Many millennials are looking towards the future and how they can prepare. This is why 45% of young adults are taking an interest in investing their savings for the future. And while they can find plenty of investments to grow their money like stocks and bonds, investing in insurance can protect their financial stability in case of unpredictable and unfortunate events.
Health insurance is one such plan. Depending on how comprehensive your insurance policy is, health insurance can cover all your medical, surgical, and dental expenses. At a young age, you might think health insurance is still unnecessary because you’re still young, relatively healthy, and have no pre-existing conditions that could affect your health. But that isn’t an excuse to put off investing in health insurance, and here’s why.
Preparing for the Unexpected
It’s true that as a young and healthy adult in your twenties, you may not have a pre-existing condition that could send you to the hospital. But health insurance can cover you for the unexpected reasons that could lead you to seek medical attention.
For example, you can’t predict when you’re going to get into a vehicular accident or you slip or fall down the stairs and injure yourself. You might be financially stable, but do you have the savings ready to pay for an unexpected trip to the hospital that isn’t caused by pre-existing conditions?
Given the current COVID-19 pandemic, the hospital bill for COVID-19 treatment in private hospitals can start at P43,000 and can even reach millions of pesos, depending on the severity of the infection and how long it takes you to recuperate. PhilHealth can shoulder some part of the bill, but it’s not unlimited. Patients with critical pneumonia can only receive up to P786,984, but based on the stories of those who have had treatment, the highest a hospital bill for COVID-19 has ever gone has reached P2.8 million. Without health insurance to soften the blow, are you financially ready to pay out of pocket for these costs?
Smaller Premiums
Premiums are your monthly/annual payments to continue your coverage. Your premium is determined by how likely or unlikely you are to use your insurance. So, if you’re a healthy non-smoking young adult with no pre-existing conditions, your premiums are more likely to be less than a middle-aged chain-smoker with pre-existing conditions. While you’re still young, you can lock in smaller premiums which means you get financial protection for less.
Investment Insurance
Many people don’t really see insurance as an investment because they don’t get to watch their money grow or enjoy the benefits of their premiums only until a tragedy occurs. What many young adults might be looking for is an investment that provides returns that allow them to spend more on themselves or on more investments, and traditional insurance plans may just look like a place where their money sits and doesn’t grow.
Fortunately, this is no longer the case for most insurance companies. New health insurance plans also double as investment insurance, a type of insurance where part of their premiums go to investments where they can receive ROI without compromising their health insurance.
It’s best to look to the future and prepare for the unexpected emergencies that can occur. In your twenties, it might be unlikely to develop a pre-existing condition that could affect you financially, but why wait for it to happen when you can start investing on your health and financial stability today?
