Saturday, May 23, 2015
Confusing taxi fares
The taxi fares in Singapore is confusing. Even a local person, like me, can easily fall into the trap and pay a much higher fare than necessary.
I returned back to Singapore from Jakarta last Monday past midnight. The concierge at the airport directed me to a waiting taxi. The taxi is white in color and had a special branding. I asked the taxi driver if it is a standard taxi and he said "yes".
When I arrived home, the taxi fare was $37. The normal fare was around $25, even after midnight. I asked why it was so expensive, and the taxi driver said that there was a surcharge after midnight. I believed that it was a non-standard taxi, but he appeared to be "blur".
In the past, the concierge would asked me if I wanted a non-standard taxi at a higher fare. That night, the concierge did not ask me. She just directed me to the specific taxi..I suspect that she was new to the job, or was being bribed by the taxi driver to direct a passenger to the higher fare taxi.
This is why I dislike the confusing taxi fare structure in Singapore. It is subject to abuse, The public could be conned when they are not aware about the higher fares.
Friday, May 22, 2015
Visit to Hong Kong, Shenzhen and Guangzhou
I visited Hong Kong, Shenzhen and Guangzhou in early May and spent a total of 5 days in these cities. It was a pleasant trip. I met many nice people and found the shopping and food to be very good in these cities.
I liked the early morning yam-cha in all the three cities. The food is good and the prices are inexpensive. The early morning crowd are mainly the elderly people, who spent their time in leisure to eat the dim-sum, read newspapers and chat with friends. What a contrast to the hectic life and the relative lack of socializing in Singapore.
The restaurants in all three cities are packed in the morning, afternoon and night. They have a high turnover of customers, indicating a high level of productivity. In spite of the large crowd, their service is excellent. They service staff are well trained.
Prior to this visit, I had the impression that it is not safe to be in Shenzhen and Guangzhou. This fear was unfounded. I did not face any problem with criminals in these cities. Everybody is busy with their work and daily activities.
Shenzhen has a population of 10 million, which is almost twice of Singapore. Guangzhou has a population of 15 million. It did not seemed to be too overcrowded.
I stayed at the Holiday Inn in Shifu, which is next to one of the popular pedestrian streets. On my free morning, I took the underground train in Guangzhou for four stops to visit the shopping center in Beijing Road. The train system is well organized. It was quite full, but not packed. I liked their signage and the announcement of the stops. They numbered their train lines, which made it easy to remember. My station served Line 1 and Line 6.
I like Guangzhou and will make a longer visit in the near future.
I liked the early morning yam-cha in all the three cities. The food is good and the prices are inexpensive. The early morning crowd are mainly the elderly people, who spent their time in leisure to eat the dim-sum, read newspapers and chat with friends. What a contrast to the hectic life and the relative lack of socializing in Singapore.
The restaurants in all three cities are packed in the morning, afternoon and night. They have a high turnover of customers, indicating a high level of productivity. In spite of the large crowd, their service is excellent. They service staff are well trained.
Prior to this visit, I had the impression that it is not safe to be in Shenzhen and Guangzhou. This fear was unfounded. I did not face any problem with criminals in these cities. Everybody is busy with their work and daily activities.
Shenzhen has a population of 10 million, which is almost twice of Singapore. Guangzhou has a population of 15 million. It did not seemed to be too overcrowded.
I stayed at the Holiday Inn in Shifu, which is next to one of the popular pedestrian streets. On my free morning, I took the underground train in Guangzhou for four stops to visit the shopping center in Beijing Road. The train system is well organized. It was quite full, but not packed. I liked their signage and the announcement of the stops. They numbered their train lines, which made it easy to remember. My station served Line 1 and Line 6.
I like Guangzhou and will make a longer visit in the near future.
ASEAN agreement
Kenneth Jeyaretnam writes about the ASEAN Agreement on Free Movement of Labour and the risk that this agreement poses to Singaporeans in competing for jobs in our own country. This agreement will come into effect in December 2015. It will also confer mutual recognition of qualifications for several professions.
Read this article.
Read this article.
Thursday, May 21, 2015
National productivity Fund
Mr Kenneth Jeyaretnam wrote this open letter, published in his website, regarding the National Productivity Fund. He is concerned that a lot of money has been transferred into this fund and there is no accountability of the money spent. I share his concern. Link
Tuesday, May 19, 2015
What is a life annuity and how does it work?
Suppose you have $400,000 in saving at age 65. You decide to set aside $100,000 as an emergency fund or to give to your children when you pass away. You invest $300,000 to get a monthly income.
