How to find peace in current financial turmoil

In the midst of current financial turmoil, is it possible to find peace? Dr. Tommy Wong, professor turned international author, has written five books on "Wisdom on How to Live Life". In this series of books, Dr. Wong shared spiritual concepts which can be used to find peace irrespective of external happenings. The e-book series can be ordered here, and will be delivered immediately upon payment. May peace be with you!

FISCA Members Get-together 12 July 2013

In a recent survey, several members expressed interest to attend a member's get-together to discuss financial and consumer issues. 

This will be a free format discussion, to be facilitated by our committee member, Victor Lee. Victor is knowledgeable in investments - so you may find the discussion to be interesting.

This event is open to open to members only, and will be FREE. for those who attend. Those who register and do not attend will have to pay $10.

Register now at www.fisca.sg/events. (Members have to login to register)

Use fill-able PDF forms

If ind it very difficult to access the websites of government agencies, such as IRAS, MOM, ACRA, CPF.

Their websites are complicated. They have many layers of links for different categories of users. They have different systems of login. Quite often, I go to the wrong link and access the wrong pages. 

Each agency expects the public to spend hours to be educated about their website. They forget that the public has to deal with dozens of agencies.

I prefer a common login to a central website, where I can download a form or instructions. I can prepare the form offline and submit it to the agency. The form can be designed to be "fill-able" and with inbuilt validation, so that the public can provide the data friendly information to be used by the backend system.

This style, which is used elsewhere, is much easier for the public to use.

The harmful effects of the tender system

Singapore was a low cost country 50 years ago. It became a high cost country over the past 30 years. We are now one of the most expensive countries in the world!

This journey to become a high cost country has been bad for our character and is destroying the future for our next generation.

A major contributing factor is the belief that "tendering" is the best way to allocate resources. This is a mistaken belief. It has allowed certain opportunists to make a lot of money at the expense of the general public - in the price of homes, shops, contracting work, etc.

Instead of reducing cost, it has allowed certain well connected people to make excessive profits. It has also led to corrupt practices - for example, some of the recent cases that were prosecuted. This must be the tip of the iceberg.

The tender system has also lead to bad workmanship and lower standards. Look at the poor quality of our HDB flats at one time, and now the frequent breakdown of the MRT trains.

Our COE system, for tendering of the expensive piece of paper, has also gone haywire.

There is a better way than the tender system. If only our well paid civil servants and political leadership use their common sense and think differently.

Save $200,000 by choosing the right insurance policy

Read this review by Alvin of The BigFatPurse.com
http://www.bigfatpurse.com/2013/06/how-to-accumulate-200000-for-retirement-by-choosing-the-right-insurance-policy/

Free or inexpensive PDF book

Here are some free or inexpensive PDF books that sell for less than half the price of the hard copy version, and suitable for the Singapore context. 

www.tklcloud.com/pdfbook

FREE Talk on "Improve Your Business"

I am giving a talk on how you can improve your business by using the services available on TKL Cloud to:

• Keep your business accounts
• Manage your employee's payroll, leave and time recording
• Sell your products, services and consultancy through the Internet
• Invite people to attend a talk or event and manage the registration
• And more.

These services are designed for small companies. The cost of using the services is only $120 per month, after government funding.

The talk is on 21 June and 29 June at 99 Bukit Timah Road. (FREE admission).

If you are interested, please register at
http://tklcloud.com/book/41

Look forward to see you. You can register for your friends and colleagues to attend also.  A confirmation e-mail will be sent to you after registration.

Allow elderly to join Medisheld without underwriting

11 June 2013

Editor, Forum Page
Straits Times

Mr. Geoffrey Kung, secretary of the Reverse Cooperative,  

suggested that seniors should be helped by allowing them to 

join a group health insurance scheme.

I support this suggestion and to use Medishield to achieve this

goal.

I suggest that elderly citizens, above 65 years, should be allowed 

to join this scheme without the need to satisfy the underwriting 

requirements and without exclusion of pre-existing conditions.

We can allow the elderly who are now uninsured a period of three months

to enroll into the scheme. 

To ensure a good take-up, Insurance agents should be allowed to sign up the 

eligible senior citizens and be given a one time commission of $50 for each case.

It should be possible for the claim experience of this group of insured to be

monitored separately, and for any deficit to be funded by the government. 

It is better for our national health care system that these senior citizens be 

covered by Medishield, rather than for them to remain in a limbo.

Tan Kin Lian

President

Financial Services Consumer Association

Intelligence Quiz Contest 2 (4 houses)

This quiz involves only 4 houses, so it should be easy for you to complete. You can win the PDF copy of the Intellgence Quiz Vol 1
http://tklcloud.com/book/57

Publish a book - it is easy

Do you want to publish a book? It is easy and can earn revenue for you. Try it here.
http://tklcloud.com/consult/12

Public sector can set the benchmark

7 June 2013

Editor

Forum Page

Straits Times

I am encouraged by the lead taken by the Government to give an 

increase of $70 a month for low wage workers employed in the

public sector.

