Tokio Marine Withdraws Products

In case you have not heard of the news: Tokio Marine Life Insurance Singapore (TMLS) has decided to withdraw a few of their products with effect from 18th May 2012. They are :

1. TM Peace of Mind (MoneyBack)

2. TM Mortgage Protection (Single Premium-Single Life)

3. TM Mortgage Protection (Single Premium-Joint Life)

4. TM Mortgage Protection (Single Premium-Dread Disease)

Who Do You Buy Your Personal Accident Insurance From?

Strangely enough, many individuals never spared a thought when it comes to purchasing of Personal Accident (PA) Insurance, maybe because the premiums are always in the miniscule range of S$10-15 per month. Ask yourself; how many times have you given in to "over the counter" bank staff, telemarketers promoting PA policies to you and won't take "No" for an answer?

However, do you even know what you have bought after that verbal commitment?  To make matter worse, what if there's a claim? Are you willing to be put on hold whilst doing a follow up on the status of your personal accident claim? Why not give that $10 per month to your insurance agent and let him/her do all that work for you and in fact give you the proper advice, rather than a telemarketer or bank teller, who is just "programmed" to sell and they are not even qualified nor trained in the insurance/financial industry! I asked some of my clients who bought such policies over the phone or through credit card companies why they did it and their reply? "It was such a small amount, so I didn't want to bother you!" Well to all my friends who are reading this, my answer to that is "Every drop makes an ocean" and I want to make sure you are wholly served by yours truly and not just on a partial basis, because if that happens, I only get a partial view of your financial situation.

OK, with that out of the picture..if you are looking for a real value for money personal accident plan in Singapore, I strongly recommend QBE PA Extra because they offer very good rates for high coverage and has loads of "freebies" thrown in with no deductibles.

Many people often think that the Australian based QBE handles mainly marine insurance, but didn't know that they do medical and personal accident policies as well. If you want to have more details on their PA plan, do visit this site for the brochure.

Insurance Agent Job In Singapore

I was asked the question today : Which Insurance company provides the BEST insurance agent job in Singapore? It made me wonder what is the "BEST" he was referring to :

Best Pay : A company which gives the best pay package to the insurance agent,  may be doing injustice to their clients, since a large portion will go to the marketing costs, whilst there are some insurance firms will simply be a scrooge to their insurance advisors, while attempting to reward their policyholders.

Best Training : I used to work for a top insurance company in Singapore and as an agent in the company, I felt that I had the best insurance agent job in Singapore, since it really provided us with loads of sales and product trainings, then I met many other insurance agents from other smaller insurers who did as well or better than me and I came to realise that providing the best training at work is like giving a child the best tutor, whether or not the person ends up being successful, depended greatly on his/her passion to succeed and their ability to seize every opportunity to learn and their openness to put their knowledge into practice.

Best IT/Admin Support : There was also a time in my young and restless days, I envied a competing insurance firm for their latest technology support to their insurance agents, but every time when it comes to the year end report of all insurance companies, the company of which I had the "best insurance agent job in Singapore" often came up tops! That once again sealed my belief that it was not the company, nor the training, nor the pay, BUT the people in the company and that was every individual insurance agent themselves who made the difference!

To the question : "Which Insurance company provides the BEST insurance agent job in Singapore?" The Answer:-There is no best because firstly it is YOU whom the clients buy and secondly, becoming an insurance agent is NOT a job, it's a lifestyle and a passion!

If you want to experience that passion, do drop by and find out more at this site.

Tokio Marine Life Singapore Branding Campaign

As we enter into the early hours of 12 Dec 2011, I just want to be the 1st to announce that Tokio Marine Life Singapore (TMLS) is starting their BRANDING campaign today!

Why? Simply, right up till today (or shall I say yesterday), most of the public does not know that TMLS has acquired Asia Life a couple of years back and is already one of the growing Life Insurance companies in Singapore. Since TMLS has been somewhat living in the shadows of its parent firm, Tokio Marine Group; many individual still assumes that the company does marine and general insurance only (most likely due to their name).

