While conducting research on insurance online, I came across a LinkedIn article by the insurance plat- form BimaPay. The article is titled “5 Insurances Every Indian Should Have, Including You.”
While written for an Indian audience, the article applies to many other people around the world. As BimaPay writes, “No matter your age, once you gain financial independence, whether at 23 or 35, these 5 insurance policies are a must-have for you.” If you are wondering what “financial independence” means, it means that you are NOT financially dependent on your parents, siblings, or rich uncle. Instead, you are financially dependent on your employer. (True financial independence means that you can be fired from your job and still make ends meet while sleeping on your best friend’s couch.)
BimaPay recommends that you purchase these five insurances:
- Health insurance. This is important because private hospitals can be quite expensive. A single surgery or ICU stay in a world-class hospital can make your savings disappear faster than a world-class scam artist can.
- Life insurance. If you’re the primary breadwinner in your family, life insurance ensures that if you happen to die, whether through illness or accident, your family will not miss you. They will get a large payment from the insurance company and spend their days va- cationing in the Bahamas. No, of course this isn’t true. Your family may vacation in Jamaica.
- Home insurance. If you own a home, you’d better have home insurance. There are a number of calam- ities that can damage or destroy your home, such as a fire, a hurricane, or even a drunk driver mistaking your carport for a McDonald’s drive-thru. Home insurance can protect not just the structure of your home, but also its contents, including expensive electronics and jew- elry. If someone breaks into your home and steals your precious iPhone 14, guess what—you can now upgrade to iPhone 17.
- Motor insurance. Motor insurance will cover you if the motor in your washer goes bad. Actually, motor- insurance (or auto insurance) is for motor vehicles and will pay the cost of repairing or replacing your vehicle if it’s involved in an accident. The insurance will also pay for medical expenses and third-party liability, covering damage, injury, or death to a third party. Just to clari- fy, if you buy motor insurance, you are the “first party,” your insurance company is the “second party,” and the idiot who caused the accident is the “third party.”
- Critical illness insurance. If a serious illness such as cancer or stroke deprives you of your ability to continue working, critical illness insurance will give you a lump-sum payment to compensate for your lost earnings. If you’re a smoker and get cancer, critical illness insurance will give you one less reason to be critical of yourself.
While those five types of insurance are important, you may also want to consider a few other kinds of in- surance, such as these three:
- Pet liability insurance. This covers you for any harm that your pet may cause. If you live in an apart- ment building and have a pet python, you may want to let your neighbors know that it would be wise for them to buy life insurance.
- Kidnapping insurance. This insurance will pay a ransom if you happen to be kidnapped. It might be worth purchasing if you’re famous, wealthy, or have family members who would not pay a penny to get you back.
- Kid-napping insurance. Many parents count on their kids to become successful and provide finan- cial support in their old age. You may want to get this insurance if your kid, instead of doing homework and studying for exams, is always napping.
Compiled and partly written by Indian humorist MELVIN DURAI, author of the novel Bala Takes the Plunge. [Comments? Contributions? Please email us at melvin@melvindurai.com. We welcome jokes, quotes, online clips, and more.]