I suggest that they should reverse the practice of outsourcing

 such as cleaning and security, and employ the workers directly

in the public sector. They pay, terms of employment and practices

in the public sector can set a benchmark for similar jobs in the

private sector.

If the public sector have to outsource some jobs due to 

difficulty in managing the workers, they should insist that the

pay and working conditions meet the same standards that are

provided in the public sector.

It is important to adopt a more holistic approach to 

raise the pay of low wage workers and reduce the income

gap in Singapore.

Tan Kin Lian

Intelligence Quiz Contest 1

Take part in this Intelligence Quiz Contest and win a prize.
http://tklcloud.com/book/56

Continue my existing life policy?

When I give a talk on financial planning, many participants realized that they had bought a life insurance policy that gave them a poor return. They ask me - should I continue or terminate the policy?

I have written this book to show them how to find the right answer. It includes two case studies 

http://tklcloud.com/pdfbook/11

Managing your appointments

t is quite troublesome to schedule an appointment. Most people are busy and just to fix a time slot takes a lot of time.
This can be resolved using the "Appointment" system in TKL Cloud.
You can indicate the time slots that are available for a meeting or telephone call. People can choose the slot and book it. 
It is like seeing a doctor. 
This can be used for property agents to schedule viewing visits or for customers to consult an insurance adviser or other consultants.
To learn about this, attend the Briefing session on 21 June.
www.tklcloud.com/book/41

EXPERIENCE
Someone wanted to see me at 11.30 am this morning. He did not turn up. I called him, and his reason was "I did not confirm". I actually sent an email to tell him "OK".
This type of missed appointment is quite often. They only need to send email to reconfirm.

Mis-selling of private Shield

An woman in her early 50s, who has a low income, was sold an expensive Shield policy by an insurance agent placed in the bank. She paid over $800 in premium, to cover treatment in private hospital, which she did not need. 

Her niece helped her to lodge a complaint for mis-selling, but the insurance company did not take any action against the agent. She knew that she would not be able to afford the premium after a few years, and her total Medisave savings would be wiped out.

This type of mis-selling is quite rampant. Many people are paying more for a private Shield plan than is really needed - and the excuse is "you do not have to pay cash".

For people without much savings, a better way to manage the cost of medical care is shown here:
http://tklcloud.com/pdfbook/2

Please help to pass this message to your relatives and friends, especially those in their 50s and older.

Wisdom on how to live life - Dr Tommy Wong (books 1 to 5)

Dr. Tommy Wong, professor turned international author, has written five books on "Wisdom on How to Live Life".

These books are written in a conversational style, which makes them easy to read and understand. The topics covered by the conversations are relevant to daily living in a place such as Singapore. In his books, Dr. Wong brings out the important message of paying attention to the spiritual aspect of living, rather than just focusing on the materialistic aspect. This change in focus can be comforting to those who are experiencing stress in their daily life.

This series of books (hard copy) is selling at $100-. Dr. Wong has now made the PDF version available for sale at $35-.

http://tklcloud.com/pdfbook/6

Comment by Tan Kin Lian: I like the writing style of Dr. Tommy Wong. He is able to bring the message across clearly using the dialogue format. This is the same format used by Plato in his al.-time famous book, "The Republic". Definitely a book worth reading (actually - 5 books!)

Read this book summary

Read this summary of my new book "Choose the right life insurance policy".

Buy it now for yourself or to make a gift for you children.
http://tklcloud.com/pdfbook/LoadBrochure.aspx?ID=5

It cost you $4 and can make a big difference to you, or to your children.

The book can be ordered here:
http://tklcloud.com/pdfbook/5

Not easy to send an e-invoice

The private sector has to spend a lot of time to save a few minutes of time of the public sector. It is quite ridiculous.
http://tankinlian.com/admin/file.aspx?id=829&IID=836

A "must read" for every young person

A must read for every young person, before they plunge into a life insurance policy that may lock them in a poor deal for a lifetime.

Parents should buy this book and pass it to their children. I cannot think of a more meaningful gift.

http://tklcloud.com/pdfbook/5

Choose the right life insurance policy - must read for young people

Many people find a life insurance policy to be confusing. This is likely to be the intent of the insurance company who designed the policy. By making it confusing to consumers, they are able to hide the essential facts that are required by the regulators to be disclosed to consumers in the Benefit Illustration.

The insurance agent (or financial adviser) is required to give you a Benefit Illustration for the policy that is being recommended to you. The trouble is – most consumers do not understand how to read the Benefit Illustration.

