Best Life Insurance Plans Singapore 2021

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Disclaimer: At MoneySmart.sg, we strive to keep our information accurate and up to date. All life insurance products featured on this page will involve an independent financial advisory firm called PromiseLand. This third-party company will be reaching out to you directly regarding your enquiries. The details you see on our site may be different from others. Some content may be compensated through third-party advertisers. However, the results of our comparison tools which are not marked as sponsored are based on objective analysis. All financial products and services are presented without warranty.

What Is Whole Life Insurance?

Whether you are buying a term or whole life insurance, the purpose of life insurance is to protect you and your family's financial stability in the event you are diagnosed with total permanent disability, terminal illness, or even when you pass on.

Financial Stability

Let's say you have a HDB BTO, two children, and elderly parents – but you are the only one drawing a monthly salary to support the family. If you pass on, your dependants (family members who rely on your income to live) may be left without any source of money to keep their lives going. Here's where your life insurance comes into play – your insurance company will give your family a lump-sum payout cheque (e.g. S$250,000) from the life insurance plan you have purchased.

Sum Assured

This lump-sum payout amount is not random, it should be chosen by you (and your spouse) when you first apply for the life insurance plan. Basically, it should cover the needs of your family for a short period of time, for example, one year before your spouse goes on to find a new childcare arrangements for your children, and a new job to sustain the family.

When To Buy

A general rule of thumb is this – the younger you are, the lower and cheaper your premiums will be since you will likely have lesser health issues. So, if you are in your 20s, you might want to start thinking and shopping for insurance. Life insurance may not the most romantic date-night topic to think and talk about, but you will need to bring this up at some point in your adulting and BTO aka family planning journey.

What Are The 3 Types Of Life Insurance?

Types of Life InsuranceBenefitWho Is It For
Whole Life InsuranceOffers you a lump-sum payout in the event of disability, terminal illness, critical illness (depends on your choice of plan), and death, with possible cash returns – for your entire life.Young adults, professionals, and homeowners
Term Life InsuranceOffers you and your family a lump-sum payout in case you are disabled, terminally ill, critically ill (optional), or in the event of your death – up to a certain age only, e.g. 75 years old.Fresh graduates, first-time insurance buyers, and first-jobbers
Universal Life InsuranceOften offered to high net-worth individuals, a Universal Life insurance plan offers you the usual whole life death benefits – although with the flexibility to change your sum assured and premiums anytime, and the premiums you pay can be investment-linked.High and ultra-high net-worth individuals considering legacy planning

Term vs Life Insurance

So, you've heard of people buying term life insurance, and others buying whole life plans (commonly referred to as life insurance in short) – but what are the similarities and differences between term and whole life insurance?

Term Life Insurance

Term life insurance covers you for a fixed period of time (also why it's named term) – mostly until 75 years old. That means, if you are diagnosed with terminal illness, total permanent disability, or pass away before 75 years old, your family will receive the lump-sum payout you were assured for. However, if you outlive your plan (aka live beyond age 75), your term insurance plan will automatically end and you will not get any of your money back.

Whole Life Insurance

Whole life insurance on the other hand, commonly covers you up to age 99, 100, or death (depends on your insurance company). If you outlive your plan, you will get guaranteed and non-guaranteed cash returns. You will also be able to add a multiplier (sometimes known as additional coverage) for a fixed number of years to boost the total sum you're assured for. Whole life insurance premiums generally cost 10 times more than term insurance due to the length and flexibility of coverage.

Whole Life Insurance

What is whole life insurance? Is it a good investment? What are the pros and cons of whole life insurance plans? Whole vs term life insurance is one of those never-ending arguments – you're either a whole life insurance type of person, or you're a term insurance person. Universal life insurance? Forget it, those people won't be reading this page. Below, we list out the advantages and disadvantages of a whole life insurance plan:

Pros#1

Life expectancy. In Singapore, the average Singaporean lives up to 82.9 years old (as of 2017). However, most term insurance plans only cover you up to 75 years old. That means, if you live past age 75 (aka outlive your plan), your term insurance plan will automatically end, and you will not get any money back. You can see your premiums as wasted, or thank your premiums for having offered you coverage up till an old ripe age of 75.

