Tan Kin Lian's Blog: Talks on Financial Planning

Sunday, February 21, 2010

Talks on Financial Planning

I held two talks at Yishan and Pasir Ris Library. They were successful. The contents were suitable for the public.The interaction with the audience was fun and great.

I hope to be able to hold monthly talks at the National Library in Bras Bash Road and at Singapore Exchange in Shenton Way. This will be arranged under FISCA (Financial Services Consumer Association) with NLB and SGX. Each talk will be for 2 hours and include Q&A.

FISCA also intend to organise a 12 hour course (4 sessions of 3 hours during weekends, to cover 8 topics in more detail).

5 comments:

Anonymous said...: You should hold this kind of talks more frequently to educate the public and also to debunk the products popular with insurance agents.
What I like to see you address the following issues.
1. Par products used to be good when cost and interest rate was high but not now and why they shouldn't be allowed to be sold to enrich the insurance agents and the companies.. There is a much better alternative.MAS should issue guidelines on product design to set minimum return and cost of protection.
2.Insurance agents must not be allowed to push products and why product pushing has caused all the mis-selling and misrepresentation.
A need based approach should be used and be made compulsory.
3.Role of insurance agents should be to put clients' interest first.
4.Why the current remuneration model is unfair to the consumers.
5.99% of the existing agents are not financially qualified and competent and therefore product pushing becomes the norm.
Mr. Tan, I hope you will address these issues and help your audience be aware of the products and the middlemen that push these products.; February 21, 2010 10:46 AM
Tan Kin Lian said...: The director of a training school bought my book on Financial Planning. She likes it and has invited me to give a talk to the participants in her class.

If I get more invitation, I will be able to promote the consumer perspective of financial planning, membership of FISCA and the sale of my books.

I invite my readers to get your organisation to invite me to give a talk to your members or colleagues.; February 21, 2010 11:26 AM
Anonymous said...: You must expose the insurance agents too. Many think that there are only a few black sheep. They are wrong if you include those agents who are not qualified but trusted by the consumers. These agents can cause far more serious disasters than the dishonest ones.As we know TRUST has been behind cheating and how many professionals lost so much money becuase they trusted the sellers of 'magic stone' products.In insurance the 'magic stone' products are wholelife , endowment and regular ILPs and the cashback anticipated endowment. They have been sold as cure all products. The truth is but unknown to consumers, that insurance agents sell them becuase of the high commission they get from pushing them. Are they financial planning products? They are VERY POOR products and that is why today people are UNDER INSURED and CANNOT RETIRE.
I hope that MR. Tan will expose thses porducts and the sellers's motives.; February 21, 2010 11:28 AM
Anonymous said...: There has been some sharing by some policyholders that the endowment and wholelife products they bought many years ago give them very poor return and those used CPF give less than CPF 2.5%.It is shocking after waiting and looking forward to the day and it turned out to be nightmare and the prospect of better retirement suddenly dashed. That is what happened to baby boomers who saw their retirement went up in smoke for trusting their insurance agents.This must not happen again and with Mr. Tan creating awareness consumers must not be trapped again by blindly buying into this kind of products and trusting their friends who may not be dishonest but incompetence can cause great loss and more misery.
Before you jump in to defend NTUC for the comparatively higher return you must know the era of Mr. TanKL and policemen wore shorts is over.
What the future holds for these products is bleak and gloomy and with the consumer education and consumers know more about these products they will die a natural death.In the meantime the campaign against these products is to lessen
the pain and to eliminate the greedy and unethical insurance agents who cheat their trusting policyholders, friends and relatives without any compunction and conscience.; February 21, 2010 12:01 PM
Anonymous said...: The consumers owe you a lot . In the past few years we know a lot more than more than in last 20 years about insurance and investment. We had no idea what we bought and blindly believed the insurance agents. We now know the truth that these products are not only not good for us but actually did more harm to our finances. We now know the lies and the pretence of our insurance agents. We now know how inadequate , incompetent and unqualified our insurance agents. We had been holding them in high esteem like the million dollar award 'achievement ' they attained. We realised that they were and are attained at out expense by bluffing and conning us to buy those product that benefit them more than us.
We are awakened and thanks to Mr. Tan. We are now wary of the financial institutions that are supposed to help us instead they use their greedy insurance agents to achieve their goals.
We are grateful to Mr. Tan for setting up the FISCA body to vet for us our existing insurance policies to see if we have been keeping skeletons and rubbish in our drawers and safes.
We also hope MAS will be forth coming in the enforcement of the industry hitherto been left to self regulate. Hope MAS has realised the harms has been caused by self regulations. The FIs cannot be trusted especially they are in the business of making money and if money is the aim then self regulation is a big bullshit.No FI will stifle its own growth and shoot its own foot by stringently implement and enforce rules that slow the business process down. Likewise the insurance agents all of them are in the business to make quick money. Do you think they joined the industry to do charity, to help us plan our finances? They are planning their own finances at ourexpense. If they are sincere and want to help us how come so many insurance agents are still not qualified and incompetent. The truth is they want to make fast money and quit . We have been fooled, fooled by the pretence and their tongue.
Thanks again , Mr. Tan. Without you the landscape would not have changed.; February 21, 2010 6:55 PM