You will write a one-page brief stating your needs, existing cover and budget for insurance.
Hui Min has agreed to a second meeting with her adviser friend, this time properly, at his office. Last time he did most of the talking and she left with a brochure. This time she wants the meeting to start from her situation, and the simplest way to do that is to hand him a page that describes it before he opens his tablet.
This exercise builds that page: a one-page insurance brief that says who depends on you, what you already have, what is missing, what you can spend, and what you are not looking to buy. It takes about 25 minutes and draws on everything from modules 3 and 6. The figures are made-up examples, and nothing here recommends a product.
Start the page with one or two sentences on the people whose finances include your income. Be specific. "My parents" is less useful than "my parents both work; I give them S$400 a month, which they use for household costs but do not rely on". If nobody depends on you, say so. That single line changes what an adviser should suggest.
Hui Min writes: "Single, living with my parents. Both work. I give them S$400 a month. I am repaying a CPF Education Scheme loan into my mother's Ordinary Account."
List your existing cover from lesson 6.1, What you already have: MediShield Life, DPS and your group plan. For each, give one line on what it pays and when it ends.
Hui Min's list: MediShield Life, for life. DPS, cover amount checked on the CPF website. Group hospital and surgical up to S$20,000 a year at ward class B1, group term life of S$96,000, outpatient and dental, all ending when she leaves her job. An old hospital plan her mother has been paying for since she was ten.
Copy the two gaps you highlighted on your benefits map in lesson 3.4, then your ranking from lesson 6.2. Put the top three risks on the page, each with a one-line reason.
Hui Min's gaps are loss of income from illness or disability, and the risk of a condition developing while she relies on group cover. Her top three risks are a long illness that stops her working, a large hospital bill above what MediShield Life is designed for, and a serious diagnosis that makes personal cover harder to get later.
Decide what you can spend on insurance in a year, and make it a line in your first-year budget from lesson 4.4. Choose a figure your budget can carry for years, because cover only helps if it is still in force when you need it.
Hui Min sets a premium budget of S$1,200 a year, which is S$100 a month. She adds it to her budget, and her everyday spending line falls from S$1,913 to S$1,813. Seeing that drop makes the budget feel real. It also gives the adviser a ceiling to work within rather than a figure to talk up.
Also note what MediSave can pay. If a hospital plan is on the table, part of its premium may come from MediSave rather than from this cash budget, within the limits on cpf.gov.sg.
This is the section most briefs leave out, and it is the one that saves the most time. List the products you are not looking for now, each with a reason.
Hui Min writes: "Not looking for life cover beyond DPS and my group plan yet, because nobody depends on my income. Not looking for a savings or investment-linked policy, because my buffer is not built and I have no long-term goal planned. Will review if my parents come to rely on me or I buy a flat."
Then add your five questions from lesson 6.3, What can wait, and the questions to ask any adviser: the premium over the whole term, the surrender value table, what happens if you stop paying, how the adviser is paid, and what need the product meets.
A finished brief is one page, in plain sentences, with six parts: who depends on you, existing cover, gaps and top risks, premium budget, what you are not buying yet, and your questions. Put the date at the top. Keep it with your benefits map and update it when your situation changes, such as a new job, a move, or someone starting to rely on you.
Hui Min prints two copies, one for her and one for her friend. A good adviser will welcome it, because it tells him what to work on. If someone ignores it and goes back to the tablet, that tells you something too. Before the meeting, it helps to have someone else read the page, someone who knows you well enough to ask what you left out.
Complete the one-page insurance brief and share it with one adviser or a trusted friend for questions.
Junxiong-WFG Organisation is an authorised representative of AIA Financial Advisers Private Limited (Reg. No. 201715016G).