Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Financial planning - reaching out to young people

Hi Mr. Tan,
I have your book "Practical Guide on Financial Planning". I find the stories and experiences of other people to be most beneficial. Because of my past experience e.g. Minibond, insurance, capital gurranteed products, I am able to appreciate your opinions and suggestions.

If I were an undergrad or secondary student, I would not be interested to read. This is a problem as financial education should not be learned from trial and error of a new worker. It should be taught in schools before they start drawing their first cheque.

Banks and FIs will continue to attract, promote, market products based on margin, profit or commission. The new workers continue to be bombard with the theme "credit is good for you" while "live within your means" is ignored by most people.

REPLY

I find that many undergraduates are also interested in financial planning. When I talk to them, they also find my views to be useful. They realised the importance of knowing what are good products to buy and bad products to avoid. I intend to hold many talks for young people so that they can benefit from my suggestions as well.