Why CI Coverage Was The First Insurance I Bought For Myself
Having Critical Illness (CI) coverage is one of the most important coverage to me because of the huge financial risk that it will pose to the people I love when I am ill and without an income/rendered jobless.
Many believe that if anything unfortunate were to happen, they would have enough to sustain both themselves and their loved ones. However, why risk throwing your life savings into something that could have been prevented simply by having an insurance coverage?
My mum was diagnosed with Stage 3 Colon Cancer when I was just 7 years old. I had just migrated to Singapore that year and being so young, I remember asking my dad everyday why mummy wasn’t coming home again today?
From a dual income to a single income, my dad had to support the family in terms of food, education for my brother and I, and the hefty housing loan. My dad also had to take time off work to take care of my mum in the hospital, accompanying her for operations, treatments, and therapies. At the age of 9, my brother took on the responsibility of taking care of me, my meals, and making sure I reached home safely every single day.
My mum did purchase insurance for herself just a year before her diagnosis, but it was a very small basic coverage $15,000 because she did not know the importance of insurance. That period of time was really hard for my family, and without a good amount of insurance pay out, she had to cut short her recuperation period.
We always tell ourselves that “We’re still young, we’re healthy, nothing will happen.” But CI strikes when one least expects it and it can happen to anyone in this world, regardless of how healthy you think your habits are.
When I first joined the industry in 2018, I knew right away that CI coverage was the most important insurance that I needed. This is because I want to be sure that if such unfortunate events do happen, I am prepared for it and I can focus on the road to recovery instead of worrying about the consequences that it might bring to the people around me.
– Sherill Gan (@sherillgan), Financial Services Consultant
