What is a professional?

A professional is a person who uses his or her expert knowledge for the benefit of the client.

Some examples of professionals are:

- doctors
- lawyers
- insurance and financial advisers

A professional should normally charge based on the time spent, and the charging rate is clearly disclosed and accepted by the client.

Some people act in a non-professional way. They use their knowledge to make profit at the expense of their client. Examples are:

- a doctor who prescribes unnecessary treatment (to jack up the medical fees)
- a lawyer who drags a case to chalk up more time to charge the client
- a financial adviser who recommends a product to earn a higher commission.

The risk of non-professional conduct is greater for insurance and financial advisers, because the commission is hidden in the product, and the product is designed to be quite complex and potentially misleading.

Many people in the advanced countries have been disillustioned with the practices of the financial advisers. More people now invest in simple and low charge product, and keep most of the gain for themselves.

Here is my advice. Learn about the simple fact of the financial product. Shop around and compared. Do not rely solely on your financial or insurance adviser. Read the FAQ of a similar product from NTUC Income.

Our FAQs can be found here: http://www.income.coop/insurance/faq/

Look for
- Flexi-link (to invest your CPF or cash funds)
- Ideal (to invest your regular savings)
- Ideal for your Child (to save for your child's education)
- Growth (to invest your CPF or cash funds)

In each FAQ, we show the difference in the charges between NTUC Income and other insurance companies. The difference can be STAGGERING.

Shop around and get the best deal. It is for your own good.