Amputate His Toes

My friend has to Amputate his toes. Last week, while cooking dinner, I received a text from my friend, which saddened me. He stated that he was currently in the hospital and had just learned that he had type 2 diabetes and needed to amputate his toes due to infection. And he inquired whether he was covered. I told him that all he had to do was provide the hospital with his NRIC, and their system would automatically update to reflect his medical insurance.

He was relieved to learn that his medical bills would be covered, and he was grateful that he followed my advice and purchased the policy.

This client, who had since become a friend of mine, was one of the friendliest people I knew, with a great sense of humour. I knew him when he was single, a PR from the United States who is now married with three children and has converted to a Singapore citizen.

Every year, we would get together to catch up and review policies. Children, for most parents, will be their primary love and focus. My client purchased the full suite of coverage for his children but failed to improve his income protection plans, which I repeatedly reminded him to do. Due to his current chronic illness, he can no longer increase his life insurance coverage. At times like these, I wonder if I did my job well. He might have listened to me if I had been more aggressive in my selling.

I shared my thoughts with him, and he assure me that I had done an excellent job assisting him and his family with their financial planning. And he was also aware that he had put off increasing his coverage because he didn’t expect anything bad to happen to him anytime soon.

As financial consultants, we are sometimes like parents who keep telling their children not to touch the hot pot because it will burn their hands. The kid will find us naggy. Eventually, they will forget that the pot is hot, touched, and burned their hands. And we will not abandon them as parents; we will be there for them and educate them once more. Therefore, if you find that your financial consultant is doing a good job, thank them and recommend them to your friends.

And I just contacted my client to check how he was doing while he was in the hospital getting ready for surgery. “I’m fine, but just a little stressed as I’m going to lose my toes.” “I hope the doctor puts you to sleep first before they cut them off unless you want to be like Rambo and feel the pain,” I said with my dark humour. And we had a good laugh. I promised him that after he recovered, I would teach him meditation, plan his diet, and bring him some tea to help him lower his blood sugar.

Finally, ensure you have medical insurance because it will be the first thing that comes to mind when you walk into a hospital. Also, contact your consultant to determine your optimal coverage. As a rule of thumb, at least cover yourself with ten times your annual income for death and total disability, and five times for illness, depending on if you are single or married with children. Most importantly, eat healthy and stay active.

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Note: Opinions expressed are solely in Mr. Chan Kong Meng’s personal capacity and neither express the views or opinions of Prudential nor represent any professional advice in Mr. Chan Kong Meng’s capacity as a PACS representative.