Low interest rate

Interest rate globally is at a low level. Central banks have pumped a lot of money into the economy to stimulate its recovery. The hope is that low interest rate will encourage some people to buy to buy houses or cars, or businesses to invest and produce goods.

Low interest rate is bad for savers. They will not earn sufficient interest on their savings. To earn a higher return, they have to take the risk and invest in stocks or other assets.

Eventually, the economy will recover. At that time, the prices of equity, property and other assets will increase. Those who take the risk now will benefit from the recovery.

The alternative is to avoid risk and accept the low rate of interest, which is now less than 1% per annum. This is not sufficient to cover inflation. In my case, I prefer to remain fully invested and wait for the recovery.

Tan Kin Lian

Tiered interest rate

Several banks have offered tiered interest rate on savings accounts. A different interest rate is applied to different tranches of savings. This type of complicated structures bring two issues:
a) does the bank state clearly how the interest is to be computed?
b) is the customer able to check that the correct amount of interest has been credited?
In a savings account, the balance can fluctuate every day. Does the bank apply the tiered interest calculation on the daily balance?
Will the bank be willing to show each customer how the interest credited in each month is calcuated?
I hope that bank customers are given the correct amount of interest and are not short changed, due to their inability to check on the calculation of the interest.

Ask for investigation report through FIDREC

Dear Mr Tan,
I have filed my case with FIDREC and I am waiting for FI's investigation report. I will decide, after getting the report, on whether to proceed to the next step, i.e. to get FIDREC to adjudicate the case. It is important for me to get the investigation report first.

For any investor who wants to go through legal action, it is necessary to get FI's investigation report. In Chinese, we have to know the enemy to win the battle.

Currently, when we were interviewed by the FI, it is one direction. We have to answer many questions, but FI do not need to answer us anything.

REPLY
I agree with your approach. It is important for the complainant to get the report from the financial institution and decide how to present your case for mis-representation. You should submit documentary evidence or witnesses who can attest to your side of the story.

The Emperor's Clothes

Edited from Wikimedia

"The Emperor's New Clothes" is a fairy tale by Danish poet and author Hans Christian Andersen about an emperor who unwittingly hires two swindlers to create a new suit of clothes for him.

The tale is one of Andersen's most popular. It appears often in selected collections of his work and is frequently published in illustrated storybook editions for children. The tale has seen adaptations in animated film, and television drama.

Plot
An emperor of a prosperous city who cares more about clothes than military pursuits or entertainment hires two swindlers who promise him the finest suit of clothes from the most beautiful cloth. This cloth, they tell him, is invisible to anyone who was either stupid or unfit for his position. The Emperor cannot see the (non-existent) cloth, but pretends that he can for fear of appearing stupid; his ministers do the same. When the swindlers report that the suit is finished, they dress him in mime. The Emperor then goes on a procession through the capital showing off his new "clothes". During the course of the procession, a small child cries out, "But he has nothing on!" The crowd realizes the child is telling the truth. The Emperor, however, holds his head high and continues the procession.

Morale

How do you tell the Emperor that things are going wrong, or things that he does not like to hear?

Brain Workout in The New Paper

The Brain Workout in the New Paper is taken from my book, TKL Intelligence Quiz. The puzzles in this book is based on the famous quiz created by Albert Einsten. Einsten said that 98% of the people in the world could not solve the quiz. My book teaches the reader on how to be among the 2%.

There are 72 quizzes in my book: 24 at each of three levels. The first level is based on 4 houses and is easier to solve. The next level is based on 5 houses and is the same as Einstein's quiz. The third level is based on 6 houses and is more challenging than Einstein's quiz.

After practicising a few quizzes, the reader will be able to master the technique and be able to solve the quizzes quite quickly. This quiz is also suitable for a challenge among several competitors - to see who can solve the quiz first.

www.easyapps.sg/iShop

Serangoon North HUDC Privatisation

Dear Mr Tan,
Hope you can post this article in your blog site. Hopefully someone out there may be able to offer the residents in Serangoon North HUDC estate some ideas on how they can proceed from the present jam they are in.

Aik Theng Chong

Idling ships clog up Singapore shores

The global economy is still bad and will take some time to recover. Read this report.

I hope that the Government will consider new ways to create jobs for the unemployed and school leavers. The old ways will not work. My suggestions are stated here.