I will show you in this book what to look for in the Benefit Illustration, and you can then decide if the recommended policy is the right plan for you to invest your hard earned savings. The good news is – you do not need to spend many hours to understand what to look for. It only takes you 30 minutes!

I will also show you a better way to invest your hard earned savings to get a higher return than offered by most life insurance policies. And, if you need insurance protection to take care of your dependents in the event of premature death, or to pay for medical expenses, you will also find a better solution in this book.

For most working people in Singapore, the difference between the right and wrong choice can amount to more than $200,000.

All they need is to spend a few dollars and 30 minutes on this book and they will learn how to get a much better outcome for their savings. 

This PDF book "Choose the right life insurance policy" is now available for $4 at  www.tklcloud.com/ishop/16

Review of COE system

I sent this letter to the Minister for Transport and the Land Transport Authority giving my suggestions on how to address the issue of high COE prices. We have to look at the root cause of the problem. The review of the COE system will not solve the problem.

I suggested that the regulation should be changed to allow owners to rent their cars to neighbours.

http://tankinlian.com/admin/file.aspx?id=835&IID=842

Settlement of insurance claim

A person had a heart attack while driving and died in the crash. The family had difficulty in making a claim for the personal accident and hospital insurance policy and had to pay an increase premium on the renewal of the car insurance.

The journalist asked for my views on these three insurance policies and if there is any fault with the insurance cover.

http://tankinlian.com/admin/file.aspx?id=834&IID=841

Shocked about ILP

Hi Mr Tan,
I regretted not coming across your website earlier. I started working last year and I got "convinced" by my agent to sign up for an investment-linked policy.
I paid an annual premium of $4,800 and was shocked to see the semi-annual report showing a surrender value of $806.
That was when I started to google for investment policies online and after reading your article, I felt cheated, stupid and really angry as all the money that I diligently saved over the past year went down the drain (or more appropriately, into the agent's pocket).
However, I know that it is my fault as I did not do any research prior to signing up for that policy.
Instead of crying over spilt milk, can you advise me on what to do? I have a very strong urge to terminate the plan now, but is it a wise decision?
http://tankinlian.com/admin/file.aspx?id=833&IID=840

Make a guess. Which insurance company sold this policy to the young man, who felt that he was cheated?

Submitting an e-invoice

31 May 2013

Editor, Forum Page

Straits Times

A few months ago, the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance urged the private sector 

to improve their productivity and reduce the reliance on foreign workers.

As a small business owner, I had to spend a lot of time submitting returns and applications 

to government agencies. The online processes are poorly designed from the perspective of 

the public. I had submitted countless feedback on these issues over the years but the 

underlying problem was never addressed.

Two months ago, I received an order from a primary school for the purchase of my books. 

The teacher told me that I had to submit an e-invoice.

After considerable research, I discovered that I had to register In a website called 

Vendors@SG and to apply for an EASY access code from the Inland Revenue Authority (IRAS) 

before registration.

The process was hardly easy. The password for the EASY access code was sent by mail 

and did not arrive after 8 days.  The IRAS manager arranged for hand delivery of a 

replacement password.

The new password was not accepted after a dozen attempts on several browsers. 

The error code was puzzling.

A support staff from IRAS came to my office to help fix the problem. He said that 

the Java software installed on the browser was not the latest version. He spent 

two hours trying to fix the problem, and had to telephone his technical expert 

at the office a few times.

After this problem was fixed, I still had to go through a learning curve to find out 

how to submit an e-invoice correctly. I discovered to my horror that I had to enter 

all the details of the invoice for the benefit of the Accountant General office, but that work 

was not suitable for entry to my own accounting system. It is double work for me.

I finally managed to submit the e-invoice after a delay of two months and 

countless hours spent on learning the complex processes of the government. 

The trouble is that I do not have sufficient transactions to make the effort worth the while.

There is something seriously wrong with the manner in which the government agencies 

impose their requirements on the private sector, which leads to an unproductive process. 

I hope that the Deputy Prime Minister will ask for this matter to be reviewed, and for 

the underlying problem to be addressed.

Tan Kin Lian

Call to regulate e-payment firms

Editor, Forum Page

Straits Times

Several parties have called for regulation of e-payment firms, due to the 

recent cases of fraud involving a few unauthorized payments through Pay Pal.

I suggest that the following points be considered in a regulatory review:

• The incidence of fraud now represents a negligible percentage of the transactions made through Pay Pal 
• Pay Pal now sends an email to notify the customer about a payment that had been made
• Most of the transactions made through Pay Pal are for small amounts
• Pay Pal has a policy to compensate its customers from losses arising from fraudulent payments.

