Complaint to the regulator

A friend asked me for the reason why I decided to set aside the Collective Protest. He said that there was a rumour that I was threatened by Mr. Lim Boon Heng and Mr. Matthias Yao.

I replied that the main reason for my action was the assurance that I have received from Mr. Lim and Mr. Yao on fair treatment of policyholders. This was subsequently stated by Mr. Ng Kee Choe in his address in his address to the Annual General Meeting.

The first two assurances relate to the restructuring of the bonus. I felt that the assurance was adequate in ensuring that policyholders would not be placed in a worse off position. The third assurance, which I asked for, was more important - that "policyholders will receive bonuses that reflect the actual experience".

I have subsequently pointed out to Mr. Lim and Mr. Matthias Yao that the bonuses declared were too low, and did not reflect the actual experience. Mr. Ken Ng (the chief actuary) replied to me that this will be adjusted in 2009 and later years.

I pointed out to Mr. Ken Ng that policies maturing in 2008 would be receiving a maturity value that was far less than the "actual experience". This would be unfair to the policyholders. I quoted the specific case of the Growth policy taken by my wife. I asked for this matter to be reviewed to give a fair payout on the policies that are maturing this year.

After two weeks, I have not received a satisfactory reply from NTUC Income. I intend to lodge a complaint on this matter with the regulator. I am quite disappointed that, after receiving the assurance that the bonuses will reflect the actual exprience, nothing is being done for the policyholders of the maturing policyholders.

I have two policies affecting by the bonus restructuring. The bonuses declared in the past and the cash values are significantly less than the values that reflect "the actual experience". As these policies will not be maturing this year, I am prepared to wait for one or two more years for the bonuses and cash values to be adjusted to reflect "the actual experience". So far, I have not received any indication that this will be done.

Insuring against critical illness

If you are 30 years old, and you wish to insure against critical illness for $100,000, you have the following choice:



1. Buy a "whole life" critical illness policy and pay $200 a month

2. Buy a 30 year critical illness cover and pay $40 a month



If you choose option 2, you can invest $160 a month in a low cost fund to earn an average of 5% per annum, you will get give you $128,000 in cash at the end of 30 years. (This is not a guaranteed return, but it is the likely return).



If you pay $20 a month on a decreasing critical illness cover, you will get $144,000 (estimated)



If you put $200 a month in the critical illness cover, you are likely to get a cash value at the end of 30 years of around $100,000 (plus or minus $10,000).

Regulation of financial products

Read the debate in this blog:

http://kwayteowman.blogspot.com/2008/05/to-regulate-or-not-to-regulate.html

Blog on public transport in Singaore

The Straits Times Review section published my article about the "world class transport system". the article can be located here:

http://news.asiaone.com/News/the%2BStraits%2BTimes/Story/A1Story20080712-76200.html

The article mentioned that my blog on public transport can be found in this website. The actual website is:

www.singaporepublictransport.blogspot.com