Pros#2

Cash returns. While term insurance does not guarantee any cash returns if you outlive your policy, an endowment whole life insurance accumulates cash value over the years and may even offer you a guaranteed (confirm you will get back) and non-guaranteed sum of cash if you outlive your policy (some whole life policies end at age 99 or 100).

Pros#3

Investment-linked. Some people are drawn to the fact that some whole-life policies can be linked to investment funds – meaning the monthly S$300 or S$400 premiums that you pay will be pumped into your choice of investments. However, you don't get guaranteed cash returns with such plans since your money will be subject to the economy and market forces – yes, you could lose your money.

Cons#1

Money. Whole life insurance plans' premiums generally cost 10 to 12 times more than term life insurance plans' premiums since they effectively cover you for a longer period of time (up to age 99, 100, or death depending on your policy). If you are in the late 20s, your annual whole life premiums start from around S$4,000 per year for just S$250,000 sum assured (your death payout).

Cons#2

Necessity. Some individuals believe that your children or dependants don't necessarily depend on you their entire lives. At some point, your children will be financially independent and they will no longer need your whole life insurance payout to survive when you pass on. Therefore, these people believe that it's not worth forking out so much from your retirement funds (S$10,000 upwards annually in your 50s and 60s) for a whole life insurance if your children are financially independent.

Cons#3

Lose Money. If you purchased a whole life investment-linked policy (ILPs), and you and your insurance agent or advisor are both not familiar with the funds, you may quite easily lose your money paid in premiums (and a lot of people have so). Also, whole life ILPs are meant for the long-haul and if you need immediate cashflow (new house for new baby on the way etc.), then it might result in losses when you surrender your plan early.

Best Life Insurance Singapore

AIA Guaranteed Protect Plus II

AIA Guaranteed Protect Plus II is a whole life insurance plan offering you coverage for death, total and permanent disability (up to age 70), and critical illness (optional, up to age 100). You may choose to add a 2X, 3X, or 5X multiplier (up to age 65 or 75) to increase your lump-sum payout while your dependants may still be financially reliant on you. You may also enjoy non-guaranteed bonuses depending on the performance of the funds your premiums have been invested in.

AVIVA MyWholeLife Plan III

AVIVA MyWholeLife Plan III is a whole life insurance plan covering death and terminal illnesses. You have the option to purchase additional riders for total permanent disability, and critical illness coverage. Also, you may choose to boost your total sum assured up to 500% (up to 65, 70, or 75 years old), or opt-in to the "Income Payout Option" to receive monthly payouts from your plan for retirement (after 65 years old).

AXA Life Treasure

AXA Life Treasure is a whole life insurance plan with coverage for death, terminal illness, and total permanent disability up to 99 years old. You can boost your sum assured for a fixed number of years by opting in to the Multiplier Benefit Rider – which also gives you the flexibility to reduce your multiplied sum assured when you no longer need it, lowering the premiums you have to pay. There are 11 riders ranging from accidental death, disability cash, critical illness, early critical illness, and premium waiver riders for you to customise your plan to suit your lifestyle needs.

China Taiping I-Secure

China Taiping I-Secure is a whole life insurance for death, terminal illness, and total permanent disability. You can choose to add a "Guaranteed Benefit" to multiply your sum assured by 2, 3, or 4 times up to 71 or 86 years old – and subsequently can be extended for life. There are 2 critical illness riders available which covers 55 advanced-stage critical illnesses, and 161 juvenile, special, early to advanced-stage critical illnesses respectively. Also, there are 11 premium waiver riders – some of which offer you premium waivers in the event your spouse is diagnosed with a terminal illness, total permanent disability, or have unfortunately passed on.