I suggest that the decision for stronger security measures be left to Pay Pal to decide, balancing the risk and 

the convenience to customers. I am a regular user of Pay Pal and find their security measures to be adequate 

and convenient.

When I make payment by credit card, I have often been inconvenienced by the need to reply with a one-time

password sent by my bank (not Pay Pal), even for small amounts. I prefer an option to specify a threshold, below which

this measure can be bypassed: I am prepared to take the risk.

Rather than ask Pay Pal to adopt the security measures imposed by our banks, I prefer that our banks should

consider adopting the measures now used by Pay Pal.

Tan Kin Lian

Free the Internet

I wish to express my support for the "Free the Internet" movement. I do not know how to unpublish this blog for one day (6 June 2013), so I shall just give this message. If anyone know how, send email to kinlian@gmail.com.

 

Challenging Tangram shapes

These challenging shapes can be formed from the seven pieces cut from the square. Try it.
http://tankinlian.com/admin/file.aspx?id=832&IID=839

Low interest rate and the economy

This investment expert argues that low interest rate is bad for the economy
http://www.cnbc.com/id/100787929

Questionable Investments and scams

I have now starting to write the book on Questionable Investments and Scams. Here is the introduction to my book.

Introduction

During the past few years, many investors had sought my assistance.

They have been the victims of investment scams or had lost money on questionable investments. Often, they were misled into making these investments.

They made the investments on the assurance of people they thought could be trusted, including the marketing officer of the bank that they had a relationship for many years.

In some cases, the financial products were risky, but the risks were not disclosed to them.

In other cases, the terms of the financial products were quite unfair to the consumers, i.e. they did not get a fair return for the risks underlying the products.

In good times, the return is mediocre. In bad times, they had to take a big loss on their capital.

Often, the marketing officers were themselves ignorant of the underlying risks of the financial products. They were trained to tell the good points about the product and had to meet high sales quota. In the eagerness to close the sale, they might have innocently misrepresented the products or given assurances that were not warranted.

Outside of the regulated financial institutions, other people sell unregulated products that bordered on being outright scams.

My experienceI came to know about these questionable investments and outright scams by listening to the experiences of investors who had fallen victims to these products.They sought my help on the steps that could be taken to recover their losses. In most cases, nothing can be done, as they are deemed to have invested “with their eyes open” and had to take the consequences of their decisions.Although it had been time consuming to listen to their sad tales, and to search for possible solutions, it has been an enlightening journey for me.

I get to know about how these scams work, or how bad financial products could be created by so-called reputable financial institutions to take advantage of naive consumers.

I wish to share some of these stories and to draw some lessons for consumers. I hope that they can help to educate consumers to avoid these bad products.

Tan Kin Lian

What to look for in a Retirement Plan offered by an insurance company

 have analyzed several "retirement plans" launched by life insurance companies recently. 

They have the following features:
a) no life insurance cover, i.e. on death only a refund of premuim
b) a yield or IRR of 2% to 3% over the very long term
c) a heavy penalty, in some cases more than 50% of the savings, on termination 

The consumer can get a much better deal by investing on their own. 

I will be writing a new PDF book to explain the features of this plan and what to look out for. In the meantime, consumers should avoid buying this plan.

Buy TKL books in PDF format and pay less

You can now buy the PDF version of my financial planning, life insurance and other books at a lower price (compared to the hard copy version) and save on the handling charge.
http://tklcloud.com/iShop/16

Books, talks and consultations

Many Singaporeans spend thousands of dollars on medical insurance that they do not really need, or cannot afford. They have a better choice. Spend $4 on this PDF book and learn how you can spend your money wisely on medical insurance. 
http://tklcloud.com/pdfbook/2

Buy TKL Books
www.tklcloud.com/ishop/1

Wisdom on how to live life
http://tklcloud.com/iShop/8

Attend workshop on TKL cloud
www.tklcloud.com/book/41

Consultation
www.tklcloud.com/consult/2

Dishonesty and corruption

I want to quote this incident to show the dishonesty and corruption that is prevalent in the modern world for the past decade. 

Prior to the year 2,000, a few "experts" published papers to state that computer systems would break down on the eve of the new millennium, as they were not designed to handle this situation. It was a complete nonsense and could be easily demonstrated to be false. (I did).

The accounting and consultancy firms jumped into this concept to make money. They published papers to notify the boards of large companies about the risk and their responsibility to prevent the collapse of their companies. These firms knew that it was nonsense, but their greed and dishonesty overpowered their conscience.

Many corporate boards and government agencies spent tens of millions of dollars in consulting fees and technical solutions to avoid this imaginary catastrophe.

Many directors of these boards knew that it was nonsense, but they approved the expenses anyway, as the money went to their cronies in the consulting firms. When the retire from the board, they expect to be invited as directors or advisers to the consulting firms.

