With Singapore not favouring the subsidising system, the CPF Medisave account is a compulsory scheme by the government to get the citizens to mostly pay for their own medical expense with their own money. The good news  is that we are enjoying one of the lowest personal taxes rate in the planet. Where else does the government find the money to fund anything for the country? The bad news is that it will leave you with less money in your pocket.

Which is why it is most prudent to protect our CPF Medisave from being wiped out. If that happens, the bills gonna be paid out of your own pocket. Nobody likes to spend their hard earn cash in clinics and hospitals. And not just anyone will be eligible for the Medifund Scheme (charity scheme for the needy). If you could save thousands of dollars by parting with a few hundreds, would that be a great deal to you?

• Upgrade your Medishield

If you already have last year, do it again. Insurers which cater this plan are constantly tweaking their MediShield plans, and the best plan of the year doesn’t necessary comes from the same company. If you have yet to upgrade, get the highest plan available on the market. The most ideal plan is the plan that gives the highest percentage of “refund”  your medical expense (e.g. 80% of bill refund instead of 70%). This will ensure that your Medisave fund won’t dry up too quickly if it the moment calls for it.

• Upgrade your family members’ MediShield plans

An average catastrophic medical expense will easily wipe out most Singaporean’s Medisave Account. We’re talking about individual medical expenses. If you’re married with kids, you will endanger the family’s financial future once your Medisave funds run out, coz you’re effectively sharing your Medisave account with your spouse to fund for the kids- and that’s barely enough to go around. If you’re single with parents, someone have to help settle the bill if the parents have to be hospitalized. It could come from you.

• Get ElderShield supplementary plans for your self/parents

Every Singaporean who reach the age of 40 are automatically include into the basic Eldershield plan. In the event that the insured are severely challenged to carry out  normal daily activities like bathing or moving from room to room due to old age, the plan will pay out monthly income to the insured. The problem with the basic plan is that they don’t pay enough to get a maid or a helper. If you are suffering from old age sickness, how on earth are you gonna get an income, let alone managing daily your own tasks? Another problem is that the income will not last forever. ElderShield Supplementary plans are designed to solve these issues. If you’re under 40 and have parents, take note of this, because if they don’t have the means to fund for old age complications, it might probably come from your own pocket.