Our 2015 goals include two very important things: life insurance and heath cards. These are non-negotiables. The hubby and I have to get them this year or never. We’re actually very late; we should’ve gotten them a long time ago. But you know, we weren’t as prepared then as we are today.
How come we are invested in various instruments (e.g. stock market, UITF, and RTB) and yet we don’t have life insurance and health cards? I don’t have a very clear answer for this. Perhaps, we procrastinated. Or maybe, we just felt we didn’t need it just yet (I know, how foolish!). Or I guess, I’d justify it by saying we needed enough time to think as to which life insurance and health cards suit our needs.
The hubby is going to be 35 while I’m turning 32 this year. We’ve been weighing our options since last month. For life insurance, there are term life, VUL, and permanent life to choose from. After a lot of research (by yours truly) and some recommendations from well-meaning friends, our life insurance company of choice is now Sun Life Financial. We’ve already been keeping in touch with an advisor who happens to be the hubby’s officemate.
We are getting a term life insurance. We prefer the one with critical illness benefit, accidental death benefit and total disability benefit, if possible. Now, why term life insurance? Because aside from the fact that it’s cheap, it suits our needs (and future goals). I also agree with some of the reasons mentioned by personal finance advocate Fitz Villafuerte in this post on why you should not get a VUL or whole life insurance.
Just to be clear, I don’t have anything against those who prefer VUL and permanent life insurance. It’s your money and it’s your call where to put it. We also have different needs and purposes why we get life insurance (or any kind of investment) in the first place. Different strokes for different folks, as they say.
As for health cards, we’re looking at the emergency health cards of Maxicare and PhilCare. I specifically told the hubby that I prefer PhilCare’s ERVantage card because I’ve had a pleasant experience with them during my Ob-Gyne consultation last year. Yes, we’re not getting full health plans, just an emergency health card that’s valid for a year and good for one-time use only. What’s best about PhilCare’s ERVantage card is that it provides not just emergency care, but also emergency care leading to admission where you get covered up to P80,000 in hospital expenses (available for the highest premium of P1,300). It’s the only one of its kind offered in the market at present (correct me if I’m wrong).
We plan to buy these emergency health cards every year or as needed. Malaking tipid ito, ha. No need to pay a full health plan that ranges from P14k to P20k per year. We thought that since we’re getting a term life insurance with critical illness benefit, we would still be very much covered if ever we get diagnosed with a dreaded disease (knock on wood).
That’s it. I hope we take care of everything before the first quarter of this year ends. I’ll update you guys soon! 🙂
May you choose happiness always,
I was thinking of that the other day kung isasama ba sa budget. as of the moment, james and I are covered sa hmo ng company pero wala kaming life insurance. Maybe just like you, hindi pa namin kaya with all the expenses. hehehe.. one step at a time muna kami edel . =)
Naku, buti kayo may health cards na sagot ng company, kami kasi wala. 🙁
Hi sis, have you checked out Medicard’s RxER? Around 2k lang sya, unlimited checkup with family doctor, OB, dentist plus free annual checkup, BUT dun lang sa mga stand alone Medicard Clinics, Sakto sa amin dahil may malapit lang sa amin. Sulit for regular checkup, medical prescription purposes. You can also use the card during emergencies sa hospitals but 20K lang ang ER limit nya.
Hi Brenda, thank you very much for letting me know about Medicard’s RxER! Hmmm, napaisip tuloy ako. Ok yang free annual check-up, ha! Check ko nga website nila to know more about that product. 🙂
I’ll be following ur posts about term insurance ms edel, nagtatanong kasi kapatid ko kung anong maganda & since may anak sya I think kelangan na rin nya ng insurance talaga.
Interesting yung Medicard RXer ha 🙂 may dental plus free pa. Check ko rin site nila .
Sige Grace, I’ll blog about it soon. Oo nga bigla ako napaisip dun sa Medicard RxEr eh. 🙂
Hi Edel. One time payment lang yung P1300 ng ER Vantage and that’s for one year, right? Meron pa lang ganun. Ok din yung, Medicard’s RxER ha. I’m looking for something that will cover my dependents sa dental needs nila. May healthcard naman kame provided by my company pero yung mga dependents ko walang dental coverage.
Hi Em, yes one time payment lang yun. Tama ka, okay din yung Medicard RxEr kasi may dental consultation na kasama. My weighing options continues, hehe. 🙂
Before,I didn’t have any idea about life insurance policies but luckily,the companies we are working offer life insurance-for free.Although the amount is not big,we are thinking buying another plan. And yes with health cards,it’s really good to have them because if you don’t,all your savings and hard earned money will be drained in an instant.
Yes, that’s why they are a must. We wouldn’t want our hard earned money to be lost that way although sometimes, it’s inevitable. 🙂
Thankfully, covered kami ni Natalie sa hmo ni hubby. And he has life insurance with Grepalife. Ako wala pa.. We will have to consider that..
Lucky you, kami wala talaga kaya dapat magkaroon. 🙂
You’re not late in a way. You’re actually lucky hindi ka kumuha the past years and nothing *happened*. I’m turning 32 this year, too. Pero hindi na lang muna ako kumuha ng term life insurance kasi wala pa akong anak and I only provide for myself.
Yung health card, swerte kasi sobrang ok nung coverage ng health card ko at work. Ang iniisip ko ngayon is yung health card ng parents ko, medyo mahirap kasi senior citizens sila.
Hi Rae! Same age pala tayo. Sana wala pa din mangyaring hindi maganda sa amin sa mga susunod na taong darating. Hehe. Like you, wala pa rin kaming dependent. Sa health card naman ng parents, yung mom ko (she’s 60 y/o) sabit sa health card ng sister ko. Yung dad ko (he’s turning 60 next year), walang health card kaya nag-iisip rin ako ano ang pwede sa kanya. 🙂