It was a grand scheme to cheat the "system". Billions of dollars must have been spent on fees and software.

Who gains? The elites in the top power echelons. Who loses, the ordinary people around the world who have to pay the price for the elites to become super rich.

This type of deception continues today. It comes in various forms, e.g. outsourcing of large IT. projects.

Singapore is very much a part of this global system of deception - both as actors and victims. I will describe them later.

Role of Internal Audit

In many organizations, the Internal Audit is not welcomed by the Operations staff, as the focus was on controls and compliance.  The work can be approached differently to focus on "what is right" rather than "what is wrong". I hope that these points will be useful to help Internal Audit to carry out its role in a constructive manner and their contribution can be welcome.
http://tankinlian.com/admin/file.aspx?id=830&IID=837

Bad experience with Standard Chartered Bank - continuing episode

I have very bad experience with Standard Chartered credit cards. It has been a nightmare since I accepted their Visa and Master cards a year ago.

It took more than 6 months for my GIRO to be implemented. My earlier instruction was reported loss and the second set was approved after a long delay.

I was shocked to learn recently that they were only deducting the minimum $50 from my card, and not the full amount that I intended. This allowed them to earn their "interest" at the exorbitant rate of 2% per month.

Their call center said that this was "my instruction" on the form. Their forms were extremely complicated, so it was so easy to make a mistake.

Even their statement is so complicated, it is difficult to know what is being owed to the bank and what is the amount to be paid. They give information about "points" that really confuse the customer.

Getting through to their call center was another big hassle. they asked for my name, NRIC, mobile number, current employer, previous employer and the number of accounts that I had with them.

I instructed to cancel both cards, and they said that I had a balance in one card and it cannot be cancelled. I suspect that they really want to make things difficult for their customer to cancel the card with their tedious process.

I will cancel the cards anyway. I will not take any more card from that bank.

Retire Happy Plan from AXA

Here is an analysis of the Retire Happy plan from AXA. The features are similar to the retirement plans recently launched by several life insurance companies. 

Take a look at the distribution cost and the effect of deduction. They are extremely high. Understand the impact of these charges on your accumulated savings. 

Do the exercise in this paper. 
http://tankinlian.com/admin/file.aspx?id=825&IID=832

Be an affiliate of TKL Cloud

Register at http://tklcloud.com/book/41

Have you made your PIC claim?

I recently realized that I spent about $8,000 in legal fees (register a patent), and in data center and cloud computing that is eligible to claim under the Productivity and Innovation Credit (PIC) under IRAS.  I will be submitting a claim for 60%, or nearly $5,000!

Purchase of computers, printers, copies and other automation equipment also qualify for PIC.

If you want to learn how to make this claim, attend my FREE 1 hour talk. http://tklcloud.com/book/41 

Tommy Wong book promotion (final week)

Dr. Tommy Wong, author of the book series 'Wisdom on How to Live Life', is offering a promotion on all his books during the month of May 2013.
Further information on his books can be found on the following websites:

Wisdom on How to Live Life
Wisdom on How to Live Life (Book 2)
Wisdom on How to Live Life (Book 3)
Wisdom on How to Live Life (Book 4)
Wisdom on How to Live Life (Book 5)
Wisdom for Spiritual Living
Minimum Wage for Low Wage Workers

Order here: http://tklcloud.com/ishop/8

Use TKL Cloud to run your business more efficiently

Attend this FREE 1 hour talk and learn how you can run your business more efficiently using the web applications on TKL Cloud.
It also covers how you can claim the Productivity and Innovation credit from IRAS for your eligible expenses.
http://tklcloud.com/book/41

If you are interested to be an Affiliate to market the service, you can earn $900 for each sale. You can also register for this session. It is a good way to earn a regular income and build up your business.

Who is guarding the guards?

Hi TakKL,

You may be interest to read this article on guard…. J

https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/opinion/2013/05/24/who%e2%80%99s-guarding-the-guards/

REPLY

The focus on security is ridiculous, in Singapore as well.

Mindless people applying mindless instructions.

Productivity and Innovation Credit

Many small businesses are not taking advantage of the Productivity and Improvement Credit scheme to use computer software and to buy computer, IT and innovation equipment and for staff training. They can claim 60% cash from the Government or 400% tax credit.

Details here
http://www.iras.gov.sg/irashome/picredit.aspx

Expensive place to retire

Hi Mr.Tan,
I found this article interesting and shocking. 
http://money.msn.com/retirement/wealthy-nation-cant-afford-to-retire
 

"According to the study, the annual household income required to lead a "comfortable" retired life in Singapore is the third highest among Asia's major economies, behind Australia and Hong Kong, at $48,773. This figure is 68% higher than what was needed in 2011, the survey, which has been running for eight years, found."

