Category: Singapore Insurance & Savings

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China-US Trade War

Trade War

The trade war between China and the USA is having an impact on the health of global trade and since the economy of Singapore depends to a great extend on global trading; it is expected to get affected too.

Trade War
Trade War – Economic health of Singapore

As per Analysts, though this trade friction had limited impact on the Singapore’s economy till date, but its negative impact could become more noticeable in the latter part of this year and beyond.

The government has already announced that Singapore’s exports have fallen by 2.6% in last November as a result of fall of demand in China. Though many of the tariffs directly do not affect Singapore, but still they have a spill over effect on the country as Singapore plays a big role in global supply chains.

As per the Central Bank, The backbone of Singapore’s manufacturing sector i.e. the electronics segment is expected to suffer because of its links with China in the global supply chain.

Singapore’s largest export is Oil. Naturally, Oil Industry is also expected to suffer as a result of this trade conflict.

Also it is worthy of mention, that Singapore has one of the world’s busiest ports and hence transportation industry which connects the west with Asia is bound to feel the negative impacts too.

Singapore’s property market is also most likely to slow down in 2019. Since the property price is already high in Singapore, foreign investors are taking a back seat. To deal with this current situation, our Government is taking measures to keep the property prices down as well. Moreover, the resale value of HDB flats is expected to decline in 2019 too. The market trend shows that buyers are less interested in the HDB flats at the moment and hence resale of property has been slowing down.

Singapore's property market
Singapore’s property market – most likely to slow down in 2019.

Saying all these, there are also some silver linings to this ongoing Trade war.

  • Singapore Government has already tightened its monetary policy in accordance with this war so that the losses are negligible as far as it can be.
  • As an outcome of this Trade war, even if the factories of the corresponding companies relocates to nearby countries, Singapore still would benefit indirectly if the companies’ head offices are set up here in Singapore too.
  • Ministry of Manpower highlighted, that the labor market is still doing well under this trade war pressure. Total employment is expected to improve further this year and Wages are also rising.
  • Economists have pointed out that, since Singapore trades in diversified sectors and have a strong trading network, it will help the companies to acquire new opportunities, alternative suppliers and demand markets.

Hence, saying all this, It is quite obvious that a prolonged Trade War will surely have a severe impact on Global Economy. At this point we can only hope that this Trade war will come to an end with the best economic decisions between China and US and global economic interests will be safeguarded.

Trade War.
Economists hope that this Trade war will come to an end with the best economic decisions between China and US.
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Importance of various types of Insurance

Get insured to be secured

What does the term Insurance mean?

 Insurance is like a financial guard or protection against any possible event or a range of events. It is an arrangement or coverage  by which the insurance company or insurer provides a guarantee of compensation for some specified loss, death of breadwinner, some kind of permanent disability, property damage, critical illness, or in return for payment of a specified premium. In any of such above mentioned occurrences, the insurance company or insurer from whom we bought our policy will have to pay us an agreed amount to cover some of our losses. It is the work of an Insurance Agent or Financial Adviser to look after our policy from the beginning and guide and help us throughout the period when we hold the policy to him.

Why do we need Insurance

 We all work for a good life and to fulfill our dreams and live for our loved ones. Naturally, because insurance is all about providing financial safety to ourselves and our family, protecting business from financial loss or liabilities etc it is such an important component of our financial planning. That is why we need to insure our life and our assets. This helps us to enjoy financial security, reduce stress during hard times and also secures the financial future for our family members after the death of the breadwinner.

Insurance- an important component of our financial planning.
An Insurance – to insure our life and our assets!

Types of Insurance –  

  • Life Insurance – Life insurance also known as life cover or life assurance is a policy or a contract between the policy holder and an insurer or where the former chooses the amount of coverage, time period and pays his premiums either monthly or annually. In return, his family has the reassurance from the insurer to pay the designated beneficiary a sum of money upon the death of an insured person when a valid claim is made. With this money the grieving family will get some financial help like they can pay the household bills, take care of the child-care costs or pay any debt if there were any etc.
  • Health Insurance – An unexpected event like critical illness, disability, trauma or accident, may leave us with some financial loss. Health insurance covers the risk of a person incurring medical expenses in whole or in part. It covers the cost of the insured’s medical and surgical expenses. However, depending on the type of health insurance coverage the person have he will either have to pay the costs out of his pocket and later he will be reimbursed or the insurer makes payments directly to the respective authority i.e hospital etc.
Health insurance covers the risk of a person incurring medical expenses in whole or in part.
“Health is wealth” – secure it today with a Health Insurance.
  • General Insurance –  General insurance is the insurance that covers tangible assets that are susceptible to damages like fire, marine, damages to car, accident, damage to house. Hence it is called as non-life insurance policies too. General insurance products are bought as they provide protection against unforeseeable contingencies. In this type of insurance too, products come at a price in the form of premium. If any of the above mentioned events happens, then the insurance company have to pay the client an agreed amount to cover some or all of the losses. In such cases, it is the duty of the Insurance Agent or Financial Adviser to help and guide us throughout the process.
  • Vehicle Insurance – A vehicle is often expensive and we all want to protect it. Vehicle insurance is insurance for different types of road vehicles like – our cars, bikes, trucks, motorcycles. This gives financial protection against physical damage after an accident or damages due to traffic collisions etc. Hence depending on what coverage we select, vehicle insurance will be paying to repair for our vehicle.
  • Critical illness insurance – This is an insurance to cover expenses of any critical illness. As per the contract the Insurance Company has to make a lump sum cash payment if the policyholder is diagnosed with one of the specific illnesses as mentioned in the predetermined list of policy papers.  Such illness includes paralysis, stroke, severe burns, heart attack, any surgical procedure, cancer, coma etc.
  • Home Insurance – This insurance is also called homeowner’s insurance. It gives coverage to the losses and damages of the policy holder’s house and the assets in his home. It is a type of property insurance that covers a private residence. Such damages include which are caused by fires, theft, explosion, lightning strikes, household apparatus etc. However, all natural disasters are not covered by home insurance like damage caused by earthquakes and floods mostly does not fall under the coverage.
Protect your home today with a Home Insurance.
Home is where the heart lies- get it secured by a Home Insurance today!
  • Travel Insurance – Today many people feels it safer to be covered while travelling. We can opt for the travel insurance at the time of the booking of a trip to cover us during the duration of that trip. Travel Insurance usually covers trip cancellation cost, cost of lost, stolen or damaged baggage, medical expenses, delayed baggage, flight accidents etc.
  • Pet Insurance – Insurance for our pets is a form of property insurance. Under this category, veterinary treatment, accidents, illnesses, injuries, rehabilitation, surgery or if the pet is lost or stolen are mostly covered.

Saying all these, let’s understand why we need an Insurance Agent or Financial Adviser. They are the best person to rely on as they have proper knowledge of the market. They are like our personal advisers who understand our individual needs and accordingly make sure that we are adequately covered.  Since they are licensed insurance professionals their advice can give us the maximum protection which we might miss out if we search on our own.

Get insured to be secured
Insurance Agents or Financial Advisers are licensed insurance professionals and thus their advice can fetch us maximum protection!

Most importantly they are right around the corner and ready to help be it with home related insurance matters or auto policy or anything related to business coverage. So let’s make our future secured, by investing on Insurance while let the Insurance Agent or the financial advisers do their part to provide us the ultimate benefits from our investment.

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