So today marks the day which Singapore will know Tokio Marine Life Singapore (TMLS) is not only in the life insurance business, but they market employee benefits (group insurance) for companies as well! So look out for their branding campaign running throughout the next 12 weeks on CNA and Channel 5 TV Commercials, MRT plying the NS and EW lines, taxi billboards and on the 15th December, TMLS will be shown for the entire run of the movie screening schedule of the blockbuster hit "Mission Impossible 4" @ Golden Village and Cathay Cinemas!

Maybe with all that hype and more recognitions to come, you might want to join us to understand what makes the company ticks and grow so quickly in this highly competitive arena of life insurance business! Feel free to find out more about us and even to start a career with us!

Launch of TM Legacy VIP

1 December 2011 marks a special day for Tokio Marine Life Singapore as it's the launch of their long awaited TM Legacy VIP!

TM Legacy VIP main features are :

• Permanent high insurance cover for Family Financial Security
• Immediate liquidity with a high cash value from day 1
• Further asset accumulation through growth in your cash value
• Equitable and positive estate distribution solution

Tokio Marine Life Insurance Singapore has also added the following features to make it more appealing to customers who used to get universal life plans as solutions : You can buy this policy for kids as young as age 1 year old Policy is dominated in S$, unlike TMLS's competitors marketing Universal Life policies, which are normally transacted in US$ TM Legacy VIP has Lifetime cover when compared against TMLS rivals, who normally markets term plans. Policy loans up to 80% of cash value from day 1. The policy pays out the higher of Guaranteed Death Benefit or Sum Assured + Bonuses (before age 100)

Who should buy? Business Owners. People who likes single premium products (calculated liability). Those who wants high coverage from day 1 till age 100 and long period of guaranteed cash values. Asset Owners who wants collateral for financial institutions. Individuals who wants to leave behind charitable legacy. Parents who wants to provide for estate equalization (ie: all their children will be left with some form of asset upon the demise of the parents, in the form of a business, property or simply cash). Grandparents who wants to leave a legacy for their grandchildren. For those who want S$ dominated policy Companies who need Keyman Insurance

BMI for Children

The following post is courtesy of Dr Leslie Tay of Karri Family Clinic:

"Actually, not many parents come to the clinic worrying that their kids are too fat. Most parents come to the clinic complaining that their kids are not eating well and are too thin.

I think that there needs to be a fundamental change in the thinking of parents concerning their children's weight. In many Asian cultures, fat is seen to be good because traditionally, food is scarce, so only those who are really well off can afford to feed their kids well. So fat kids are seen as a sign of prosperity. However, in Singapore now, we are seeing an epidemic of kids who are really too fat. Obese kids who grow up to be obese adults who run the risk of developing diabetes, hypertension, high cholesterol levels etc.

The Health Promotion Board has recently released new BMI for age charts which I have uploaded here on the website. BMI is short for Body Mass Index and it is a way to determine if your child is over or underweight. But unlike adults, kids of different age groups have different BMI ranges. So that is why in order to find out if your child is indeed overweight, you need to first work out his BMI and then compare it on the BMI for age percentile chart."

So here is how to use the BMI for age charts:

The Most Feared Situation In Insurance Industry

Last week I had to go through an uncomfortable and somewhat fearful situation in my line as an IFA.

In my course of work in the insurance industry, medical plans have been very important to me as I actively promoted them to my friends and clients alike, more so since I now belong to the middle age class.

A close contractor friend of mine delivered a shocking news to me 2 weeks back to say that he has contracted cancer. Though still in an unbelievable state that the father of three teenage kids who was very active in badminton could also be hit by the disease, I was certain that at least he had some insurance policies, sold to him when I was with my previous insurer as a tied agent.

However, a final check with the insurer last week, revealed the greatest nightmare anyone in his position can have...all his policies were LAPSED in 2007! When I checked with my friend, he did admit that in his busy schedule, he might have forgotten to pay "a few" of his policies. He was also someone who wanted to monitor his finance closely, as such, never liked the idea of GIRO (auto deduction from his bank account).

Last Friday, I had to break the news to his wife as to why with the potential high costs of medical bills, there will be no cheque payment for her husband's policies. To me, it was really a situation I do not wish to be in again.

So my encouragement to all who is reading this post, do monitor your policies closely and not let your loved ones pay for your busy schedule. Insurance may be the last thing on your mind when you are successful, but it's something which my ex-boss used to say : "Insurance is a piece of paper where your spouse will never question why you are paying so much for."