 The worst- kept secret in the property market is out in the open. Not only are developers less upbeat about the future but a third of them actually expect prices of new homes to decline. And market performance for the suburban residential sector may be the worst hit. Read the following website (open after 6 pm daily) |
Thursday, October 28, 2010
BT: Jittery developers go low-rise on confidence
FISCA Talk - Invest for the Long Term ($10)
Upcoming event information:
Invest for the long term Singapore Management University (SMU), School of Economics & Social Sciences, Level 3, Seminar Room 3.1
Date: 13 November 2010, Saturday 03:00 PM
This event is available to all at a special price of $10 only. We are able to bring down the cost as this is a SGX-sponsored event.
You can purchase additional copies of the Financial Planning book at a special price of $10 as a participant of the talk. You won't be able to get this price anywhere else.
An outline of the talk:
Register at http://www.fisca.sg/events
Invest for the long term Singapore Management University (SMU), School of Economics & Social Sciences, Level 3, Seminar Room 3.1
Date: 13 November 2010, Saturday 03:00 PM
This event is available to all at a special price of $10 only. We are able to bring down the cost as this is a SGX-sponsored event.
You can purchase additional copies of the Financial Planning book at a special price of $10 as a participant of the talk. You won't be able to get this price anywhere else.
An outline of the talk:
- Principles of long term investing, compounding and dollar cost averaging
- Earn a better yield by investing in equities
- Reduce risk by investing for the long term in a low cost, diversified fund
- How to access information from the SGX website
- How to get information about ETFs, REITS and blue chip shares (with high dividend yield)
- How to open an account with a stockbroker (using a remisier or an online account)
- Expenses of investing
Register at http://www.fisca.sg/events
Land banking and law firm
Dear Mr. Tan
I invested $80,000 in a land banking product with a guaranteed return of 12% after one year. The company did not pay back the return and gave a lot of excuses for the delay. They have now closed their office and left Singapore. What can I do?
The lawyer acting for the land banking company is a big reputable firm in Singapore, well connected with the government. Why did the law firm act for such a shady company? Can the law firm be held responsible, if the land banking company is actually operating a scam? Surely the law firm knew about what was happening and actually helped the land banking company to avoid being caught legally in Singapore?
REPLY
I am not an expert on such matters. I believe that the Commercial Affairs Department is now investigating into '
this matter. I hope that they will look into the possibility that the law firm had acted in cohoots with the land banking company or if they were morally and ethically questinable. Although the law firm wanted to earn the large fees, they should not lend their reputation to shady or doubtful practices or to an investment scam.
I invested $80,000 in a land banking product with a guaranteed return of 12% after one year. The company did not pay back the return and gave a lot of excuses for the delay. They have now closed their office and left Singapore. What can I do?
The lawyer acting for the land banking company is a big reputable firm in Singapore, well connected with the government. Why did the law firm act for such a shady company? Can the law firm be held responsible, if the land banking company is actually operating a scam? Surely the law firm knew about what was happening and actually helped the land banking company to avoid being caught legally in Singapore?
REPLY
I am not an expert on such matters. I believe that the Commercial Affairs Department is now investigating into '
this matter. I hope that they will look into the possibility that the law firm had acted in cohoots with the land banking company or if they were morally and ethically questinable. Although the law firm wanted to earn the large fees, they should not lend their reputation to shady or doubtful practices or to an investment scam.
Asking for my advice
Read this FAQ
http://tankinlian.com/admin/file.aspx?id=182
Each day, a few consumers approached me to ask me to explain the life insurance policy that is recommended by an insurance agent. If the agent, who is earning a few thousand dollars is not able to explain the policy and convince the consumer, it is not fair for the consumer to expect me to spend the time to educate them on why they should or should not buy the policy. It is time consuming to educate an ignorant consumer.
