Whole-life Critical Illness Insurance Plan Is A Heavy Boulder to Shoulder

What happened to the talented Chadwick Boseman can happen to anyone. Chadwick, the Black Panther superhero, died of colon cancer at the young age of 43 after fighting it for 4 years. I was sadden at the passing of Chadwick who is still so young and has many more to offer to the World. The growing rate of this terrible disease in young people is alarming. Critical illness policies are thus important and essential for protecting yourself and also your loved ones while one is still in the prime of one's live. During my last posting on my struggle with whole-life insurance policies in March 2012, I have briefly mentioned the 3 whole-life critical illness policies, namely, (i) NTUC Income, (ii) Aviva and (iii) Tokio Marine Life, that I have been holding. I like the NTUC Income Living Policy series as it generates good cash value over the many years that I have been holding. However, this is a traditional whole life policy that one is required to pay until age 85 years old unlike limited payment products that is the norm these days. I simply cannot envision myself paying S$1,500 per year up till 85 years old. 

Whole-life CI is necessary but very expensive and a constant struggle to maintain

I was extremely happy when my Aviva critical illness coverage policy became fully paid up in 2017. It feels as if a big stone was taken off my shoulder. However, the bad news is that the agent which sold me the Aviva policy convinced me to sign up for a new AXA plan with coverage of another S$100K for early critical illness coverage and this was another limited payment plan of 15 years at S$2,484.90 per annum.

2 months ago, I decided to terminate my NTUC Income Living Policy as I have enough of paying and paying non-stop to sustain this traditional whole-life plan that does not make sense to me since day 1. I was happy to take out the cash value that had built up and converted them into my emergency cash on hand. This also means I get to save S$1,500 every year from paying NTUC Income.

Life is full of contradiction

The strange thing is that after I cancelled the NTUC Income whole life policy, I suddenly felt a tinge of regret. I know it sounds ironic. But I then decided to sign up for another standard critical illness policy with Prudential but this time round, I opted for a 15 years term policy for S$100K of coverage for normal critical illness at a fraction of the price of whole-life for only about S$400 per annum. I guess I just want to have a peace of mind to have something extra before my kids finished their studies and are able to stand on their own feet.

Summary
For those who just started work, paying for whole life critical illness insurance is a huge burden with the low start-up salary package as one strives to work his or her way up by building expertise and on the job experiences. But guess it is an issue of having sufficient financial discipline to endure the hardship upfront and enjoying the fruits of the labour after the policy became fully paid up where  one eventually gets the protection for life.