You are told that the life expectancy for a normal person at age 65 is 20 years, and you belong to this category, i.e .you are not unhealty nor super healthy.
The insurance company (or CPF) offers you two choices:
a) FIXED ANNUITY FOR 20 YEARS. You can get $1,840 per month payable for a fixed period of 20 years. If you die earlier, the balance of your savings will be paid to your family. However, the money will run out after 20 years, and you will get nothing after than.
b) LIFE ANNUITY. You will get $1,840 per month payable for your lifetime. If you die before 20 years, the balance of your savings will be kept in the fund to pay the monthly income for those who live beyond 20 years. If you live beyond 20 years, you will continue to get the monthly payment as it is taken from those who left the balances in the pool when they die.
Which annuity do you prefer - the fixed annuity for 20 years, or the life annuity?
Under the fixed annuity, you stand the risk that you will live beyond 20 years and your money would have run out by that time. Under the life annuity, you are assured of receiving the income for your lifetime, but it could be shorter or longer than 20 years. You are pooling your "longevity risk" with the other members of the pool.
Your decision will depend on your belief - do you like to pool your risk with the other members of the fund? This assumes that you belong to the group that expects to have a normal life expectancy, i.e. you do not have any reason to believe that you will die earlier or later than most people of the same age as you.
What is your choice?
c-pearl.com
Visit this website for the following information that may be useful to you:
www.c-pearl.com
www.c-pearl.com
Condo - details of condos in Singapore
Bus Service - find bus services at any bus stop, or all the stops for any service
Forms - locate forms from government agencies or business organisations (CPF now available, other forms will be provided
Find Word - help for this 4 picture-1 word game
Financial Planning - prepare your financial plan
Financial Projection - new format (being developed).
TKL books - under development.
Bus Service - find bus services at any bus stop, or all the stops for any service
Forms - locate forms from government agencies or business organisations (CPF now available, other forms will be provided
Find Word - help for this 4 picture-1 word game
Financial Planning - prepare your financial plan
Financial Projection - new format (being developed).
TKL books - under development.
Pinnacle Notes
If you are an investor in the Pinnacle Notes, please read this notice urgently.
Dear Mr Tan,
As you may know, the deadline for investors to claim their share of the Pinnacle settlement fund is 2 June. Would you perhaps post some notice on your blog about the claim deadline? Attached is an ad that we ran in the ST last week that contains all the relevant information for claiming. Feel free to post the ad itself.
Daniel Hume
Kirby McInerney LLP
Click here:
http://c-onyx.com/pdf/2290
Click here:
http://c-onyx.com/pdf/2290
Thursday, July 31, 2014
Land banking in Georgia USA
I received a letter from a UK lawyer that a comment posted in my blog is defamatory and asked me to remove the comment. I have done so.
I am surprised that this blog, which is already three years old, is still attracting the attention of the unnamed company X. Something must be happening here.
http://tankinlian.blogspot.sg/2012/07/land-banking-in-georgia-usa.html
I am surprised that this blog, which is already three years old, is still attracting the attention of the unnamed company X. Something must be happening here.
http://tankinlian.blogspot.sg/2012/07/land-banking-in-georgia-usa.html
Thursday, July 03, 2014
Do not invest in unregulated investments
Dear Mr Tan,
I read your blog.
Have you heard about this UFUN (www.ufunclub.com)?
A lot of people (Spore, Msia, Thai) are investing and claim they are getting good returns in the first few months. Is this kind of investment safe?
They give dividends (in the form of e-token) to members and the returns are good.
They are inviting a lot of new members to join.
Each investment can be US$500, US$1000, US$5000, US$10000 and US$50000.
Pls comment if you know about this UFUN scheme and if some people have already fallen prey to this scheme.
REPLY
I have not heard about this scheme. My comments below apply to questionable schemes in general and are not related to this specific scheme.
I would advice people to avoid investing money in schemes that are not regulated by the authority. It is easy to give your money away, but quite difficult to get it back.
Even if you are getting back the return, in the form of dividends or principle, remember that the money that is used to pay you may come from the investments of other people. Similarly, your money may be used to pay off the earlier investors.
This type of scheme is called a Ponzi scheme. The Ponzi scheme will grow as more and more people join. Eventually, when there are more people wishing to withdraw their investments, the scheme will close down and the promoters will disappear. The investors will not get their money back.
I read your blog.
Have you heard about this UFUN (www.ufunclub.com)?
A lot of people (Spore, Msia, Thai) are investing and claim they are getting good returns in the first few months. Is this kind of investment safe?
