Quora Answer: Is It Worth Buying Insurance in Singapore if I Plan to Migrate?

The following is my answer to a Quora question: “Is it worth buying an insurance policy in Singapore if I plan to migrate?”

It depends on what type of insurance exactly.  There is no point getting any sort of hospitalisation plan since you are paying for benefits that you can never use due to the legal limitations of the Shield plans.  There is a possibility of a group health coverage owned by a company you own.  The advantage is that the coverage is international, and after a year, pre-existing conditions are covered.  But again, this is relative to what you can get wherever you are going.

A lot of non-Singaporeans get investment-linked insurance plans because they provide a good return of around 5.5%, when managed properly.  They use these plans to park liquid funds to avoid taxation.  It is perfectly legal, albeit a bit on the grey area.

Non-residents also get whole life plans that have critical illness coverage.  The coverage is international, which means claim is not a concern.  They structure these plans to create an immediate estate.  Often, they assign it to a trust.  Such plans have a surrender value, making them financial instruments in their own right.

For those who are non-residents, but are directors of companies registered in Singapore, term plans are used as a hedge against the uncertainties of business succession at an executive level.  They then perform an absolute assignment of the plans to a company, and put it as a benefit to the director on the books.