A H&S story: Make money that helps us spend less money.

Hospitalisation and surgery (H&S) insurance coverage is a must have for everyone. What might not be perceived as a must have is the rider that is usually offered and one possible reason is that this is an out of pocket item which means that we cannot use our Medisave savings to pay for it.

However, I am quite happy to pay for the rider and will encourage anyone who can afford the rider to get it. Early last year, I shared that:

"So, it means that I only have to pay 10% of my total medical bills if I were to be hospitalised and this 10% has an annual cap of $3,000 in my case. So, if my hospitalisation and related bills were to total more than $30,000 in any year, I would still pay a maximum of only $3,000."

Hospitalisation bills could turn out to be quite burdensome. Knowing that I have only got to pay $3,000 even if my bills should exceed $30,000 in any one year gives me peace of mind.

The rider costs more as we age but don't let that dissuade us from having it because the rider will become even more important as we age. Why?

The chances of being hospitalised and of being hospitalised for many more days per visit will only go up as we age. This is quite natural. So, naturally, we should keep the rider. Simple.

So, in the case of my mom, I told her I will pay for her H&S rider if she cannot afford it. I would rather pay for the H&S rider and also the maximum of $3,000 annually in case of hospitalisation than to pay the regular deductible and co-insurance with each stay in a hospital for her. There is no way of telling how much these might cost on a per visit and per year basis but with the H&S rider, I know how much I should be prepared to pay every year.

If only risk management was always so easy.

Get ourselves and our loved ones insured well and we will not have to fear big hospitalisation bills that will one day come to us. This is simple enough to understand. So, for those of you who have yet to act on this, there is no time to lose.

Of course, I understand that it is a pain having to pay for anything. It would be wonderful if everything in this world was free but that would remain a dream. So, we work so hard to make money only to see the money going to pay for all the expenses in life? I know the feeling. Ouch.

Well, it would be less painful if the money used to pay for all the expenses in life were money that we did not work so hard to make. Huh? Well, what if it were money that was made by money that we worked hard to make? OK, I am sure you get the idea now.

Make some money that will help us spend less money especially on necessities in life. H&S and the rider are two such necessities.

Related posts:
1. How to get free medical insurance?
2. Enhanced Incomeshield for my mom.

Which investment and personal finance bloggers to follow? (5 revelations from a regular retail investor.)

Whether we like it or not, many things in life have to be measured. However, it gets rather irksome when people want to measure us against others. 

If you get the feeling that AK is going to be ranting in this blog post, you are right!






My school results were measured against my cousins' all the time, I remember.

When I was a bit older, I told my mom and my aunts very firmly that I didn't like that. They stopped.

I think it was more fun for them than it was for me.

Now, for investments, it is the same thing. For some people, is not enough that we do well, we must be the best. 

Why do some people get so fixated with measuring and comparing everything?






"Wah, you are short! I am long!"

(Hey, I am talking about positions lah. Think straight hor. Huh? What do you mean 64 positions? Aiyoh, I don't know what you are talking about.)

Anyway, it gets so tiring sometimes that I wish I do not hear or read anything like this for a long time. 

It just gets quite pervasive at times.

I have been asked by some people on and off to give more details regarding my portfolio so that they can decide if I am beating some benchmark. 






What benchmark? 

The only marks I know on benches are graffiti in the public parks which might include the odd phone number offering some services by some people. 

Huh? Financial services? 

You say leh?

When I politely declined (for the umpteenth time), some people asked, 

"How would I know if you are worth following if I don't know?"

Wah! WAH! WAH!!!!!

Which color tastes better?

Hey, bro. Here are a few things I don't mind revealing:

1. Don't follow me. 

I have this fear of stalkers. I don't know why. I am just so scared of being stalked.

2. My investments might beat the index or they might not. I don't really care. 

All I care about is getting in with a margin of safety and having a dividend yield that makes sense. 

OK, sometimes, I get a little adventurous but I try to make sure that the occasional misadventure will not kill me. Yes, what I do care about is not losing money overall.





3. I never claim to be an expert or a guru. 

I am just a regular retail investor who got lucky quite regularly (I will admit). I say this all the time. There are some people who believe me and although not all are polite about it, I have no doubt that they are all clever chaps.

4. I am not very clever at spotting growth in companies. 

I can't seem to see very clearly what is in the future. I don't think anyone can guarantee growth. So, I rather get my hands on something which is more or less guaranteed, trying to avoid being stung at the same time.





5. The only person you should really follow is yourself. Know yourself. Know your temperament. Know your aptitude. 

You could be good at some forms of investment. Then, just stick to these.  If you want to be the best in the field, well, go ahead. Just, please, don't think that I feel the same way and that I have to be the best too.

OK, now I have a blog post I can direct some people to in future.

Related posts:
1. Motivations and methods in investing.
2. Market gyrations, my portfolio and a sabbatical.