I suggest that the consumer should read my book, Practical Guide on Financial Planning (available for $12 at www.tankinlian.com/ishop) and attend the educational talk ($36) organised by FISCA (www.fisca.sg). The consumer can save a lot of money (maybe $100,000 or more) by avoiding the bad products. But the consumer has to spend the time and put in the effort to be educated.
If the consumer applies the benchmark of 20% deduction at 25 years, the consumer would understand why most life insurance should be avoided. The FAQs in my website explains how this can be calculated.
Seach for "benefit illustration" at www.tankinlian.com/ask.aspx
http://tankinlian.com/admin/file.aspx?id=182
Each day, a few consumers approached me to ask me to explain the life insurance policy that is recommended by an insurance agent. If the agent, who is earning a few thousand dollars is not able to explain the policy and convince the consumer, it is not fair for the consumer to expect me to spend the time to educate them on why they should or should not buy the policy. It is time consuming to educate an ignorant consumer.
I suggest that the consumer should read my book, Practical Guide on Financial Planning (available for $12 at www.tankinlian.com/ishop) and attend the educational talk ($36) organised by FISCA (www.fisca.sg). The consumer can save a lot of money (maybe $100,000 or more) by avoiding the bad products. But the consumer has to spend the time and put in the effort to be educated.
If the consumer applies the benchmark of 20% deduction at 25 years, the consumer would understand why most life insurance should be avoided. The FAQs in my website explains how this can be calculated.
Seach for "benefit illustration" at www.tankinlian.com/ask.aspx
Unable to trust the agents
Dear Mr Tan,
An independent financial advisor recently reviewed the policies belong to my wife and me. She recommended us to to surrender our policies and take up her whole life policy.
Both my wife and me are not familiar with the types of policies that we had purchased. My wife took the agent's advice and surrendered her policies. I decided to learn more about insurance before I decide. However, I am still very confused on whether to surrender my policy and has decided to write in to seek your advise.
I currently hold (details of policies provided ...) I am really confused because I asked a friend who is also an agent for help. She reviewed my policy and told me not to cancel it and instead asked me to add another whole life policy costing another 4k a year!
REPLY
My general advice is never to surrender a policy to take up a new policy. Each life insurance policy is costly and each time you make a change you incur the upfront cost all over again. In fact, most life insurance policies give bad value to the policy and should not be taken up in the first place. So, if you give up an existing policy to take up a new policy, you are most likely to commit a big mistake the second time.
The financial adviser is well trained to present figures (and often in a misleading fashion) to confuse and take advantage of the consumer (who is likely to make a bad decision).
Read these two FAQs
http://tankinlian.com/admin/file.aspx?id=178
http://tankinlian.com/Admin/File.aspx?id=64
An independent financial advisor recently reviewed the policies belong to my wife and me. She recommended us to to surrender our policies and take up her whole life policy.
Both my wife and me are not familiar with the types of policies that we had purchased. My wife took the agent's advice and surrendered her policies. I decided to learn more about insurance before I decide. However, I am still very confused on whether to surrender my policy and has decided to write in to seek your advise.
I currently hold (details of policies provided ...) I am really confused because I asked a friend who is also an agent for help. She reviewed my policy and told me not to cancel it and instead asked me to add another whole life policy costing another 4k a year!
REPLY
My general advice is never to surrender a policy to take up a new policy. Each life insurance policy is costly and each time you make a change you incur the upfront cost all over again. In fact, most life insurance policies give bad value to the policy and should not be taken up in the first place. So, if you give up an existing policy to take up a new policy, you are most likely to commit a big mistake the second time.
The financial adviser is well trained to present figures (and often in a misleading fashion) to confuse and take advantage of the consumer (who is likely to make a bad decision).
Read these two FAQs
http://tankinlian.com/admin/file.aspx?id=178
http://tankinlian.com/Admin/File.aspx?id=64
Nourishing the poor
Wong Wee Nam has written an excellent article about the income gap. Singapore fared among the worst in the world.
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