Monthly income protection benefit needed.
Monthly benefit to insure
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Annual benefit
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Your breakdown
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Why 75 percent is the ceiling
Disability income insurance, often sold in Singapore as an income protection or disability income plan, pays you a monthly benefit if illness or injury stops you working. Insurers deliberately cap that benefit at around 75 percent of your gross income, never 100 percent. The reason is moral hazard: if a claim paid your full salary tax-free, you would have little financial reason to recover and return to work. The 75 percent ceiling keeps a gap that nudges recovery while still covering the bulk of your living costs. This calculator applies exactly that logic, taking your gross monthly income, multiplying by the replacement percentage you choose up to 75 percent, then subtracting any cover you already hold.
It is for working professionals, especially the self-employed and sole earners, who would face real trouble if a long illness cut off their income for months or years.
Sizing your monthly benefit
Take the default: a gross monthly income of $8,000, the full 75 percent replacement, and no existing cover. The benefit to insure is 75 percent of $8,000, which is $6,000 a month, or $72,000 a year. If you already held, say, $2,000 a month of cover through another policy, the tool would net that off and recommend topping up by $4,000 a month instead. The calculation is deliberately simple so you can see the moving parts.
That $2,000 monthly shortfall is intentional. It is the gap the ceiling leaves, the part you are expected to bridge from savings, a spouse’s income, or by recovering and returning to work.
What CareShield Life does and does not cover
Singaporeans and PRs are covered by CareShield Life, but it is narrow. It pays a monthly cash benefit only on severe disability, defined as the inability to perform at least three of six activities of daily living such as washing, dressing, and feeding. That is a high bar, designed for long-term care needs, not the more common scenario of a back injury, cancer treatment, or a mental health condition that keeps you off work for a year but does not leave you unable to bathe yourself. Income protection fills that wide middle ground. A common mistake is assuming CareShield Life already replaces lost income, when in practice most working-age claims for time off work would not meet its severe-disability test at all.
The deferred period and how it shapes premiums
This calculator sizes the benefit, but two policy levers decide the premium and how the cover behaves. The first is the deferred period, the waiting time between when you stop working and when the benefit starts paying, commonly 30, 90, or 180 days. A longer deferred period cuts the premium sharply, and it is the right choice if you hold a solid emergency fund that can carry you through the first few months. The second is the benefit period, which can run to a fixed term or all the way to your intended retirement age. My practical tip is to match the deferred period to the months of expenses you have saved, then stretch the benefit period as long as you can afford, since the financial damage of a disability comes from it lasting years, not weeks.
Is income protection the same as critical illness cover?
No. Critical illness pays a one-off lump sum when you are diagnosed with a defined condition such as a major cancer or heart attack, whether or not you can work. Income protection pays a recurring monthly amount only while a disability stops you earning. They solve different problems and many people hold both, the lump sum for immediate costs and the monthly stream to replace salary.
Can the self-employed get this cover?
Yes, and they often need it most, because they have no employer sick pay and no group disability scheme to fall back on. Insurers will assess income using tax returns or audited accounts rather than payslips, so keep your IRAS notices of assessment handy when applying. The 75 percent ceiling still applies, measured against your assessed earnings.