Manulife LifeReady Plus

Manulife LifeReady Plus is a whole life insurance plan covering death, terminal illness, and total permanent disability – with the option for you to multiply your total sum assured up to 5 times (only until 70 years old). There are riders available, namely critical illness (CI rider), early critical illness (ECI), annual payouts, retrenchment benefits, and a health advantage benefit for premium discounts.

NTUC Star Assure

NTUC Star Assure is a whole life plan covering death, total permanent disability, and terminal illness. You can choose to multiply your base sum assured up to 5 times until you're 70 years old. Usual riders such as critical illness, early critical illness, cash income replacement for hospitalisation, and premium waivers are available. However, a distinct feature of this plan is the Advanced Assure Accelerator rider, and Major Impact Benefit which covers you for unknown diseases such as COVID-19.

Tokio Marine Legacy LifeFlex

Tokio Marine's Legacy LifeFlex is a whole life insurance plan covering you for death, terminal illness, and total permanent disability. The amount that you choose to be assured for can be multiplied by up to 10 times until you are 65 years old. You get to choose to pay your premiums over a 10 to 25 year period – after which you stop paying but continue to enjoy the coverage. You may also get to receive non-guaranteed annual payouts in the form of dividends from 65 years old onwards. Finally, you get to choose to add critical illness, early critical illness, premium waiver, spouse benefit, and kids riders to your plan.

Who Is Whole Life Insurance Suitable For?

If you're reading this, you must be considering purchasing a life insurance policy. However, you may still be wondering if you should buy whole life insurance or term insurance. To make things a little easier, here are the profiles of people who usually end up buying whole life insurance. Remember, there's really no right or wrong – everyone's lives, needs, priorities, and circumstances are different.

Working Adults

If you are someone whose priority is, and prefers to have the assurance that your life insurance policy will definitely cover you until your last breath, then you are most likely going to end up with a whole life insurance. However, whole life insurance plans don't come cheap – they can range from S$4,000 to $13,000 in insurance premiums per year. So, some young adults may first purchase a cheaper term insurance to have some sort of coverage before opting for a whole life plan when their income increases.

Parents With Newborns

Most commonly, parents with newborns or young children may purchase for whole life insurance plans for their little ones. Why? For several reasons, such as the assurance that your child will be covered for life even when you have finished paying premiums and have passed on, for a financial head-start in your child's working years and life since they are already insured and do not have to spend on insurance, and for the cash value that accumulates over the years that your child may be able to retrieve if they need it for education or the first home.

Whole Life Insurance Premiums

Wonder how much whole life plans' insurance premiums will cost? Here is a list of sample premiums from different whole life plans sorted according to age and increasing life stages.

25 Years OldMale, Non-Smoker

S$4,911 per year for Manulife LifeReady Plus with a base coverage of S$100,000, a 3X multiplier (for a total boosted coverage of S$300,000 only until 70 years old), and early critical illness, and critical illness riders

28 Years OldMale, Non-Smoker

S$2,908 per year for NTUC Star Assure with a base sum assured of S$100,000, a 3X multiplier (for a total of S$300,000 until 70 years old), and 3 riders

29 Years OldFemale, Non-Smoker

S$7,800 per year for AVIVA MyWholeLife Plan III with a base sum assured of S$500,000 coverage, with 100% additional coverage (for a total S$1 million only up to age 65), and no riders

30 Years OldMale, Non-Smoker

S$4,977 per year for Tokio Marine Legacy LifeFlex with a base coverage of S$500,000, 2 riders, and a 10 times booster for the riders (with a total coverage of S$500,000 in riders)

35 Years OldMale, Non-Smoker

S$4,680 per year for AXA Life Treasure with a base sum of S$90,000, with a 5X multiplier benefit (for a total boosted coverage of S$450,000), and critical illness, and accidental death riders

40 Years OldMale, Non-Smoker

S$4,000 per year for China Taiping I-Secure with a base coverage of S$100,000, a 2X multiplier (for a total of $200,000 coverage until age 86), and no riders