They give dividends (in the form of e-token) to members and the returns are good.
They are inviting a lot of new members to join.
Each investment can be US$500, US$1000, US$5000, US$10000 and US$50000.
Pls comment if you know about this UFUN scheme and if some people have already fallen prey to this scheme.
REPLY
I have not heard about this scheme. My comments below apply to questionable schemes in general and are not related to this specific scheme.
I would advice people to avoid investing money in schemes that are not regulated by the authority. It is easy to give your money away, but quite difficult to get it back.
Even if you are getting back the return, in the form of dividends or principle, remember that the money that is used to pay you may come from the investments of other people. Similarly, your money may be used to pay off the earlier investors.
This type of scheme is called a Ponzi scheme. The Ponzi scheme will grow as more and more people join. Eventually, when there are more people wishing to withdraw their investments, the scheme will close down and the promoters will disappear. The investors will not get their money back.
Lighten Medisave burden on self-employed seniors
Contributed by Dr. Tommy Wong
From 1 January 2014, the Medisave contribution rate for non-pensioners and for those who are age 60 and above is 9.5%. This rate applies to both employee (monthly wage ≥ $750) and self-employed (average monthly income > $1,500). There is a cap of $5,700- on the annual contribution for the self-employed. While this practice appears fair on surface, there is actually a hidden burden to the self-employed.
For the employee, the following table shows the contribution rates by the employer and employee to the employee’s CPF account. So even though the Medisave contribution rate is 9.5%, depending on the age, the employee's contribution rate is 7.5% or 5.0%.
Employee
Age (Years)
|
Contribution Rate (for monthly wages ≥ $750)
| ||
Contribution by Employer
(% of wage)
|
Contribution by Employee
(% of wage)
|
Total Contribution
(% of wage)
| |
Above 60-65
|
7
|
7.5
|
14.5
|
Above 65
|
6.5
|
5
|
11.5
|
On the other hand, for the self-employed, since there is no employer’s contribution, they have to pay the entire 9.5% contribution all from their own income. So, compared to an employee, his take home pay is lower. For the self-employed whose financial situation is not well off, this is a real burden.
Can the Government review the Medisave contribution rate for the self-employed seniors so that their burden can be lightened?
Dr. Tommy Wong is the author of the book series "Wisdom on How to Live Life" The ebook series can be ordered at http://c-opal.com/
Thursday, June 26, 2014
How to use the IRR function
you have a complicated stream of cash flows under a life insurance policy, you can use the IRR function to calculate the yield, as explained here:http://c-onyx.com/page/1893
Internet banking is difficult with DBS Bank
If I use the standard of the internet banking system of DBS Bank as a gauge, I have to declare that the level of efficiency in Singapore is deplorable. It is so wasteful and inefficient. That is why Singapore has become so costly, and has achieved the distinction of being the most costly city in the world.
Somehow, the impractical approach adopted by our regulars and businesses towards managing business risks has added layer of costs and waste to the economy.
It can be so costly so to handle simple business transactions and to make payments.
Here is my painful experience. I spent one hour to make payroll for four employees through Internet Banking for DBS Bank today.
As there were two new employees, I have to register them as "a new beneficiary". After registration, I could not find these beneficiaries.
I called their hotline, listen to all kinds of irrelevant messages and spoke to their help staff.
She asked me to click a few buttons, but none worked. She had to go and check their back end system and call me back.
My admin staff was at my side to double check that the entries were made correctly. She wasted one hour as well.
I may have to revert to paying by cheques.
This is the level of inefficiency that I have to encounter each month. My feedback to DBS Bank over the past year went through deaf ears. They don't care.
I could not move to another bank as they do not have a branch nearby.
Coal mining venture - is this a scam?
Is this investment a scam?
http://c-onyx.com/page/1902
If you offer you a guaranteed interest rate and a buyback option, do you find it to be more acceptable?
http://c-onyx.com/page/1902
If you offer you a guaranteed interest rate and a buyback option, do you find it to be more acceptable?
Create a pseudo rural sector to raise the reproduction rate
In most countries, the marriage and child birth rate in the cities is low. This is due to the high cost and stress of city life. These countries have a rural sector where the cost of living is low and where most people married at a young age and raise many children.
These countries with a rural sector have an overall fertility rate that is higher than countries with a high urban population.
If Singapore wishes to increase our reproduction rate, we need to build a "rural sector" where some families can afford to marry at a younger age and raise a family. But it is not possible to have a real rural sector in Singapore due to our small land area and the high cost of housing.
