How much life insurance do you actually need?
Most Singaporeans are one paycheque away from trouble and don’t know it. Run the same needs-based analysis a licensed adviser would — free, in 2 minutes.
About you and your family
This tells us how long your income needs to keep working if you can’t.
Most Singaporeans are under-insured. The numbers prove it.
Every few years, the Life Insurance Association (LIA) Singapore commissions an independent study of how much protection working adults actually have versus what their families would need. The latest Protection Gap Study found a S$373 billion mortality protection gap and a S$579 billion critical illness gap among economically active Singaporeans and PRs.
The average policyholder carries around S$331,200 of mortality cover — about 3.6 times annual income, when the benchmark sits closer to 9 times. The reasons are predictable: cover bought ad hoc over the years with no overall plan, employer group insurance assumed to be “enough”, and hospital plans mistaken for income protection. None of these are character flaws. Nobody sits you down and shows you the math. That’s what the calculator above does.
The rules of thumb — and why they’re only a starting point
Two benchmarks are worth memorising. For death and total permanent disability, roughly 9 to 10 times your annual income. For critical illness, about 3.9 times your annual income, the LIA’s estimate of five years of recovery at reduced earnings, after accounting for what your Integrated Shield plan picks up.
Rules of thumb are fine for a 30-second sanity check, but they ignore everything that makes your situation yours: whether your youngest is 2 or 19, whether your mortgage is S$200k or S$800k, whether your spouse earns, whether you’re sending kids overseas for university. A needs-based calculation, dependants’ living costs until independence, plus debts and education, minus what you already have, gives you a number you can actually act on. That’s the method our calculator uses, and it’s the same one a licensed adviser would walk you through in a review.
A worked example: Daniel, 35, two kids
Daniel earns S$84,000 a year. His children are 3 and 6, he has S$350,000 left on his HDB loan, and he’s planning for local university. Over the years he’s accumulated a S$200,000 term plan, DPS, about S$120,000 across his CPF accounts and S$80,000 in savings and investments. On paper, he feels reasonably covered. Here’s the math:
A S$1.3 million shortfall sounds impossible to fix. It isn’t, because the fix is term insurance, which prices pure protection far more cheaply than most people expect, especially in your 30s. For a healthy non-smoker Daniel’s age, closing a seven-figure gap typically costs less per month than the family’s mobile phone bills. Get the live number from our quote engine — it compares 8 insurers in about a minute.
Have a gap? The playbook is short
First, cover the gap with term insurance, it delivers the most cover per dollar, and you can set the term to expire when your dependants no longer need you to be insured (typically when the youngest turns 25 or the mortgage clears). Second, never cancel an existing policy before its replacement is in force and past the underwriting stage. Third, for critical illness, decide between a standalone plan and riders based on whether you want the cover to outlive the base policy, an adviser can show you the trade-offs in ten minutes. Fourth, re-run your numbers after every major life event.
When to review your cover
Your protection gap isn’t static. It jumps when you have a child, buy a home, get married, or take a pay rise (your family’s lifestyle, and therefore the income to replace, rises with it). It shrinks as your kids approach independence, your mortgage amortises and your investments compound. A two-minute re-run of the calculator once a year, or after any of those events, keeps you honest. Set a calendar reminder for your birthday month.
Frequently asked questions
How is my protection gap calculated?
Why 3.9× income for critical illness?
Doesn’t my Integrated Shield plan cover me if I fall seriously ill?
Is my employer’s group insurance enough?
Does CPF take care of my family if I pass away?
Is my data stored anywhere?
Who built this?
Disclaimer: This page and calculator provide estimates for general education only and do not constitute financial advice. Figures use benchmarks adapted from the LIA Singapore Protection Gap Study 2022 and reasonable assumptions about expenses and education costs. Your actual needs depend on your full financial circumstances. Speak to a licensed financial adviser representative before making any insurance decision. Moneyline.SG · Advisory services provided by representatives of SYNERGY Financial Advisers Ltd (MAS licensed).