Run your business more efficiently

If you run a small business and wants to find an easy way to manage it more efficiently, read this

Accounting
http://tankinlian.com/admin/file.aspx?id=820&IID=827

Payroll and leave
http://tankinlian.com/admin/file.aspx?id=821&IID=828

Activity booking
http://tankinlian.com/admin/file.aspx?id=822&IID=829

These web applications are designed to be very useful to use, so only the basic functions are kept here. No frills. Lower training cost. My affiliates can provide the training and implementation.

The applications are free for three months trial.

TKL Websites

Buy my book
www.tankinlian.com/ishop

Use my consulting service
www.tankinlian.com/consult

Attend FISCA talks
www.fisca.sg/events

Run your business efficiently
www.tklcloud.com/cud

Am I good to go yet?

Am I good to go yet? Besides writing a will, an elderly person should also make other preparation, to relieve stress for the family.
You can register for this free talk.
http://tklcloud.com/book/40

Workshop on puzzles - during June school holidays

Send your child to this workshop during the school holidays. Give them the chance to develop their mind and have a fun time.
http://tklcloud.com/book/admin/file.aspx?key=c4e05e3f-e96b-473c-bb6c-c9b802001b62

Book here: www.tklcloud.com/book/26

Too lazy to find out for themselves

Hi, Mr. Tan

I was reading your article on the distribution cost of insurance and the reactions most honest and hardworking Sporeans gave you when you shared with them the actual amount of money some policies are taking away from them as distribution costs.

 

It seems to me that Sporeans are too tired or too lazy to find things out for themselves. They prefer to have things done for them. This may explain why they are easy target for scams and are taken for a ride easily. Sometimes I feel that even the government is trying to take Sporeans for a ride.

 

This may be one reason why Spore as you put it aptly "stinks" nowadays. People are finding it hard to eke out a living. As such most of them are too tired to think about the bigger scheme of things after a long and hard day's work. They know they need insurance but they are unable or unwilling to spend time to source for a good insurance policy. This is why investment linked policy are a favourite (since they can have cash back ie savings, get coverage etc etc) kill many birds with a stone, not knowing that the one who get killed is most probably themselves if they end up getting a raw deal.

 

Same thing when it comes to many things our government is doing or managed to get away with doing. People are just too tired to do anything about it as they can barely make a decent living. Perhaps if they cannot keep their stomach filled up and their bodies warm, they will not be bothered about those higher needs in Maslow's hierarchy of needs. And therefore controlling them and manipulating them will be that much easier.

 

I really hope Sporeans who have benefitted previously and are in a position to do make things better will really rise to the occasion and make a stand. Do whatever they can to educate Sporeans and not let the stink continues in Spore.

 

Mr. Foo

Alnernative systems to set the benchmark

In the early eighties, the Government was debating on whether to build the MRT station. The Minister for Communications, Mr. Ong Teng Cheong, was in favor of MRT. Dr. Goh Keng Swee,  Deputy Prime Minister, was in favor an all-bus alternative. The Government commissioned a team of transport experts from America who advised that an all-bus system was feasible. The Cabinet finally decided in favor of the MRT system.

Most Singaporeans would agree that the MRT system was a better approach, as it was able to carry large number of people quickly, and was not affected by road congestion. Our MRT system was considered to be a "world class transport system" for several years.

Many people did not realize the valuable contribution of Dr. Goh in this debate. By arguing in favor of the all-bus system, he presented an alternative proposal, which was more economical and quicker to implement. This alternative presented a benchmark to compare the cost of the MRT system .

For example, if the all-bus alternative was, say $1.5 billion, the MRT system can be more expensive, but cannot be "too far off". This allowed the cost of the MRT system to be kept under proper financial control. I suspect that this was the key reason who the initial system was kept at a modest cost of $2 billion dollars for the North South and the East West lines. (Note: I am recalling some of these figures from memory, and may not be accurate).

By contrast, the Thomson MRT line was estimated to be $18 billion, and the Marina Costal Highway was $4.3 billion. These sums are staggering.

We now know that people like Dr. Goh Keng Swee played an important role to ensure that the government spending was "value for money". We dearly missed people like him; people who are visionary and courageous, and are willing to argue for alternatives!

Dr. Goh left the cabinet in 1985. Since then, we have seen a gradual deterioration in the quality of leadership in our government and civil service.

Advice on Education Policy

Roger Seow asked:
What will be a better way to save for children's education: Endowment or Education? I notice many parents tend to buy Education policy because it is named for education.

REPLY
be careful about the education policy. Some are all right, but some are horrible.
Here is an article of a bad policy that a customer had bought and decided to stop at a loss of $20,000.
http://tankinlian.com/admin/file.aspx?id=800&IID=807

To learn about a better way to invest for your children's education, attend the FISCA talk on financial planning, www.fisca.sg/events.

