Saturdays LIVE | The Importance of Life Insurance

Saturdays LIVE is our Bi-Weekly series where we feature a variety of personalities across a number of Industries ranging from Fashion to Business and even Digital Marketing.

On Saturday, October 15, 2022, we invited Sagicor Jamaica Executive Financial Advisor Mrs. Krystle Thorpe where we discussed The Importance of Life Insurance & Why You Need It. Read the interview below to learn more about Insurance in Jamaica and why you need it.

About Krystle Thorpe

Krystle Thorpe is a woman of God, She is married to an amazing man. She is an Executive Financial Advisor at Sagicor where she has seen great success in the 8 years that she has been there. She has managed to qualify for the prestigious Million Dollar Round Table 7 times, 3 times at the court of the table level. (which is 3 times MDRT).

She has helped hundreds of people attain financial stability by setting up Emergency Funds, Life and Critical Illness insurance, alongside Retirement and Investment Plans.

She also has a YouTube channel called Totally Thorpe where she and her husband speaks about Money and Money. https://www.youtube.com/c/TotallyThorpe

Krystle Thorpe Sagicor — Executive Financial Advisor, Mrs. Krystle Thorpe

Saturdays LIVE | The Importance of Life Insurance

H.P: What exactly is life insurance?

Krystle: Life Insurance is Insurance on an individual’s life that pays out in the event that they pass away a specific amount is paid out to their beneficiary.

H.P: Why do I even need Life Insurance?

Krystle: If you answer “yes” to any of these questions, you need it!

Do you want peace of mind with your finances?
Do you have a loved one?
Do you want to go into real estate/ acquire a property one day?
Do you want generational wealth?

If you answer yes to any of these questions, then Life Insurance is for you. In a nutshell, what Life Insurance does is it takes care of all your obligations that you would have had while you were alive. Living expenses and family expenses that you use to take care of. Life Insurance will fill that gap. It can be used to clear debts and pay for a child’s education from Kindergarten to University while you are in the grave. You are able to do all of that from the grave because you would have made the preparation while you were here on earth to get these things in place.

Sagicor Life Insurance Jamaica

“Life Insurance will be able to do that, whether you are here or not”.

H.P: What are the types of Insurance available in Jamaica?

Krystle: In Jamaica, we have what is called “Whole Life Insurance” and “Term Life Insurance”. Whole Life Insurance is what we call ‘Permanent Insurance”; the benefit is that it is a little more pricey than the term life but it provides certain benefits that the term does not. It allows you to have Insurance for a Lifetime and that is why it is called Permanent — it gives you the option to save on it, so you can have Life Insurance with a savings component. You are saving while you are Insured. It also has the benefit that you are able to generate cash values from it so, you are putting in money every month (this is not the savings component) but the life insurance component. That component generates cash for you in the long term.

“If you are 60 and you decide you no longer need this Life Insurance plan and want to cash out, the portion you are paying for the life Insurance can be cashed out based on what was accumulated over the years”.

The benefits of the whole life are:

It generates cash value,
You are able to save on it
You’ll have it for a Lifetime

The Term Insurance pretty much serves the same benefits in that you are “Insured” but the only thing is that it expires. If you have a Term Life Insurance for let’s say thirty years (30), in 30 years you no longer have that coverage. If anything happens, money is paid out but if you live past that 30 years, then you no longer have Life Insurance. It doesn’t generate a cash value for you. It expires when it reaches the year you have taken it out for. It pretty much gives you the same benefit as Whole Life Insurance. If you decide you want to use your Life Insurance to purchase a property or as a Mortgage assignment you are able to do that. It still pays out to your family, once you live to the time frame you are covered for.

Generally, the plan starts to accumulate a portion for you after the 3rd and 4th year of taking it out. The first couple of years are the riskiest years for us and we can’t be giving you money when we’re trying to ensure if anything happens to you, we have to pay out this lump sum. You would have paid $5,000 per month and your premium covers $20 million. We would have to pay that $20 million if something happens to your beneficiary. The option is there, but you won’t get anything in the first couple of years.

H.P: What do I need to consider to get started?

Krystle: We have two types of products which are medical and non-medical plans. The medical plans require you to do a medical depending on how much coverage you are getting. You generally have to be in good health for this plan — as it relates to the paperwork aspect, it would be TRN, ID, PROOF OF ADDRESS and if there are any additional tests required, then we’ll let you know.

As it pertains to the Non-medical plan you don’t have to be in good health or prove that you are in good health to get that one. This is a plus for some persons who are not able to pass a medical. We do have plans for both groups — the Non-medical plans allow you to get your coverage and bring in your ID, TRN, and PROOF OF ADDRESS and answer some of the questions that we will ask to ensure everything is in line. It is an easier process with that

“We have things for everybody, everybody can get plans. Whatever it is that you have, we have something to suit everybody”

H.P: Myth or Fact: Is life insurance more expensive for males?

Krystle: Fact! It is true, The reality is that males are considered riskier than women. Since it’s Insurance, the riskier you are, the higher the payout will be. Insurance is all about risk. Men are generally asked to pay a little more. The rate of payout for males is much faster.

Sagicor Life Insurance Jamaica

H.P: Why Is there a cap on Life Insurance? E.g my parent is 69 and cannot be insured- 75 non-medical — medical 80

Krystle: If your parents are 69, they can get Insurance, that’s not where we cap it. Since we have Medical and Non-Medical Plans, our cap on the Non-medical plan is 75 years old. Remember, with the Non-Medical, you are not required to show proof that you are in good health at 75 and younger.

For the Medical plan, these go up to 80 — the reason why we have a cap is that at some point, we have to cut that rate. Everything is a risk to us — if the risk is too much, for the company, we have to draw the line. However, at some point you become un-insurable and that is why we encourage persons to get your Life Insurance early and don’t wait until you are old and really need it when it will be more expensive.

“Always buy your Insurance when you don’t need it”.

H.P: What are the requirements for people with alternative careers ( YouTubers, Content Creators etc)

Krystle: We have something for everybody! Once you have an income that you can prove. We sit with you and go through proper fact-finding to see how much you make. It can be per month, every 6 months, and even annually. I can Taylor a plan for you based on HOW & WHEN you get paid.

For persons in Entertainment, we might say, you get a lump sum in one month and then another 6 months — we may do an annual payment. There are certain things we can do to suit you. We can Taylor every single plan or every single Portfolio to every person based on income, age, profession, and so many things we take into consideration when we are doing our fact-finding to ensure that the portfolio suits that person perfectly.

Sagicor Life Insurance Jamaica

H.P: What happens if the plan lapses?

Krystle: I always tell my clients to have open communication with me. If anything has happened in your life, we have something to help. This is life, so we don’t expect it’s going to be smooth sailing. We don’t expect you to earn the same in the next 5 years. If you are cut from your job, based on the plan and if you have savings, we can tailor something so you can pay up the plan for the next 6 months or whatever the case. When you get back to that job, then we can continue with the payment.

Unfortunately, there are some plans that will lapse if you haven’t made payment for a long time. Again, it depends on the plan you have and you can maybe reinstate that plan. I recommend being open and honest with your advisor to let them know of changes.

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