Illustration of a family with a piggy bank

Ask any parent and they’ll tell you that raising a child comes with a host of financial responsibilities. Double or triple the number of children and you’ll find that it may take some serious budgeting skills to keep your family happy without burning a deep hole in your pocket. 

A recent study has found that a family of four, comprising two parents, a pre-teen and teenager, would need at least S$6,426 a month to maintain a basic standard of living. And you would probably need more if you send your kids for enrichment classes. 

When you’re responsible for feeding those little mouths, it’s important that you plan your finances properly. Part of that includes saving your money and being savvy with it by leveraging high-returns insurance savings plans like Dash PET by Etiqa Insurance to earn more. 

Read on to find out how you can manage your family finances with Dash PET.  

1. Save more for future expenses 

A dollar saved is a dollar earned. That rings especially true with Dash PET, which currently offers the best interest rate** of 1.5%*^ p.a. on your savings. Whether you’re saving up for next week’s milk powder money or your child’s school fees the following year, Dash PET can help you earn more from what you save. 

And it’s easy too. All you have to do is save as little as S$50, and you’ll unlock a world of benefits that includes: 

• High interest rates of up to 1.5%*^ p.a. in a low-interest environment: Enjoy 1.3%* p.a. and an extra 0.2%^ p.a. when you opt in for free insurance protection^, on the first S$10,000 of your savings. For above the first S$10,000 savings, interest rates are at 0.3%* p.a.

• Free insurance coverage: Get more value with free coverage that includes life protection of 105% of your account value as well as coverage for COVID-19, including vaccine side effects, and up to S$50,000^ in free coverage for Death & Total and Permanent Disability^.

• Affordable add-on protection that gives you additional interest: Need more coverage? Choose from any of the 3 protection plans – Major Cancer, Death & Total and Permanent Disability, and Accidental Death – to get coverage of up to S$100,000 per plan, with premiums starting from S$0.02 per day (based on S$10,000 sum assured for a 17 year-old female non-smoker). Plus, each protection plan you activate lets you earn up to an additional 0.25%^# p.a. on your first S$10,000 savings.

What this means is that if you’ve opted in for the free insurance protection, and expanded your coverage by activating all 3 add-on protection plans, you could enjoy returns of up to 2.25%*^^# p.a.! 

Here’s how it’s broken down: 

Imagine if you’ve saved S$10,000 with Dash PET without any withdrawal, you’ll receive S$225 by not doing much. That’s equivalent to a free family outing to the S.E.A. Aquarium for the year-end holidays, or approximately 56 free meals at the hawker centre – just in time for the relaxed dine-in rules.

2. Grow your money while keeping it safe

Being a parent comes with responsibilities, such as ensuring your children are clothed, well-fed and happy to say the least. And when you have dependents relying on you to feed them, it’s more important than ever to keep your hard-earned money safe rather than risk losing them in high risk, high yield products. With Dash PET, have peace of mind knowing that your money is secure. 

Your Dash PET savings are capital-guaranteed and protected against market changes and macroeconomic factors. What this means is that you will never receive less than the amount you have put in; you can only get more. At the same time, Dash PET is protected by SDIC, so you can save with no worries. 

Life can be unpredictable, and even more so when you have children. From dealing with unexpected visits to the A&E or unplanned tuition classes before PSLE, it’s good to store your savings somewhere that you can access easily. With no lock-in period, Dash PET fits this bill.

Keep your funds liquid and enjoy the flexibility of topping up or withdrawing the money for last-minute expenses anytime, which is great for emergency usage or storing idle cash.

3. Get rewarded when you Dash

To save smart, you’ll need to spend smart, and Dash lets you do both.

Dash PET is housed on the Singtel Dash app, an all-in-one mobile wallet that comes with other nifty features like QR payments and the Dash Visa Virtual Card that makes transacting easy, both online and offline. The Dash wallet is also widely accepted at supermarkets, hawker centres, convenience stores and Fave merchants. 

At the same time, the Dash Remit feature on the Singtel Dash app is great for those with helpers at home. Help your foreign domestic worker send money back home without having to leave your home or queuing with others at remittance providers. Not only is it safe and convenient, but you’ll earn points too! 

Each time you shop, commute, or remit with Dash, you’ll earn Dash reward points. 

When you scan and pay with Dash at FavePay merchants, you’ll earn Dash reward points AND FavePay cashback – talk about a double win! 

In exchange, the points you earn can be redeemed for vouchers at Grab, Cold Storage, Singtel Shop, foodpanda and Zalora. Don’t underestimate the power of these savings as they can add up to go a long way. 

4. Teach your child good financial habits 

If your children are teenagers on the cusp of adulthood, there’s no better time than now to help them start their journey to financial independence. 

Open to all Singtel Dash users between 17 to 75 years of age, Dash PET is the perfect companion – and testbed – to help your teen develop healthy financial habits within a safe environment. It’s where they can put key concepts such as saving, budgeting and having sufficient insurance protection into practice. 

Teach your child how to budget and save by transferring their allowance into their Dash wallet. Get them to pay for their own expenses using the funds in their Dash wallet, and to transfer any excess cash to their Dash PET policy for extra earnings. Their transaction history can also be easily tracked within the Dash app. 

It’s also the perfect tool to introduce to them the importance of having insurance. With the free insurance coverage or add-on protection plans that are available, your teens can protect themselves from life’s unexpected events at affordable prices.  

Get more out of your finances with Dash PET

With its multifaceted uses, Dash PET is a flexible, safe and easy-to-use financial tool that offers high returns on your savings as well as affordable (and free) insurance coverage for both the young and the old. 

Try it for yourself and sign up for Dash PET on the Singtel Dash app today. 

Disclaimers:

• This article is written in collaboration with Singtel Dash
• The information is meant purely for informational purposes and should not be relied upon as financial advice.
• **Compared to similar digital insurance savings plans available for subscription, as at 9 September 2021. This comparison does not include information on all similar products. Etiqa Insurance does not guarantee that all aspects of the products have been illustrated. You may wish to conduct your own comparison for products that are listed in www.comparefirst.sg.
• *For the first policy year, 1.30% p.a. up to S$10,000 and 0.30% p.a. for subsequent amount in Account Value. Crediting rate is non-guaranteed.
• ^Additional 0.2% p.a. to the existing 1.3% p.a. returns for your first S$10,000 Dash PET savings during the first policy year while the complimentary protection is active. Complimentary Accidental Death coverage will be offered for the same duration if you are not eligible for the free Death & Total and Permanent Disability protection. Sum assured will be based on your age and occupation.
• ^#Additional interests of up to 0.25% p.a. from each activated payable add-on protection applies to the first S$10,000 account value of your active Dash PET policy.
• Dash PET is not a bank account or a fixed deposit. It is an insurance savings plan that earns a crediting interest rate. This policy is underwritten by Etiqa Insurance Pte. Ltd. (Company Reg. No. 201331905K). This advertisement is for general information only. Terms apply. Full details of the policy terms and conditions can be found in the policy contract on dash.com.sg/dashpet. Protected up to specified limits by SDIC. As buying a life insurance policy is a long-term commitment, an early termination of the policy usually involves high costs and the surrender value, if any, that is payable to you may be zero or less than the total premiums paid. You should seek advice from a financial adviser before deciding to purchase the policy. If you choose not to seek advice, you should consider if the policy is suitable for you. This advertisement has not been reviewed by the Monetary Authority of Singapore. Information is accurate as of 28 Feb 2022.

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