The word death has never crossed my mind as it seems so far away. This was because I was young and had no responsibilities. However, that perception changed when auntie Voon died in 1994. She was to be my mother in-law in 4 months time, but stomach cancer took her away from me and my wife-to-be. And in 1998, my childhood friend died due to Leukaemia. This time death took on a stronger meaning for me because my friend was only 28 years old! Moreover, he left behind medical bills totalling $220,000 for the one over year stay in hospital. That was when I realised the fragility of life and the importance of having insurance protection. So I joined the insurance and financial planning industry right after my friend's death.

But there were more of such reminders to come. In early August 1998, my appendix burst and I spent $6,000 for the 3 days I stayed in hospital. A month later, my son Thaddeus was born and he too had his own encounters later on. Thaddeus was warded in the hospital for 5 times for different reasons, and the hospital bills were about $15,000 in total. This time round, I had a good hospitalisation policy for the entire family in place, and every single cent of the bill was taken care of. Not many people understood the importance of hospitalisation and surgical insurance then, but I was the fortunate few who did.

By then, I was a family man who has the responsibility of providing for my family especially in the event of my unfortunate demise. But no matter how hard I tried, I can never seem to fully cover myself in terms of insurance. This is because, in order to provide $3,000 per month for 20 years, I would need $720,000 of insurance coverage. But the premiums were so high! So I could never afford the premiums until…

When I was with an insurance company, I discovered that like me, most Singaporeans are not sufficiently covered. One of the main reasons is that most of us are being sold costly but totally inappropriate insurances. Most of the time, this is due to higher commissions attached to these products. Do you feel that you are in the same shoes as me?

But now that I know better, I have since restructured all my insurance plans. Most people will tell you that you will lose money when you do that. But my experience has been the exact opposite. By restructuring, I saved thousands of dollars each year in insurance premiums and was still able to increase my insurance coverage. If anything unfortunate was to happen to me today, my wife and children will truly be able to live life normally, as if I was still earning an income and providing for their material needs.

Having known the better way, I did not stay in the insurance industry as an agent for too long. Though I did well in the 4 years when I was there (having achieved Million Dollar Round Table) and considered myself to be a good adviser who was honest and competent, there was something that deeply stirred in my heart. To be fully accountable to my clients, I really wanted to be able to give truly independent advice. So in 2001, I called it a day. I bore the pain of losing my recurring commissions and left to start an independent financial advisory company with my business partner.

When we started Providend, an independent financial advisory firm, we decided that we must have two things in order for us to be truly independent. We need to have a wide range of products to choose from, and that we do not accept any forms of commissions. Only then can we be fully accountable to our clients as there are no potential conflicts of interests. Today, Providend is the only financial advisory company in Singapore that does not take commissions when providing advice. For that, we are probably Singapore's most honest, competent and independent financial adviser.

In October 2004, we developed Commissions Free Insurance to provide good advice and coverage that is affordable and best suited for you. We charge a reasonable flat fee for professional advice and help arrange the insurance for you. All commissions (net of fees) are returned to you. We also do not participate in any incentives offered by insurance companies to ensure our independence. This way you will know that the advice given is always best for you, as we have no vested interest in the commissions. Above all, you potentially can save thousands of dollars because of low cost and appropriate insurance as well as being able to get the commissions back.

I hope my sharing will really encourage you to:

1. At least have a good hospitalisation plan (and save by getting back commissions every year). Please click below to find out more.
   1. For Single
   2. For Single Parents
   3. For Married
2. Take a look again at your insurance plans to see how like me, you can lower your cost
3. Assess your own needs to make sure you are fully recovered. Do that for yourself and your loved ones today

You know, the funny thing about insurance is this. We all need it but we do not want to pay too much for it. At Commissions Free Insurance, you can achieve that balance. This is why we created it: To offer help and not hard sell.