Why don't you tell me earlier!

I gave a talk on financial planning to employees in a large company. Most of them had served for 10 years.

I told them that the life insurance policy that they had bought is likely to show a distribution cost of $5,000 to $10,000. I explained that it is the money that is taken away from their savings, and is usually two years of their hard earned savings.

THEY WERE SHOCKED. You can see the expression on their faces!

One of them asked, almost crying .... "Why didn't the company arrange this talk earlier, when they start work. It is now too late."

I replied .... "yes, it is too late for you. But can  you tell your younger brothers and sisters to attend my talk now, so that they do not make the same mistake."

I have been actively promoting the talks held by FISCA but too many young people were too busy with their study and work. They do not want to spend the time, or to spend $30. If they make this effort, they can save $5,000 to $10,000 in "distribution cost" and $200,000 over 30 years, i.e the "effect of deduction".

There is a talk on Saturday 25 May 2 to 4 pm held as SMU. This is your chance, not to be missed. The next talk will be held a few months later. (Register at www.fisca.sg/events".

This is also for parents to tell their children, who are teenagers. Act now, and have a proper financial planning for life.

Staggering infrastructure projects

Singaporeans had the impression over the years to think that we have a corruption free government. Recent events should make us re-examine this belief.

Here are some worrisome facts.

a) NParks purchased the Brompton bikes at 5 to 10 times of the cost of suitable alternatives. They are found to be "in compliance" with the standing procedures.

b) Two senior civil servants were charged for corrupt practices in the sex-for-favors trials.

c) We are spending staggering sums for infrastructure projects, e.g. Thomson Line, Marine Coastal Highway, Gardens by the Bay, River in Bishan. We did not get much details of these projects  in the mainstream media lately.

In the past, we can be sure that the Auditor General would keep a close eye on these matters. But, in recent years, I do not seem to hear about issues raised by them. (I could be mistaken).

Do we have people who are capable of auditing these large expenditures to ensure that they are "value for money" and not just "in compiance" with standard procedures. We are talking about staggering sums of money.

Intelligence Quiz Vol 1

Get a free PDF copy of this book at www.tklcloud.com/cud/gift.aspx

This is based on a famous puzzle purported to be created by Albert Einstein. The book contains a solution to the puzzle and 72 new puzzles of the same pattern.

Lessons from a Bank Robbery

This was written by an unknown author in Chinese and translated into English.

There was this robbery in Guangzhou, the robber shouted to everyone: "All don't move, money belongs to the state, life belongs to you". Everyone in the bank laid down quietly.  This is called "Mind Changing Concept --> Changing the conventional way of thinking". 

One lady lay on the table provocatively, the robber shouted at her "Please be civilised! This is a robbery and not a rape!"
This is called "Being Professional --> Focus only on what you are trained to do!"

When the robbers got back, the younger robber (MBA trained) told the older robber (who in only primary school educated), "Big bro, let's count how much we got", the older robber rebutted and said, "You very stupid, so much money, how to count, tonight TV will tell us how much we robbed from the bank!"

This is called "Experience --> nowadays experience is more important than paper qualifications!"

After the robbers left, the bank manager told the bank supervisor to call the police quickly.  The supervisor says "Wait, wait wait, let's put the 5 million RMB we embezzled into the amount the robbers robbed".
This is called "Swim with the tide --> converting an unfavorable situation to your advantage!"

The supervisor says "It will be good if there is a robbery every month".
This is called "Killing Boredom --> Happiness is most important."

 The next day, TV news reported that 100 million RMB was taken from the bank. The robbers counted and counted and counted, but they could only count 20 million RMB.  The robbers were very angry and complained "We risked our lives and only took 20 million RMB, the bank manager took 80 million RMB with a snap of his fingers.  It looks like it is better to be educated to be a thief!" This is called "Knowledge is worth as much as gold !"

 The bank manager was smiling and happy because his loss in the CINOPEC shares are now covered by this robbery. This is called "Seizing the opportunity --> daring to take risks!"

Spending on public works

We are spending staggering sums on our roads and MRT system. I wish to remind everyone that in some countries, excessive spending on public works is a source of corruption. (I do not wish to imply that this is the case in Singapore). 

I wish to share this joke told to me by a friend from Europe:

The head of the ministry of works of an European country attended a prestigious US business program and met his counterpart from an African country.
One day, the African was invited to visit the home of his European counterpart. It was a grand and impressive house. The African asked the European friend how he could afford such an expensive house.  The friend pointed out to the newly build highway not far away from the home and said "Do you see the new highway? It takes only a small portion of the budget to pay for this house".
The following year, the European visited the African country and was invited to the home of his African friend. It was a palace, much grander and more expensive than his home in Europe. He asked the African how he could afford it.
The African said, "Can you see the highway out there?". The European looked out and said, "But there is no highway. I only see jungle". The African pointed to his palace and said, "Well, the money is spend here", i.e. pointing to his palace.

