Havend

03/11/2026

Today, around 50 people in Singapore are diagnosed with cancer every day. While a diagnosis remains life-altering, medical advancements mean more individuals are surviving and navigating long-term recovery.

This shifts our primary financial concern. The vital question is no longer just "How will I settle the hospital bill?, it becomes "How do I protect my income so my family’s lifestyle continues while I take the necessary time to heal?"

At Havend, we view a medical crisis through two distinct lenses: large medical bills and lost income. Each would require a dedicated solution.

In our upcoming webinar on 5th November, we will cover:

Your Greatest Asset: Why your earning power underpins your entire wealth plan and how losing it can derail your goals.

The Havend Framework: How to let hospitalisation plans cover medical bills while critical illness cover replaces your income.

Right-Sizing Your Cover: A simple method to determine how much, how long, and what type of cover you need based on your actual lifestyle, not arbitrary numbers.

Early vs. Major CI: Our honest stance on where to prioritise your premiums for maximum value.

A Real Journey: A survivor shares the practical realities of diagnosis, recovery, and what they wish they had known beforehand.

Join us to gain a clear, personalised framework for your insurance strategy, so you can protect your lifestyle with confidence.

01/11/2026

Havend’s CEO, Eddy Cheong, has four of the five pillars of protection in place. The one he could not secure is disability income coverage, which he was unable to obtain due to some pre-existing medical conditions.

It is a lesson he now shares often: insurability is not guaranteed. The best time to secure coverage is when your health is good, because that window can close without warning.

As he draws closer to his retirement, his insurance priorities have shifted. Eddy shared his thoughts as he considers his insurance portfolio in retirement.

31/10/2026

The insurance participating fund is where the insurer pools money from the endowment plan policyholders and invests it to get better returns.

The payout from an endowment plan comes in two parts. The guaranteed portion is what the insurer has promised to pay. The non-guaranteed bonuses depend on how the insurer's participating fund (a shared pool invested on behalf of all policyholders) performs. The non-guaranteed bonuses will only become guaranteed once declared.

Havend's Insurance Specialist, Si Jin, explains how the two parts of the payout work.

Get honest, jargon-free insights on insurance and retirement, straight to your inbox. Enough to help you make the right call on your own. Subscribe to the Havend newsletter: https://havend.com/ -subscribe

29/10/2026

Havend’s CEO, Eddy Cheong, has spent more than two decades reviewing other people’s insurance portfolios. In this article, he walks through his own.

Eddy is in his mid-fifties, a father of three teenagers with a surviving parent to support. For most of his working life, he built his coverage to protect his income, so his family would be provided for if he passed on early or fell seriously ill. As retirement draws closer, his priorities have shifted to hospitalisation and long-term care, the two pillars that protect the savings he will draw on for the rest of his life.

He also covers the one pillar he could not secure, how his annuity fits alongside CPF LIFE, and why he sees term policies that expire without a claim as a good outcome.

As CEO of Havend, I have spent more than two decades in financial planning and insurance advisory, and I have reviewed more insurance portfolios than...

28/10/2026

A good annuity is not necessarily the right annuity for you.

For retirees and those approaching retirement, an annuity that offers a higher payout or pays income for a longer period may sound attractive. But that does not necessarily make it suitable for your needs.

The starting point should not be the product. It should be you.

In this episode with Havend's Experience Specialist, Jayla, together with Havend's CEO, Eddy, they describe how the RetireSURE assessment is done instead. It starts with what you expect from retirement, what your income and expenses actually look like, and the income stream you will need. Then CPF is optimised, balancing return against the liquidity you need to keep. Only then does the conversation move to the 3 Cs: cashflow management, coverage, and certainty of income.

The product question comes last, because only then will there be enough information to recommend products properly and effectively.

26/10/2026

Thinking about getting an Investment-Linked Policy (ILP), or has an adviser recently recommended one to you? Before you sign up, there are a few important things you should understand.

ILPs combine life insurance with investments in a single policy, offering the convenience of managing both in one place. However, your returns are not guaranteed, and the fees and charges can affect how much your investment grows over time. Before committing, it is important to:

1. Understand how your premiums are split between insurance coverage and investments
2. Check the fees, minimum investment period and potential losses if you terminate the policy early
3. Compare an ILP with the alternative of buying term insurance and investing separately to see which approach better suits your needs.

Havend’s Team Lead for Insurance Specialists, Omar, explains how Investment-Linked Policies (ILPs) work. Watch here:

Welcome to the ninth episode of our series, Insurance 101, where we...

24/10/2026

An endowment plan works best when you can answer two questions before buying it: what is the money for, and when will you need it?

The plan is built around a fixed end date. If your goal is your child's university fees in 15 years, the plan's term can be matched to that date. However, if the goal is simply "savings for the future" without a target goal in mind, a plan that locks your money away for 15 or 20 years may not be the right tool. You would like to avoid having your money locked in an endowment plan when you need to use it.

So before looking at projected returns, write down the goal, the amount and the year. Then check that the plan fits your desired goals, instead of planning your life around the product.

Watch the full video here: https://youtu.be/swf5rF-34dI

21/10/2026

A policy that doesn’t fit your needs can be costly to get out of. In the early years, surrendering it may mean getting back much less than you’ve paid. That’s why it helps to ask the right questions before you sign.

One simple question to ask: is this return guaranteed, or is it projected?

An annuity comes with some guaranteed payout. An investment-linked policy (ILP) does not. The numbers in an ILP illustration are projections based on assumed returns, and an assumption is not a promise.

You can always ask which one you’re being shown, and ask the person presenting it to point to where the document says so.

In this episode, Havend’s Experience Specialist, Jayla, and Havend’s CEO, Eddy Cheong, share a few simple checks to use before you sign.

Watch the full episode here: https://youtu.be/3KZOWFmA4XA

17/10/2026

Food, transport, utilities and medical costs still need to be paid every month during retirement, regardless whether markets are up or down. When you stop drawing a salary during retirement, you want to know your income will be able cover them with certainty.

At Havend, our stance is that these essentials are best paid for by retirement income that is highly certain, such as CPF LIFE paired with an annuity. With two separate sources, your essentials do not rest on a single promise.

RetireSURE looks at your Cashflow, Coverage and Certainty of Income (the 3 Cs) before any product conversation, so your retirement income is locked in with the highest probability of success, without relying on investments. Want an honest look at your own numbers? Reach out for our RetireSURE Assessment: https://havend.com/contact/

16/10/2026

A big thank you for this generous 5-star Google review!

We’re delighted to have made a difference, especially when it comes to providing professional guidance, and ensuring the session was productive and valuable for you.

This one genuinely made our day. It's easy for us to say Havend is a safe place to seek insurance advice but it means a lot more hearing it from someone who's actually felt it.