Rich Snail

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Living abroad is exiting. Everyday is a new adventure, a new discovery. Of course, some discovery are exiting - others are not. Most developing countries do not yet have comprehensive social security system. And while many expats are prepared for medical, some do forget that our social security back home are a lot more extensive than just medical.

Let’s quickly review the scope of a good social security system - I’m not talking US here

Medical Cover - Covers everything related to medical (duh!), maternity, Emergencies etc.

Retirement - Help you plan your retirement. Some system promises you a specific monthly benefit at retirement, others provide you an individual account from which you can draw an income later on.

Critical Illness Cover - Kicks-in and provide you with a regular income should you suffer from a critical/incapacitating illness - i.e. you can not work anymore but still need to make a living

Income Protection - Provides you with an income were you to lose your job

Family Cover - Helps you with some reduction or tax benefits in order to ease the burden of raising childs

Social Aid - Financial help for those who are in difficult situations due to their handicap, health, social or economic difficulties when other system can not cover them or are insufficient.

I put them down in order of importance from an expat point of view.

The Medical cover is maybe the easiest to grasp for everybody.

The retirement one also is quite obvious for many, usually those whose social security system provide them with an individual account grasp this concept very fast- they are already used to be responsible for their own future income.

Critical Illness cover and income protection are less top of mind for many. Yet they are very important. Especially the critical illness cover. Statistically, we have more chances of suffering from an incapacitating trauma than we have of dying young. Yet most people are familiar with life insurance, but not with critical illness.

The last two are more macro concerns. They are paid for by our taxes and we pay for those in our country of residence.

So - did you cover the 4 pilars of social security? Or did you simply go for the adventures?