From fact-find to a defensible coverage brief.
Estimate real protection needs live—then see the cashflow, resources and planning assumptions behind every number.
9× and 4× income stay visible as reasonableness checks—not automatic recommendations.
Additional coverage gaps
Life, disability & terminal illness
Where one policy pays on mutually exclusive Death, TPD or TI events, size the shared base against the largest applicable need, then check benefit ratios, expiry ages and acceleration.
Death calculation trail
TPD calculation trail
The needs-based result is the proposal anchor; the 9x-income figure is a Singapore rule-of-thumb comparison, not a minimum.
Confirm whether employer and group benefits continue after a job change before counting them.
TPD definitions, payment schedules and maximum cover ages differ by policy; test the proposed sum against product financial-underwriting limits.
Disability income cover is the more direct tool for monthly income replacement where available.
Methodology, assumptions & official sources
What the engine does
Each event is calculated independently. Gross need minus explicitly available non-insurance resources gives target cover. Target cover minus event-specific existing benefits gives the additional gap.
MoneySense income multiples are visible comparators. They do not override a client’s actual cashflow, dependants, liabilities, existing cover or self-insurance decision.
Planning assumptions used
Cash needs are rounded up to the nearest S$5,000.
Dependant support is discounted at 3% and inflated at 2% a year.
Only assets explicitly earmarked for protection are deducted; retirement assets are not automatically consumed.
If a selected debt will be cleared by the lump sum, exclude its instalment from recurring essential outgo to avoid double counting.
Existing-cover inputs mean cash payable for that event, after known accelerations and overlaps.
PA and hospital limits are planning screens, not statutory adequacy standards.
Source register
MoneySense Basic Financial Planning Guide9x income Death/TPD and 4x income CI rules of thumbLIA Protection Gap Study 2022needs components and five-year severe CI recovery assumptionLIA Critical Illness Framework 2024standard severe-stage CI definitions; early/intermediate terms remain product-specificMoneySense Financial Advisory Processreasonable-basis fact-find and needs analysisCPF MediShield Life benefitsS$200,000 policy-year limit and current benefit structureMOH Integrated Shield Plan comparisonward tiers, 2026 market benefit limits, deductibles and plan comparisonMOH new Integrated Shield Plan ridersnew rider rules from 1 April 2026MoneySense Disability Income Insurancedistinguishing all-cause income replacement from CI and accident-only coverAdviser-assisted estimate. Not a quotation, product recommendation, underwriting decision or guarantee of claim. Complete your firm-approved fact-find, suitability and product comparison process. No entered values are transmitted or saved by this site.