Tan Kin Lian's Blog: Seniors and Finance

Friday, April 23, 2010

Seniors and Finance

This article describes the top ten mistakes seniors make with their finances.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...: New survey shows 60% of Singaporeans want to retire by 60
By Satish Cheney

SINGAPORE: A new survey showed that 60 per cent of Singaporeans want to retire by the time they reach 60 years of age.

However, only 40 per cent have developed - or intend to develop - a proper retirement plan.

The survey was commissioned by Russell Investments, a global financial services firm.

The aim is to show how Singaporeans are preparing for life after work.

The company said that less than 20 per cent have accessed professional financial advice when it comes to retiring.

More than 500 fully-employed Singaporeans aged between 35 and 55 participated in the poll conducted in December 2009 and January 2010.

A big fear for more than half the respondents is that they will outlive their money.

In fact, around 70 per cent said they are "very likely" to indulge in part-time employment when they retire.

"Singaporeans are actually preparing themselves for a decline in their quality of living during retirement - no wonder the majority of locals aren't looking forward to their retirement years," said Edmund Teo, Regional Director, Sales and Marketing at Russell Investments.; April 24, 2010 10:42 AM
Anonymous said...: People cannot retire becuase of insurance agents disguised themselves as financial consultants misled the consumers.
Eg. instead of advising their clients to buy CPFlife to get more the insurance agents conned them to buy private annuity.
Instead of helping conumsers to invest and accumulate fund for retirement the insurance agents conned them to buy endwoment, regular or single becuase the agents lacked confidence and knowledge to structure proper portfolio.
As a result people wasted a lot of time until it is too late to accumulate funds. Time is the essence of accumulating funds and not properly used it leads to poverty or money not enough.
It is also becuase insurance agents are only interested to sell something for commission. The goals of their customers are never the agents' interest. Lastly insurance agents have not knowledge and not qualified to help their clients in planning their retirement. This is a fact and survey has shown many have no access to qualified and competent retirement planners instead they got insurance salesmen or conmen masqueraded as consultants.
As has been said 99% of the insurance agents are NOT qualified to consult in anything financial except to sell products for commission.They are salesmen and women at best and at worse they conmen and conwomen. Again survey proves that. MAS still does nothing.
In stead of; April 24, 2010 1:13 PM
Anonymous said...: The biggest mistake for seniors in Singapore is to "consult" with FA, FC, RM, agent, broker, consultant, tom dick harry. Because all of them are full of conflict of interest due to the COMMISSION structure. 99.9% of the time, these salesworms will push the highest commission product that they can get away with to ill-informed old folks. They don't care if they meet the customers' financial needs and objectives or not.

Participating insurance products are the best con jobs. Why?? Because in MAS eyes, these endowment, anticipated endowment, wholelife and limited wholelife are considered safe and suitable for older and risk-averse customers. MAS don't really care whether got meet financial objectives or even consider financial situation or not. I use to work in finance line, so I know. Only with stocks, derivatives, currencies, unit trusts, ILPs, and lately structured deposits, then the salesworm need to be careful of MAS --- and this is provided the customer can afford to complain and engage expensive lawyer.

You can sell a wholelife with only $10K sum assured to 70 yr old jobless man that can never ever break even -- no problemo.

The only way for all customers of all ages to be SAFE is for commission structure to be totally BANNED. Those doing advisory or sales of products to be paid salary and/or professional fees. In the whole of Singapore, we just need at most 1000 of such advisors.

The internet should be maximised fully to offer ALL insurance online -- quotations, submissions, applications, reviews, cancellations, surrenders, etc. Supplement with low-cost small front-desk office if need to submit original documents, signatures, face-to-face enquiries etc.; April 24, 2010 5:44 PM
Anonymous said...: In the recent consultation paper by MAS life insurance products are considered excluded products to come under the requirement of "customer knowledge assessment". I am surprised that MAS considers life insurance as simple products and that the sellers don't need to enquire whether buyers are savyy or not.In other words all sellers of life insurance products can sell anyway they like without having to assess the customers' knowledge of the products and customers are assumed to know.This is dangerous becuase insurance agents can push products and claim that the buyers buy with their eyes open big big.
LIke what Anon of April 24, 2010 5:44 PM said above wholelife , endowment will be considered safe by MAS and therefore even they don't meet the clients' expectation. Let me ask MAS .Is a limited payment living policy sold to a 60 year old safe? In the first place it is INAPPROPRIATE and there is no need for a 60 year old man to buy a wholelife with a huge annual premium of $20K especially near retirement.
What is safe? is it a loss of capital? or is it that a product is unable to meet the goal?
eg. Is a FD a safe product to invest to meet the retirement goal of a 30 year old man?
MAS has conflict of interest too.I wonder waht is it.; April 24, 2010 11:22 PM
Resigned said...: MAS? just look who sits on their International Advisory Panel.

Corporate big wigs and all have vested interests in insurance and financial products.. we are all doomed and will continue to be milked.

It is against their business interests to defend the consumer. If they do, they might as well join CASE instead. Ask them: why dont they?; April 26, 2010 11:10 AM