Dear Mr. Tan,
An insurance agent from X has been urging me to buy unit trusts using the fund from my Special Account. Should I take the risk to invest $10k now that the market is low.
REPLY
I think it is the responsibility of the agent to give you the appropriate advice. Do not buy from the agent, if he is not able to give you a clear and convincing explanation.
If the agent can 'promise' u a return double than CPF special account rate, why not? The problem is , it is not easy, but it is also possible. It takes a lot of risk to achieve that. Can you sleep well in the short term?
ReplyDeleteTaking a gamble with unit trust gives you opportunity for your money to work harder.There may be loss but done properly your money can grow.Risk is to your advantage, to quote Mr. Tan.
ReplyDeleteUnlike NTUC agents, they propose that you invest your SA in thier Growth Policy. Loss may be little but sure die .You can't get higher than what CPF pays you; you cannot expect to get a few more percents higher. Why invest then? They tell you to invest for insurance.If you die you get double the amount for accidental death. So those who are accident prone or those who work in dangerous occupation can invest in NTUC Growth Policy so that your beneficiary can get double amount you invested. This is how the salesmen add value.
From your description, market low, it is good time to invest. why not? Mr. Tan already mentioned that market is oversold.
ReplyDeleteNobody can predict when is bottom but a lot of unit trusts, funds and stocks have dropped more than 15%. You go in now with SA money, hard to lose. If you lose money, people who are still invested (they waiting for the long haul), will lose even more.
Any blue chip stock you buy now will make money 2 or 3 years down the road.
if you miss the boat now, you will regret. Don't say I never give you tips.
Trust me, I am the insurance sales agent who is asking people like you to buy. People in this blog like to bash agents, but I don't mind. Now (and the next couple weeks) is the right time to buy -> don't miss the boat!
After you buy, market recover and rally, you make 10~15% profit, just sell on the good news and sentiments and put back to ultra safe Special Acct. Then you wait for another big correction and buy again. Just imagine, extra $1,000 or $1,500 easy money.
Warren Buffet say before, if everyone not buying, you buy; everyone buying, you better be careful.
Most people won't ask you to buy coz they also buying secretly. they just hoping nobody buy so price drop then they can buy more.
This kind of once in 10 years opportunity don't come around too often. Don't miss it!!! So don't just invest $10,000 - invest $50,000. suggest you invest your OA also if you are not using the money for the longest time.
Good luck and don't wait too long to decide.
R.
You make investing look easy. Buy why we need luck?
ReplyDeleteThis is the type of insurance sales agents one should avoid. This is the tipster who will tip you when to buy and sell. The market is full of them.
ReplyDeleteLook deeper into it , this activity is 'churning" under the guise of market timing.
No wonder the CPF record shows members' dismal performance, almost 80% made less than 2.5% and more than 65% lost some of their capital.
What do you think? Do insurance salesmen and women need the bashing that they deserve?
The problem is not many people know how to ask and also the agents only disclose selectively, only those that play up the product.
ReplyDeleteA friend shared with me about his encounter with one of NTUC agents at a roadshow. He was promoted the revosave and all that he could remember was the 5% cashback and he could not remember the rest.He wasn't sure how it worked.
Anyway i congratulated him for escaping the crutch of that product and explained the details to him. He was shocked and was quite sure the agents didn't reveal to him everything. This is common. Insurance agents don't disclose or don't want you to know and expect you to make an informed decision.
In fact most people don't remember what they bought. That is why an honest and qualified adviser is important.