A lot of us have experienced talking to insurance agents. Most of these experiences are forgettable, since the common perception regarding insurance is a bit negative. Some say it’s just a waste of money. Others say it’s useless. However, a number of us understand its value. What could be the difference between the two points of view? I can discuss this based on my experience.

I am not totally in favour of life insurance ever since I started working. I got numerous calls from agents representing different companies trying to set appointments to explain their products. The moment they tell me their company, I always say ‘no’. My mindset is fixed. I do not need insurance. It’s morbid to talk about my own death at this early stage of my life. I will just buy when I grow older. My girlfriend has the same outlook. She even asks why get an insurance when you’ve already got an insurance in your company?

All of these changed when we attended a Financial Wellness Talk in our company. The speaker mentioned that before you even invest, life insurance should come first. This is what most of financially independent people do. They value the concept of protection, both for their lives and their wealth. Life insurance can be considered a need for those who have dependents, or at least for those who plan to have a family in the future. The earlier you start the better since the price tends to be cheaper when you are younger. But then again, the needs differ based on a person’s situation – financially, physically etc.

Reference: www.lincolninvestment.com

Having the ideas we got from the seminar, we explored some investment vehicles. We tried stocks, mutual funds, time deposits and even 5-6! But somewhat, we felt something was missing. What if something happens to us in the future, especially when we have kids? Just thinking of that situation made us restless. We did further research and came across a product generally called a Variable Universal Life Insurance (VUL). It’s an insurance + investment type of life insurance. The investment portion could generate funds for us at a later stage in our lives. This can be used as a retirement package, an educational plan, or a business capital in the long-term future since we plan to grow the funds for 15 or more years. This perfectly fits our requirements! The amount may not be enough, but definitely, it is better than not saving at all. The best part, we are started at an early age.

Days after the seminar, we called up the Sun Life Agents who happens to be the parents of our officemate in our previous company. We were presented different options. So we decided to limit our coverage to what we believe is adequate. We got a plan called Sun Flexilink, the VUL product of Sun Life and decided to go for a Balanced Fund (med-high risk).

The biggest factor in our decision on how much coverage to take is our budget. We do not want to fuse all of our investment in one basket, and we do not want to spend so much on insurance. We just thought of what we think is sufficient for future use, and how much we can allocate for that. In addition, we included benefits that can provide financial assistance in case we have serious illness. This is a great add-on benefit since you’ll be covered when you’re faced with a critical illness listed in the policy. We just felt the need to be prepared because after all, who knows when and who the unwelcome diseases like cancer wants to strike on. A year’s savings won’t be enough to cover the hospital bills. Even your healthcare coverage in the company is limited.

In summary, our needs for protection, funds for critical illness and other needs for future funds are addressed. These are the benefits of having the product we chose.

I am now a Sun Life agent, with the goal of helping people realize the need for financial wellness. If you want further explanation, feel free to drop your comments. I’ll try my best to assist you.

4 Responses to “I Hated Life Insurance Until…”