Experts at JFF 2026 Explain Insurance: It Isn't Expensive

The educational session at the Jogja Financial Festival (JFF) 2026, themed ‘Young and Wealthy, Prosperous in Old Age’, discussed the importance of insurance for the public. The session even stated that insurance is affordable. The Chief Financial Officer of Indonesia Financial Group (IFG), Heru Handayanto, said that people should adopt the view that insurance is not a cost but a mindset. He likened it to a student who backs up data on their laptop for assignments, saying that, in essence, insurance ensures those tasks can be completed. Using insurance is thus about measuring risk and preparing for what may occur in the future. Premiums, he noted, are currently affordable. ‘Expensive? Not at all. We have IFG lifeSAVER, which costs only Rp 49,000 per month. And the benefits? If you sprain your ankle, treatment is covered for less than Rp 50,000, and the sum insured is around Rp 100 million,’ he said. Moreover, there are many types of insurance available, allowing people to tailor premiums to daily needs. ‘So if people say it is expensive, it is not; it’s about willingness to take advantage of it.’ Handojo G. Kusuma, Head of Institutional Cooperation, Domestic & International Regulators & Stakeholders at the Indonesian Life Insurance Association (AAJI) & IFG, added that understanding insurance is actually simple. For example, Islamic insurance (takaful) is based on the concept of mutual aid: it collects funds from buyers and, if a purchaser suffers a misfortune, the gathered funds are used to help the affected. He also noted that premiums are currently very affordable, though many people still delay buying insurance. ‘There are cheaper options still, such as Rp 50,000 a year with coverage of Rp 25 million. So this is not a financial burden but rather what we do to protect our future,’ he said. Meanwhile, Sumarjono, head of the Department of Insurance and Supporting Services Supervision at the Financial Services Authority (OJK), stated that Indonesia’s insurance penetration remains low, largely because people often forget that many risks exist around them but lack protection. ‘Literacy remains low, and there are painful experiences in the past, such as insurer failures,’ he said. Nevertheless, today’s younger generation is more insurance-literate than previous generations, partly because social media platforms like TikTok provide insurance-related content. ‘Yet execution is lacking. If we want prosperity in the end, we must plan now, while still productive. Let us insure ourselves, because as long as we are young and productive, we have money; protection will follow,’ he added.