We can create a pseudo rural sector which allows some families to marry at a younger age and raise a family.
How can this be done?
These countries with a rural sector have an overall fertility rate that is higher than countries with a high urban population.
If Singapore wishes to increase our reproduction rate, we need to build a "rural sector" where some families can afford to marry at a younger age and raise a family. But it is not possible to have a real rural sector in Singapore due to our small land area and the high cost of housing.
We can create a pseudo rural sector which allows some families to marry at a younger age and raise a family.
How can this be done?
Thursday, June 19, 2014
The Deductible under Medishield Life can be removed
I find it quite ridiculous that we take so much trouble to design a medical insurance scheme, called Medishield, that pays a small proportion of the hospital bill. It is better to change the scheme to cover a larger proportion of the hospital bill and make it more meaningful.
One change is to remove the Deductible or reduce it to small amount.
Here is the explanation
http://c-onyx.com/page/1894
One change is to remove the Deductible or reduce it to small amount.
Here is the explanation
http://c-onyx.com/page/1894
Monday, June 16, 2014
Hedging a stock portolio
I have $X invested in shares, mostly in Singapore. I do not like the events in Ukraine, Iraq and South China Sea. I wanted to sell some of my share holdings, but it will take some time.
I decided, as an alternative, to sell $X in futures (S&P and Nikkei). If the stock market falls by 5%, I hope to be able to gain 5% on the futures. However, if the stock market rises by 5%, I will lose 5% on the futures. So, my net exposure should be nil.
My actual holdings in shares will not correlate exactly with the two indices that I have sold. So, there will still be a small net exposure, perhaps of 10% or so. It does not matter. At least, I am more than 90% protected.
When the events are resolved, I can remove the positions in the S&P and Nikkei and continue to hold my long stock position.
This is an example of using the futures to hedge an existing stock portfolio.
I use the online platform called Plus500.com. It is easy to use and is much better than other platforms that I have tried previously.
Tan Kin Lian
I decided, as an alternative, to sell $X in futures (S&P and Nikkei). If the stock market falls by 5%, I hope to be able to gain 5% on the futures. However, if the stock market rises by 5%, I will lose 5% on the futures. So, my net exposure should be nil.
My actual holdings in shares will not correlate exactly with the two indices that I have sold. So, there will still be a small net exposure, perhaps of 10% or so. It does not matter. At least, I am more than 90% protected.
When the events are resolved, I can remove the positions in the S&P and Nikkei and continue to hold my long stock position.
This is an example of using the futures to hedge an existing stock portfolio.
I use the online platform called Plus500.com. It is easy to use and is much better than other platforms that I have tried previously.
Tan Kin Lian
Sunday, June 15, 2014
5 July event in Hong Lim Park
I have decided to speak at the 5 July event in Hong Lim Park asking if Lee Hsien Loong is the right person to lead Singapore. https://www.facebook.com/events/657651847623510/?ref_dashboard_filter=upcoming
I hope that many of you will turn up to hear my speech. Do register in the page to show that you are joining the event.
Question: will I support or oppose this motion? Come and hear my views.
I hope that many of you will turn up to hear my speech. Do register in the page to show that you are joining the event.
Question: will I support or oppose this motion? Come and hear my views.
A pathetic response from a Member of Parliament
The 76 year old lady begged for her CPF money to be returned to her. MP Hri Kumar could only say that these are the rules, and everyone must abide by the rules - good and bad. They cannot take the good without the bad.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=70AbFnGD928
I find the MP's reply to be pathetic. Surely an MP can give a better answer? Does the MP know that the lady, and many others, did not agree to the rules that lock away their CPF money?
A better answer from a good MP is - if you know how to take care of your money, if you know the consequences of your decision, and your personal circumstances justify the return of your CPF money, I will speak on your behalf to ask for your money to be returned to you.
And this special consideration should be given to other people who have good reason to take out their CPF money.
This will create some work for the MP and for CPF, but what are they elected or employed for? They have to use their judgment and do not implement rules blindly !
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=70AbFnGD928
I find the MP's reply to be pathetic. Surely an MP can give a better answer? Does the MP know that the lady, and many others, did not agree to the rules that lock away their CPF money?
A better answer from a good MP is - if you know how to take care of your money, if you know the consequences of your decision, and your personal circumstances justify the return of your CPF money, I will speak on your behalf to ask for your money to be returned to you.
And this special consideration should be given to other people who have good reason to take out their CPF money.
This will create some work for the MP and for CPF, but what are they elected or employed for? They have to use their judgment and do not implement rules blindly !
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