Are you short on cash during these trying times? There might be circumstances where surrendering your insurance plans might be a solution. We discuss the merits of doing this, the alternatives, and ways to continue to keep yourself protected.

Speakers:
1. Kevin Neoh, VKA Wealth Planners
2. Paul Low, Etiqa Life Insurance Bhd

Moderators:
1. Roshan Kanesan, Producer/Presenter, Ringgit & Sense
2. Malek, Ali, Founder, Fi Life

Show Summary
1. Surrendering your protection plan is always the very last solution.
4:43 (Kevin) 8:35 (Malek) 24:39 (Paul)
- You and your family need protection
- If you are a breadwinner, having a lump sum (insurance payout) will provide continuous income for your family should something happen to you
- Be aware of your insurability
- If you surrender today, you might not purchase the same policy in the future due to health conditions

2. Review your policy
10:06 (Kevin) 26:45 (Malek)
- Check with your insurance consultant or customer service to understand your policies
- Differentiate your insurance policies with needs and wants. Example of needs: You have dependents and family has a history of inherited disease
- Talk to an independent financial adviser to reduce or restructure your policies especially if you have a few policies

3. Set your goals, review your budget & restructure financial habits
19:33 (Kevin) 13:10 (Paul) 17:26 (Kevin) 20:26 (Kevin)
- Goal setting - what do you really value: your family, security or enjoying life?
- List your priorities and reduce less important expenses
- Be creative and earn extra income through e-commerce
- Get someone you trust to challenge your budget and priority spending list
- Change of mindset and lifestyle starts today, reflect and make necessary sacrifices to keep your insurance protection for your family

4. Get a premium deferment until the end of the year
15:31 (Paul) 16:43 (Kevin)
- Have a few months to rebuild your finances
- Use Maybank credit card easy payment for next year’s premiums
- Important to change your mindset as well to avoid being in the same sticky situation after the premium deferment

5. Alternatives
14:22 (Paul) 22.28 (Kevin) 25.43 (Malek) 41:22 (Paul)
- Get a pure term life protection plan
- Get a Personal Accident policy
- For Investment-linked policies, you may reduce your sum assured or you can use cash value to sustain your sum assured
- Turn your policy into a paid up policy: Use your cash value to pay for the insurance but with reduced sum assured

6. How to choose a Medical Insurance Policy
32:54 (Paul) 34:07 (Paul) 35.55 (Paul) 36:28 (Kevin)
- Key features to look out for are room & board, major illnesses, inpatient & outpatient, critical illness, hospitalisation
- In terms for annual limit and lifetime limit:
- How much you can afford is key
- premium cost will be higher for higher annual limit
Critical illness (CI):
- Early CI has higher premiums because insurance company pays out benefits upon diagnosis to get treatment at an early stage
- Very important to go through the terms and conditions of your medical policy, especially the fine prints for certain features
- Some companies do provide COVID-19 cash relief and hospitalization claims

7. Employees have their company group medical insurance, but it's also very important to get your own medical insurance
39:16 (Paul)
- Do it when you are still young to avoid expensive premiums or worse, unable to get any insurance

8. Employers can consider portable insurance product for employees upon resignation or retirement to protect their interest
39:52 (Malek)

9. Term life vs whole life
42:47 (Kevin)
- Determine your needs and do a comparison. Whole life costs more in general but for higher protection, term life may cost you more over the long term

10. You can reach out to your insurance company’s online portal and customer service if you feel not supported by your agent. However, do be fair to your agents at the same time
44:52 (Kevin)