Monday, August 16, 2010
Why don’t they promote peace as a goal in life?
Tom: If peace is so good, why don’t they promote it?
Guru: Because it has little commercial value.
Tom: Can you elaborate?
Guru: You see peace is a spiritual quality, so we don’t need to buy commercial products to achieve peace. In fact if peace is our goal, we’ll have less desire and we’ll buy less.
Tom: Less luggage, more comfort.
Guru: And more peace.
Tom: So what’s the problem?
Guru: Actually, it’s the solution, and there’s no problem.
Tom: Then?
Guru: But our societies measure their success by economic growth.
Tom: Everybody measures their success by economic growth, right?
Guru: Only in materialistic societies. In spiritual societies, they don’t.
Tom: How do they measure success?
Guru: By physical and spiritual well being of their citizens.
Whole life policy
Hi Mr Tan,
I follow your blog quite regularly. I came across an article addressing whole life or term -- which I know you have addressed many a times on your blog.
http://www.lioninvestor.com/
I am wondering if you find this appropriate to share on your blog? It offers a differing perspective.
My view
The article is probably written by an insurance agent. They make a living by selling whole life insurance with a high commission paid upfront to them. They will make these type of arguments to hide the true facts and mislead the public.
A whole life policy is all right, if this priced fairly to the consumer, i.e. no upfront commission and a fair profit margin to the insurance company (but this has to be tightly regulated). Furthermore, the cash value has to be tightly regulated, similar to the asset share method adopted in Malaysia.
However, our regulatory environment does not protect the consumer for these abuses. So, it is best to avoid the whole life policy.
I follow your blog quite regularly. I came across an article addressing whole life or term -- which I know you have addressed many a times on your blog.
http://www.lioninvestor.com/
I am wondering if you find this appropriate to share on your blog? It offers a differing perspective.
My view
The article is probably written by an insurance agent. They make a living by selling whole life insurance with a high commission paid upfront to them. They will make these type of arguments to hide the true facts and mislead the public.
A whole life policy is all right, if this priced fairly to the consumer, i.e. no upfront commission and a fair profit margin to the insurance company (but this has to be tightly regulated). Furthermore, the cash value has to be tightly regulated, similar to the asset share method adopted in Malaysia.
However, our regulatory environment does not protect the consumer for these abuses. So, it is best to avoid the whole life policy.
Structured product [2]
A structured product is a financial product created by a financial institution and sold to the retail investor. The issuer writes the terms of the product and keeps a margin to pay its expenses and make a profit.
The disadvantage to the retail investor is that the margin is usually not disclosed and not transparent and may take away too much of the projected yield, leaving little to the investor for the risk that they carry and the period that the investment has been locked up. (Imagine trying to gamble against an expert in the card game who is allowed to set the rules of the game! )
These structured products come in a variety of names, and are known generally as capital protected, capital guaranteed, dual currency investment, mini-bonds, pinnacle notes, etc.
Retail investors should avoid all types of structured products, unless you are savvy to be able to read through the legal documents and understand the complexity of the transaction. Do not trust the words of the marketing person blindly. Do not assume that the regulators have checked the products to be safe and fair - as they do not consider it to be their duty. Just avoid all of these products.
For more insight, read "Structured Products" in www.tankinlian.com/ask.aspx and Practical Guide on Financial Planning.
The disadvantage to the retail investor is that the margin is usually not disclosed and not transparent and may take away too much of the projected yield, leaving little to the investor for the risk that they carry and the period that the investment has been locked up. (Imagine trying to gamble against an expert in the card game who is allowed to set the rules of the game! )
These structured products come in a variety of names, and are known generally as capital protected, capital guaranteed, dual currency investment, mini-bonds, pinnacle notes, etc.
Retail investors should avoid all types of structured products, unless you are savvy to be able to read through the legal documents and understand the complexity of the transaction. Do not trust the words of the marketing person blindly. Do not assume that the regulators have checked the products to be safe and fair - as they do not consider it to be their duty. Just avoid all of these products.
For more insight, read "Structured Products" in www.tankinlian.com/ask.aspx and Practical Guide on Financial Planning.
Term insurance from insupermart.com
Here are the term insurance rates from insupermart.com. This is a subsidiary of Philips Securities. The term insurance is provided by NTUC Income. The rates are generally higher than the SAF Group Insurance, but is suitable for those who are not able to get cover under the SAF or other group insurance scheme.
www.tankinlian.com (look for "insupermart")
www.tankinlian.com (look for "insupermart")
New Fare System
According to the Straits Times report, the Transport Minister said in Parliament that the transport operators are expected to forego $88 million a year with distanced based fares, and that the Public Transport Council had assigned them two-thirds of the cost of moving to the new fare system, with one-third of the cost being borne by commuters.
How much did the new fare system cost to implement, and why was this figure not reported?
This article said that commuters are paying more.
How much did the new fare system cost to implement, and why was this figure not reported?
This article said that commuters are paying more.
Sunday, August 15, 2010
Survey - TKL website
Visit my website, www.tankinlian.com and take part in this survey
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/MZJNFDN
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/MZJNFDN
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