14 May 2013

Editor, Forum Page

Straits Times

It is quite common for the public to be invited for a 

free preview on a training course to trade foreign exchange, 

commodities, futures and other financial products.

During the preview, the presenter may make some 

exaggerated claims on the effectiveness of their trading

techniques or even offer verbal promises of guaranteed 

success. 

It is easy for the public to be taken in by these exaggerated

claims and to sign up for a course costing a few thousand

dollars.

Their subsequent trading experience is often a 

disappointment. Some have incurred large losses, based on 

anecdotal evidence.

Some of the public signed up after seeing other people

rushed to the signing tables. These could be agents

who were planted to create a false impression.

The authority appears to be reluctant to put a stop to 

these practices,  

I suggest the authority should make it a requirement for 

the preview talks to be video recorded, so that they can 

be accountable for false or baseless claims, which can 

amount to the crime of cheating. 

This could be a sufficient deterrent for the time being.

Tan Kin Lian

President

Financial Services Consumer Association

Free copy of Intelligence Quiz Vol 1

You can get a FREE PDF copy of the Intelligence Quiz Vol 1 (hard copy sold for $7,90) by applying at this website:
http://tklcloud.com/cud/gift.aspx

Tell your friends to take this offer now, as it will be withdrawn after 1,000 copies have been distributed.

Note: There is a problem with the Registration as the Telephone number is being rejected. This will be fixed today.

Earned a passive income to supplement your earned income

Someone who gives talks on investing told me ....

Singaporeans study hard to get a degree and work hard to earn a salary. They do not know how to invest their savings, so they were unable to earn a passive income, from dividends and interest, to supplement their earned income.

Many of them put their savings in a life insurance policy and gave it up after a few years, losing nearly all of their hard earned savings.

I agreed with him. They do not know their priority and are destined to be poor. They can change their destiny by spending some time to learn about financial planning and investing from the FISCA talks

www.fisca.sg/events.

Are you financially aware (2) ?

Here is another test of your financial awareness.
http://tankinlian.com/admin/file.aspx?id=818&IID=825

Wisdom on how to live life

Dr. Tommy Wong, professor turned international author, has written five books on "Wisdom on How to Live Life". 

These books are written in a conversational style, which makes them easy to read and understand. The topics covered by the conversations are relevant to daily living in a place such as Singapore. In his books, Dr. Wong brings out the important message of paying attention to the spiritual aspect of living, rather than just focusing on the materialistic aspect. This change in focus can be comforting to those who are experiencing stress in their daily living. 

The style of writing in Dr. Wong's books is similar to the dialogue used by the Greek philosopher Plato in his ten books "The Republic". While Plato's books are considered one of the best works of all times, Dr. Wong's books are particularly useful to those who are living in a modern society such as Singapore.

Dr. Wong’s books are currently on offer. Further information about his books can be found here.

Big Fat Purse website

Here is my article in Big Fat Purse
http://www.bigfatpurse.com/2013/05/financial-planning-for-singaporeans-interview-with-mr-tan-kin-lian-president-of-fisca/

Training courses on Financial Trading

Many people have attended a free preview or a success seminar and heard stories of how experts make money by trading foreign currency, commodities, futures and options.

Before you sign up and pay a few thousand dollars for the course, read my paper here. It will explain why you should stay away.

http://tankinlian.com/admin/file.aspx?id=817&IID=824

Avoid Dual Currency Investments

Hi, Tan:

Thank you for your article on DCI posted on the internet.  That is indeed very insightful.  

Could you kindly educate me on the in-depth of DCI?  For am interested but would like to minimized the risk.  Am a very conservative invester - will never go for margin for am a firm believer of 'living within your means and to bless others when opportunity arise'.

REPLY

My advice is to avoid it altogether. Don't waste your time trying to figure out the complexities. 

If you want to learn how to invest to get a good return, and manage the risk, attend the FISCA talk on financial planning, www.fisca.sg/events

Sale of town council software

The issue of the sale of town council software to a PAP owned company continues to reveal baffling facts. Things are not right.

http://singaporemind.blogspot.sg/2013/05/sylvia-lim-drops-bombshell-on-aim-issue.html

Foreign wealth and income inequality

The influx of wealthy foreigners, who do not pay any significant amount of tax, is not benefiting Singaporeans as a whole.
http://singaporemind.blogspot.sg/2013/05/foreign-wealth-widens-inequality-in.html