

REITS Investment . . . .

Colaboy — Fri, 02 May 2008 12:52:02 +0800

This fund is an actively managed fund that seeks to maximize income and long-term returns. This is achieved by investing in listed Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) and property related securities of companies, which are incorporated, listed or have their area of primary activity in the Asia Pacific region including Japan, Australia and New Zealand.

The fund may also invest in depository receipts, debt securities convertible into common shares, preference shares and warrants and through any other PRUlink property funds that may become available in the future or indirectly via sub-funds managed by Prudential Asset Management (Singapore) Limited (PAMS) or any other fund manager to be determined from time to time.

Who should invest in this fund?

Investors who seek higher growth of capital.
Investors who want to diversify their investments.
Investors who have medium-high risk tolerance.
Investors who seek to reap investment returns over the medium to long term.

Just to share a good fund in the market with you all . . . . .

Insurance Switching

Colaboy — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 12:11:12 +0800

What is insurance switching?
Insurance switching is an industry jargon that's actually not known to most life insurance agents. If you follow through all my articles about life insurance, you will notice the difference between investment-linked policy (ILP) and traditional policy. For ILP, insurance company charges natural premium, or simply means that the insurance charges increase according to age. But for traditional policy owner, you pay a level premium which is calculated using the age of entry. Insurance switching here means dropping traditional plan to get an ILP or vice versa.
Do you really need to switch insurance?
There are two sides of view, you either switch from traditional plan to ILP, or from ILP to traditional plan.

Switch from Traditional plan to ILP
. some agents advice their potential clients to lapse their existing traditional and buy a new ILP. This is definitely wrong because Bank Negara had imposed a rule that the act of replacing a policy within one year will be penalized. The new policy agent won't get any commission on the new sale.
. however, there are still some policyholders actually followed the agents' advice to switch because of the appealing features of an ILP - low premium, high coverage, better health card etc. Why aren't the agents penalized? This is due to the lack of linking between different insurance companies. There is no such centralized system where company A can track the status of the policy held at company B.
. you must realize that ILPs charges a high insurance cost especially at old age. You are getting the advantage of low insurance charges at young age. ILP is not so appealing to older folks who wants whole life protection on dread diseases. When you reach age 70, the mortality is simply ridiculous that your premium paid is impossible to cope with the ultra high insurance charges.
Switch from ILP to Traditional
. some policy owners thought that ILP is actually for investment. But that's not true in that terms just because some agents might sell you the investment features of ILP. ILP is designed with integrated insurance features. In fact, ILP is a very effective tool to give comprehensive coverage at low affordable premium especially for younger people.
. when you get older, you might want to consider to actually switch from ILP to traditional plan. The proper way to do that is to reduce the protection on ILP, and buy new traditional plan. Ask your consultants whether the insurance companies provide a guaranteed switch that doesn't require any health proof. When you reduce your ILP protection, it is not necessary to reduce your premium. Instead, you can take premium holiday and just stop paying premium as long as your investment value is substantial enough.

Conclusion
1. Buy both policies, traditional and ILP as soon as possible. This ensures that you lock in the best features of both types of policies at the lowest premium affordable at young entry age.
2. Buy ILP if you are young and can't afford to have both type of policies. Normally for a budget of RM250/month, you can have a decent combination of both. Lower than that, just get the ILP.
3. Buy traditional policy if you are approaching retirement age, and seeking for life and critical illness coverage. Bad investment performance won't affect your policy status much unlike ILP which depends very much on investment return and your age.

come across this article . . . think it will benefit most of you guys/gals here in LYN

Stamp Collection

Colaboy — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 14:23:13 +0800

Hello i think this might not be the trend anymore
just wondering how many ppl still have this kinda interest towards stamp collection ?

Badminton

Colaboy — Thu, 01 Nov 2007 18:44:39 +0800

Hi there,

i have been back here in malacca for few months now . . .
looking for some kaki for badminton around malacca area
if interested pls pm me